http://www.forrester.com/ Forrester is an independent technology research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice about technology's impact on business. en-us 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 120 http://www.forrester.com/imagesV2/affiliates/logos/forrester.gif http://www.forrester.com/ http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/customer_intelligence_marketings_next_strategic_imperative/q/id/6049/t/1 Marketers who measure the impact of their Customer Intelligence (CI) say that it not only boosts campaign-specific metrics but also improves customer acquisition, retention, and satisfaction, as well as revenue, profitability, and customer value. Yet, the majority of firms still struggle to fully understand their customers and leverage their customer data as a strategic asset. Marketing & Advertising Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Dave Frankland" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/customer_intelligence_marketings_next_strategic_imperative/q/id/6049/t/1 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55502&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55502 In Forrester's 37-criteria evaluation of online video platform vendors, Brightcove and Ooyala lead the pack with their end-to-end product offerings that target organizations of all sizes. VMIX and Kaltura follow closely behind with comprehensive offerings and are Strong Performers, while Twistage and Fliqz serve more narrow segments of the market and are Contenders. Customer Experience Consumer Technology Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Bobby Tulsiani" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55502&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55502 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55449&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55449 The iPod heralded a new paradigm in music consumption, but it has done little to counter the impact of the CD's terminal decline; it may even have helped accelerate it. Although mobile music now looks set to start delivering on some of its promises, it shares a core failing with MP3 players: They both deliver individual experiences and largely fail to address the decline of music technology in the home. Consumer Technology Media & Entertainment Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Mark Mulligan" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55449&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55449 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55203&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55203 As the global economic downturn continues to put pressure on IT budgets, companies are taking a variety of measures to get more value for the money spent on IT services. But unlike the last recession in 2001 to 2002, when outsourcing and offshoring benefitted from strong anticyclical growth, the picture is much more mixed this time in terms of spending plans. This document summarizes the key highlights from Forrester's Enterprise IT Services Survey, North America And Europe, Q2 2009, which offers deeper insights into enterprise spending behavior for IT services and outsourcing. B2B Sales & Marketing Economy IT Services IT Spending & Budgeting Sourcing & Procurement Telecommunications Services Energy & Utilities Financial Services Government Healthcare & Life Sciences High-Tech Manufacturing Professional Services Retail Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Pascal Matzke, John C. McCarthy" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55203&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55203 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54967&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54967 Online consultation can range from the government's hosting an online discussion about policy issues to its co-authoring policy documents with its citizens. It's still a minority practice, but Australia has completed more than 100 online consultations — providing valuable lessons for governments worldwide. In particular, government should understand how its citizens use social media and/or express policy opinions. Using Forrester's POST method, governments can develop clear, realistic goals for consultations to successfully engage their citizens in productive debate. Government should only select tools when the online consultation strategy is clear. Internal leaders should take small steps toward online consultation when necessary — and big steps when the opportunity presents. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Consumer Technology Government Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Steven Noble" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54967&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54967 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53737&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53737 Mobile phones and networks have reached near-ubiquity in the US. Despite a paucity of new subscribers to sell service to, mobile operators will continue to reap the benefits of the advance of their technology over the coming five years. Postpaid subscriptions will continue to dominate, though slightly less so than today as an expanding range of prepaid options appeal to both new and existing subscribers. The inexorable shift in operator revenues from voice to data will continue as the number of mobile Net users more than doubles by 2014. Third-generation (3G) phones will form the majority of phones, comprising more than 80% of the installed base by 2014. eBusiness/eCommerce Telecommunications Services Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Charles S. Golvin, Seth Fowler" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53737&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53737 http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/why_mobile_could_reinvent_social_computing/q/id/6064/t/1 Facebook recently announced that 65 million users access its services via mobile phone, while Orange "Social Life" and Vodafone "360" are the latest initiatives of operators in the mobile Social Computing space. Indeed, mobile social activity is more than just accessing social networking sites while on the go. Mobile has the potential to become the hub of Social Computing activities and offer more than just a complementary PC experience. Mobile phones will increasingly become the glue that holds the social graph together, offering immediacy and presence, location, and context to interact with the real world as well as creation tools. The "always on" mobile connected handset is what frees social from the chains for the PC and thrusts it into the social real world. Marketing & Advertising Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Thomas Husson" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/why_mobile_could_reinvent_social_computing/q/id/6064/t/1 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55696&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55696 Forrester's Global Enterprise Architecture Self-Assessment