A standard is a document that establishes uniform management, quality, engineering or technical specifications, criteria, methods, processes and practices. Some standards are mandatory while others are voluntary. Formal standards bodies such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or the British Standards Institution are independent of the organisations and clients for which they publish standards.

See below for information regarding standards for IT Service Management.

Frameworks offer a broad organizing structure for the required knowledge and skills relevant to particular aspects of IT Service Management. They differ from standards in that they do not typically define mandatory components that an organisation must achieve, but instead provide best practice guidance about what elements "should" be in place in order to improve the capabilities of the IT Service Provider.

See below for information regarding frameworks for IT Service Management.