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Business intelligence (BI) software has long stood alone, taking data from various applications and combining it to provide useful information for decision-makers. But simply joining data from applications' data mart silos misses part of the picture; these reports lack the context of the business process in which the data was created. By combining BI and business process management (BPM) technology, organizations can add process context to their reports -- while simultaneously reaping all the benefits of using BI within the process execution environment.
Forrester recently evaluated six leading hosted Web conferencing solutions. WebEx Communications Meeting Center garnered top scores because of its consistent high performance, coupled with its overall breadth and depth. Closely following WebEx as Leaders are Microsoft Office Live Meeting, which offers excellent integration with other apps, and Adobe Systems Macromedia Breeze, which has superior flexibility. Microsoft Office Live Meeting and WebEx Meeting Center are best for online meetings with participants from various locations worldwide. Breeze is especially good for meetings with multiple presenters and supports rich media. Elluminate Live! is a Strong Performer with cross-platform support and good multimedia capabilities; it is best suited for enterprises that use integrated VoIP and seek a solution with deep training capabilities. iLinc Communications MeetingLinc, another Strong Performer, emphasizes easy-to-use conferencing and is best suited for users on Windows.
Raindance Meeting Edition, a Contender, is easy to use but lacks integration features, making it best suited as a standalone app with audio and Web services provided by Raindance.
Forrester evaluated five e-forms software vendors and found that Adobe and IBM are the clear market leaders. Once viewed as a necessary bureaucratic evil, forms are increasingly used as a tool to systematically capture data, serve as an interface to a process step, and bridge the paper-digital divide. The drive to replace paper with digital forms led to the emergence of e-forms software that sits at the intersection of data, content, and process. In the last few years, vendor offerings have advanced greatly, with each vendor's approach being different. Adobe is a Leader, bringing together a user-friendly forms design environment with the ubiquitous Acrobat Reader rich client. IBM is a Leader providing unparalleled XML and digital signature support. Cardiff Software and Microsoft are Strong Performers, offering e-forms products appropriate for forms-driven horizontal business processes. And FileNet is a Strong Performer with an e-forms product aimed squarely at integrating
forms into enterprise business processes.
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From The Editor: Untethering And Empowering The Information Worker
Throughout the past year, Forrester has written extensively about the future of work -- ranging from empowering information workers with next-generation content, collaboration, portals, office productivity software and advanced technologies like context, just-in-time learning, embedded learning, visualization, and simulation to disruptive staffing changes as baby boomers begin retiring, and millennials (those born between 1980 and 2000) join the workforce with sky-high expectations.
Soon after we published our Big Idea about the Information Workplace (IW), we were peppered with questions about how the IW will impact current and future physical work environments, such as offices, conference rooms, home offices, plants, and factories. There's no doubt that enterprises are rethinking their office layouts -- and questioning the need for physical offices -- given a plethora of social, economic, and technology trends. Erica Driver recently authored Untethering Information Workers: Rethinking Workplace Location And Layout, which explores these issues in depth.
As enterprises implement IWs, they must adapt their physical workplace strategies to the changing world of work. Those seeking a collaborative culture must look beyond people, process, and technology to include social context -- a vitally important element when designing workspaces. Physical environments and workplace flexibility affect not only individual and organizational productivity but also workers' abilities to collaborate, share ideas, and innovate; the enterprise's ability to attract and retain desired employees; and management's ability to control real estate and facilities costs. Workplace planning should drive many other areas of planning, such as Information Workplace strategy, telework policy, business continuity/disaster preparedness, employee recruiting and retention, and outsourcing and globalization strategy.
This First Look also features Keith Gile's and Colin Teubner's take on the intersection of business intelligence and business process management, and four new Forrester Waves about technologies core to the Information Workplace -- enterprise search, collaboration platforms, Web conferencing, and e-forms.
Take a look at these publications and let us know if they spark any ideas for you, or if there are other topics related to either The Information Workplace series or The Changing Workforce series that you'd like to see. And as always, please feel welcome to drop me a note if there's a technology you'd like to see us build a Forrester Wave around.
Connie Moore
Vice President and Research Director
Forrester Research
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The Forrester Wave™: Enterprise Search Platforms, Q2 2006
Forrester evaluated leading enterprise search platform vendors and found that Fast Search & Transfer (FAST) and Autonomy established early enterprise search category leadership -- thanks to their extensive search capabilities, broad platform focus, and significant market presence. Endeca Technologies is also a Leader in this space with its mature search management tooling and increased focus on offering search as a platform. Google, IBM, and Microsoft are all Strong Performers but lack the breadth of capabilities and focus to be considered more broadly as search platforms. Entopia came in as a Strong Performer with its good support for basic search scenarios, particularly in collaboration environments. Convera, a previous Leader in enterprise search, appears to be exiting this market altogether, with declining market share and an ill-defined future strategy.
The Forrester Wave™: Collaboration Platforms, Q2 2006
Forrester evaluated five leading collaboration platform vendors and found that IBM and Microsoft are still the Leaders in this market. Both vendors are well-suited for customers that need a full collaboration platform (but don't mind lack of unification among the modules), value vendor viability and collaboration market share, and plan to develop Information Workplace strategies. IBM is an especially good fit for Java and Linux environments; Microsoft is better suited for Microsoft shops. Oracle and Sun are Strong Performers but lack market share and are missing key features. Oracle is an especially good fit for Oracle shops that have a Java orientation and want a unified collaboration platform, and Sun is an especially good choice for Java shops that have open source leanings. Novell is also a Contender; however, its product is missing many collaboration features and Novell's strategy and road map are weaker than those of its competitors.
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