Tool is an interactive tool designed to help enterprise architecture professionals identify their global EA initiative's probability of success. The tool bases this assessment on an organization's starting point in crucial areas that need careful preparation and management to ensure a successful global EA initiative. Forrester talked to representatives of global EA initiatives about their global IT organizations' goals, challenges, and other aspects of global EA. Industries included airline, automotive, banking, consumer goods, electronics manufacturing, insurance, natural resources, nourishment, services, and travel and tourism. The self-assessment summarizes findings from these interviews and offers them in 31 criteria distributed across five categories, which include: global EA objectives and mission, global business environment, IT organization, EA tools and frameworks, and global EA team. Enterprise Architecture Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Jost Hoppermann" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55696&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55696 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55450&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55450 Sixty-eight percent of the top 50 Internet retailers use video content on their Web sites, compared with 18% in 2008. Online retailers are committed to making product videos central to their merchandising and marketing strategies because of the positive return on investment (ROI) that this visual feature generates. While only 16% of online buyers watch product videos on retailer Web sites, 64% of those consumers who do have found these videos to be very useful. Retailers should focus on understanding drivers of consumer usage and find appropriate contextual uses for product videos by integrating them into the overall eCommerce experience. eBusiness/eCommerce Marketing & Advertising Consumer Industries Consumer Technology Retail Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Patti Freeman Evans" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55450&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55450 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55412&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55412 Forrester's market momentum overview assists vendor strategy professionals in tracking the evolution of the IT management software (ITMS) market and in gathering intelligence about the major activities. In the first half of 2009, we tracked 165 different activities across four core categories of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), partnerships, new products, and changes in go-to-market strategies. We found that M&A activity continued its quiet period, compared with previous years, and that the main marketing focus was on product announcements. Now that Forrester has released a series of market momentum reports, it is also apparent that market momentum in ITMS is relatively quiet, compared with other markets, with the softness caused mainly by megavendors' inactivity or perhaps complacency. Marketing and strategy professionals at ITMS vendors must turn up their marketing dial to counter increased momentum in the cloud and virtualization sectors, which, while often serving as just marketing hype, is beginning to cause many ITMS buyers to re-evaluate their future spending plans. B2B Sales & Marketing IT Infrastructure & Operations IT Services Sourcing & Procurement High-Tech Professional Services Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Peter O'Neill" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55412&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55412 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55257&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55257 This highlight deck summarizes the key findings related to devices and bundling from Forrester's North American Technographics Telecom And Devices Online Survey, Q3 2009 (Canada). This is the second survey highlight in a series from the North American Technographics Telecom And Devices Online Survey, Q3 2009 (Canada). Telecommunications Services Consumer Technology Media & Entertainment Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Joost van Kruijsdijk" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55257&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55257 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54831&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54831 Poor results when working to facilitate global IT are often a result of poorly executed global EA programs, poor preparation, and/or a too-positive perception of the global business and IT environment. Forrester's Global Enterprise Architecture Self-Assessment Tool provides 31 criteria — organized into five categories — that will help you get a realistic view of whether your global EA initiative has the right foundation. The tool will help you prepare and extend an EA team as well as identify your global EA initiative's key weaknesses. Enterprise Architecture Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Jost Hoppermann" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54831&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54831 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55700&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55700 Business-to-business (B2B) marketers approach social strategy with a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism. Most want to know which firms execute social pursuits well and what tangible outcomes occur. The B2B Division winners of the 2009 Forrester Groundswell Awards show that high technology product and service providers lead the way in achieving real business results. As social activity expands into different B2B markets — and business people seek out peers online to exchange ideas and validate their purchase plans and decisions — Forrester believes that these examples show how focusing on audience and objectives is key to thriving in a world transformed by social activity. B2B Sales & Marketing Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising High-Tech Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Laura Ramos" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55700&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55700 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55422&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55422 In a recent Forrester survey, almost one-third of consumers reported having a personal health record (PHR) — the vast majority of which are from their health plan. Forrester doesn't believe it. These high adoption levels don't jibe with either past surveys or adoption levels reported by health plans. So what gives? Forrester believes that consumers are confused about what PHRs are and the value they offer — and that customer experience professionals need to help sort them out. To boost consumer engagement with PHRs, health plans must agree on a standard PHR definition, couple PHRs with a value that has immediate and tangible benefit to consumers, and address lingering portability concerns. Customer Experience Healthcare & Life Sciences Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Elizabeth Boehm" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55422&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55422 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55321&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55321 To create excitement around the start of the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the National Hockey League (NHL) worked with fans to organize a series of tweet-ups that took place simultaneously around the world — energizing more than 1,000 fans directly and reaching hundreds of thousands through Twitter and millions more through press coverage. Now the league has a dedicated social media department and is planning more tweet-ups for the 2009 to 2010 season. To run a successful tweet-up, give yourself enough lead time, find partners to help supply and promote the events, and don't forget to invite the media. