In the eighties reflection started on the advantages of having a structured method for performing the
client role in the field of IT management. A group of consultants was dragged into this thinking due to the fact that the clients of the IT organization they worked for were not satisfied with the revenues of
IT-investments. Although the IT organization tried their utmost to meet the clients’ expectations, the
clients still were not satisfied. This situation gave food for thought about the clients role in the whole
field of IT management. As it turned out, many client organizations had no idea of the importance of
their own role. Therefore, they had very little focus on their own role and all hopes were set solely on
the IT vendors. However, it turned out that IT suppliers were not capable to sufficiently influence the
effectiveness and efficiency of IT on their own. The client role is a crucial factor in achieving a situation
where IT is worth it’s money.
Much practical experience was brought together and a description of a concept of a formal framework
describing the processes of the client role in information provisioning was set up. This concept
framework was put into practice and evaluated over and over again. And much more experience from
everyday business was added to enrich the framework. This led eventually to the introduction of a
public domain standard for business information management in February 2005, called BiSL
(Business Information Services Library). BiSL is designed to act as a comprehensive process
framework for business information management. It is supported by a growing number of best
practices. By publishing this book and forming a foundation to maintain it, the first steps were taken to
turn BiSL into a de facto standard for business information management.