Forrester: - Making Leaders Successful Every Day

	Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D. Principal Analyst

Research Coverage

Global Satellite Services, Internet Access Service Providers, Global Mobile Services, Telecommunications Services By Region, Managed Telecommunications Services, Telecommunications Services, Global Telecommunications Services, Data Services, Canadian Telecommunications Services, Mobile Services

Research Focus

Based in Montreal, Canada, Brownlee serves Sourcing & Vendor Management professionals. She is an expert in telecoms sourcing. Brownlee works regularly with Global 2000 firms and other large multinational companies, and public-sector clients on defining international telecoms and network sourcing strategies, preparing RFPs, vendor evaluation and selection, contract negotiations, and vendor management through each stage of the contract life cycle. She is a recognized expert in global telecommunications issues.
With more than 20 years in the telecoms industry, she is a leading industry expert on global telecoms and networking. Her core research coverage area is global telecoms market trends and dynamics, and best-practice international landline and mobile telecoms sourcing and vendor management. She also covers global remote-access and managed mobility solutions, and network outsourcing.

Previous Work Experience

Brownlee joined Forrester in 2003, though the acquisition of Giga Information Group, where she was the research director for Giga's global telecoms practice. Prior to joining Giga in 1998, she worked for seven years in Teleglobe (a global telecoms operator that is now owned by VSNL of India), in different capacities, as a senior policy analyst, associate director in charge of a group of global telecoms market analysts and researchers, and providing input and guidance to Teleglobe's global corporate strategic planning team within the Office of the Chairman and CEO. For more than 10 years, she also ran her own consultancy, in Geneva, Ottawa, and Montreal, focusing on telecom policy and regulation. Her clients included the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), World Bank, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Canadian telecoms regulator (CRTC), and a number of intergovernmental task forces reporting on telecoms privatization, foreign ownership rules, and competition.
Fluently bilingual in English and French, Brownlee has frequently been invited to be a keynote and expert speaker at telecom vendor events and industry conferences; she also is a regular presenter at Forrester's annual IT Forum events in the US and Europe. She is often interviewed and quoted in major technology trade journals, and business media, including the International Herald Tribune, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, The Seattle Times, National Public Radio, and Canadian evening television news and business reports.

Education

Brownlee has an interdisciplinary Ph.D., and a masters degree from McGill University. Her post-graduate research was on disaster and civil emergency preparedness telecoms, telecoms and sustainable economic development, and telecoms policy and regulation.

Latest Research

Languages Spoken

French