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Media & Entertainment Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Nate Elliott" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55321&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55321 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55024&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55024 One of the biggest challenges that market researchers face is to show the added value of market research to the company and to gain influence at the executive level. To increase visibility, market researchers need to communicate constantly, consistently, and effectively what they're doing and how that affects the organization, whether it is through in-person meetings, phone calls, emails, or Web 2.0 outreach like blogs or wikis. To structure this process, market researchers need to design a communication plan covering the distribution of research insights to the different target audiences and implement a feedback system for tracking usage and relevance. B2B Sales & Marketing Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Reineke Reitsma" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=55024&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-55024 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53874&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53874 Forrester recommends that customer experience professionals use personas founded in ethnographic research to guide the design of products, channels, and messages. However, some organizations struggle to use personas effectively. To overcome common barriers to persona use, customer experience professionals should brainstorm with key stakeholders to create roughly sketched profiles of target customers, called "assumption personas." This exercise helps build the case for creating real personas, gets stakeholders to think about their business goals in customer-centric terms, and generates hypotheses about target customers for testing in subsequent ethnographic research. Customer experience professionals must ensure that assumption personas are viewed as a step toward customer insight rather than an end in themselves. They are valuable tools for kicking off persona projects, but they aren't fit for guiding design decisions. B2B Sales & Marketing Customer Experience Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Jonathan Browne" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53874&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53874 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53762&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53762 Despite widespread gloom, it appears that European Internet users are willing to pay for certain kinds of online content, including music, movies, and eBooks, although none of these markets is anywhere near maturity. Understanding how and where current and potential buyers of movies, for example, consume media online will help consumer product strategists build a successful premium service in what is set to be a crowded marketplace in 2010. The popularity of multitasking among online movie buyers indicates the importance of integrating both social tools and a coherent multiplatform approach to maximize the paying audience in the future. Customer Experience Consumer Technology Media & Entertainment Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Nick Thomas" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53762&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53762 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54972&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54972 Network access control (NAC) is high on the security professionals' wish list, but few are able to justify the business case for it. Complex deployments, too many architectural options, and a quickly changing vendor landscape have pushed most NAC deployments further down the project list. We recently surveyed the NAC vendor landscape and found there are still a lot of vendors, but things are beginning to change. The market segments into four high-level categories: appliance, software, infrastructure, and specialized providers. Of the 18 vendors we spoke with across these categories, all support the basic features — like pre- and post-admission control, automated remediation, and guest access — but the leading vendors are embracing new features that focus on the intersection of security and IT automation. Infrastructure vendors currently lead the market, but appliance and software vendors are quickly gaining momentum based on unique scenarios they can address. Expect NAC to drive your access control strategy and to focus on elements that alleviate operational inefficiency. Networking Packaged Applications Security & Risk Sourcing & Procurement Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Usman Sindhu" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54972&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54972 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53232&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53232 The global financial crisis hit the hotel industry particularly hard in 2009. A survey of 27 hotel professionals shows an expectation that business will have to be "bought" with low pricing for the balance of 2009, but cautious optimism exists for room demand and the revenue environment in 2010. When asked about their satisfaction with 11 different distribution channels, hotel distribution executives scored not only brand and property-level Web sites but also online travel agencies (OTAs) at the top for both booking volume and revenue production. In 2010, hotels will adjust their distribution plans, reducing their reliance on less effective, low-margin channels like wholesalers and increasing their use of direct Web sites, OTAs — and even global distribution systems. Customer Experience eBusiness/eCommerce Economy Travel Tue, 03 Nov 2009 05:00:00 GMT "Henry H. Harteveldt" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53232&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53232