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/go?docid=54656&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54656 Data from Forrester's Business Data Services surveys show continued interest in green IT services. One-third of the surveyed enterprises plan for a green IT services engagement in the coming year. Some of these prospective clients are aggressively using green selection criteria when they choose a services provider, a trend that we expect to grow markedly in the coming years. To get ready, green IT service providers must get more explicit about their partnership structures and offer a well-rounded suite of services that enable clients to improve their sustainability posture while reducing costs, differentiating their firm, and mitigating risks. IT Services Security & Risk High-Tech Professional Services Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Christopher Mines" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54656&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54656 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54100&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54100 The Doctors Company (TDC), the largest national insurer of physician and surgeon medical liability in the US, provides lessons on how to use business rules platforms and Lean developmgooent to raise the pace of application delivery. At the same time, TDC has been replacing its legacy systems with a modern, new generation. TDC turned to business rules as a key part of a new IT architecture and development process that values responsiveness to business demands first. Application development professionals can learn from TDC's best practices, which are to: 1) target rules at fast-changing decisions; 2) employ integrated project teams and prototyping; 3) manage rules centrally but execute them locally; and 4) invest in a strong design foundation. Application Development Financial Services Healthcare & Life Sciences Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT "John R. Rymer" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54100&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54100 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47951&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-47951 Our Q1 2009 Global CMO Recession Online Survey reveals marketing leaders under pressure to deliver results while enduring budget cuts in excess of 20%. To keep their businesses moving forward, marketing leaders are cutting back on traditional tactics and investing in digital channels like Web sites, social media, and email. Forrester recommends that marketing leaders expand their focus to include enabling technologies that build brands and a true picture of the multichannel customer. This added emphasis will help deliver quick results while protecting long-term brand health. Economy Marketing & Advertising Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Lisa Bradner" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47951&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-47951 http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/social_networking_storms_into_enterprise/q/id/5760/t/1 Social networking in the enterprise is a hot topic. Use of services like Facebook and Twitter continue to explode and have jumped all demographic boundaries. Communication and content generation patterns in our personal lives are changed forever. The effects are now rippling through the enterprise, and the benefits can be huge. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Rob Koplowitz" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/social_networking_storms_into_enterprise/q/id/5760/t/1 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54538&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54538 Increasing numbers of consumers are engaging in conversations about brands online. Interactive marketers must realize that while they no longer can control what people publicly say about their brands, they can minimize the damage if these conversations turn negative. Taking simple steps to prepare today will prevent a social media meltdown tomorrow. Customer Experience Marketing & Advertising Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Rebecca Jennings" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54538&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54538 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47911&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-47911 The enterprise governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) market is still relatively young, populated primarily by small but solid pure-play vendors. Growing corporate concerns have raised market expectations, however, bringing new competition from startups as well as industry giants into an already-crowded space. Forrester evaluated 14 enterprise GRC platform vendors using 80 criteria. BWise, OpenPages, and Thomson Reuters earned the highest scores overall due to their comprehensive capabilities and strong market strategies. MetricStream and AXENTIS made impressive showings in the Leader category as well. The Strong Performers included Archer Technologies, Cura Software Solutions, and Strategic Thought Group near the top, followed by Protiviti, MEGA, and Methodware. Meanwhile, SAI Global, SAP, and Trintech finished as GRC Contenders. Packaged Applications Security & Risk Sourcing & Procurement Wed, 01 Jul 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Chris McClean" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47911&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-47911 http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/smartphone_is_dead_long_live_smart_phones/q/id/5743/t/1 All mobile handsets are becoming smarter and Internet-capable. Yesterday's smart high-end phone is today's midrange phone and tomorrow's entry-level phone. The "smartphone" category is no longer useful as all phones become smart. Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Ian Fogg" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/smartphone_is_dead_long_live_smart_phones/q/id/5743/t/1 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53928&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53928 Financial management applications range from essential and ubiquitous tools for accounting and financial reporting to specialized solutions for optimizing process efficiency and cash flow. Compliance is a major requirement underlying several of the solutions, driving equilibrium levels of adoption and maturity in areas including accounting, financial reporting, and tax compliance. Growth of several technologies is being driven by business needs to forecast and maintain profitability to repel the lingering effects of the economic downturn. Relatively new solutions for accounts payable automation, internal controls monitoring, and financial transparency via XBRL are looking for mainstream acceptance. None of the 12 financial management applications technologies examined in this TechRadar has reach a declining stage, since financial process execution and compliance requirements will persist for the long-term. Packaged Applications Sourcing & Procurement Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Paul D. Hamerman" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53928&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53928 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53331&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53331 This document provides highlights of an extensive data set collected via Forrester's Enterprise Global Technology Adoption Survey, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Middle East, And Africa, Q1 2009. Survey respondents, IT executives and technology decision-makers from companies with 500 or more employees, hailed from Australia/New Zealand, greater China (including Taiwan and Hong Kong), Japan, India, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and South Africa. Topics covered in the document include telecom, IT services, IT security, hardware, software, IT spending plans, product localization, green IT, and sources of information that influence purchasing decisions — all segmented by region. Client Systems IT Infrastructure & Operations IT Services IT Spending & Budgeting Networking Packaged Applications Security & Risk Telecommunications Services High-Tech Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., Heidi Lo" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=53331&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-53331 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=48002&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-48002 Consumers are rapidly adopting social media communication technologies and behaviors. Customer service professionals are beginning to look at incorporating these collaborative tools to deliver better customer experiences at a lower cost. This approach seems to have great promise; however, there is little documentation at present on the cost-effectiveness of incorporating social strategies and technologies for businesses. Forrester talked with early-adopter companies and reviewed the solutions from leading vendors to understand the variables to consider for determining the business value of online communities for customer service and support. The early evidence indicates that social technologies are a sound choice because they provide an attractive ROI in a short period of time while delivering better customer experiences. Customer Experience IT Spending & Budgeting Packaged Applications Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D." <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=48002&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-48002 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=46643&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-46643 In Forrester's 153-criteria evaluation of enterprise open source and closed source database management systems (DBMSes), we found that Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, and Sybase lead the pack because each offers mature, high-performance, scalable, secure, and flexible solutions. It was no surprise to see Oracle dominating in most of the features and functionality such as performance, availability, security, and administration. IBM DB2 for Linux, UNIX, and Windows showed strong support for application and data integration, performance, scalability, and administration, while Microsoft has impressive capabilities for database programmability, application development, administration, and security. Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise continues to show improvement in its product, offering good support for availability, performance, and administration. IBM Informix Dynamic Server, MySQL, and Ingres came out as Strong Performers, following very closely on the heels of the Leaders and offering very respectable alternatives and a multitude of choices for application developers and architects. PostgreSQL lacks the Leaders' breadth of features but is a reputable Contender for some use cases. Information & Knowledge Management Tue, 30 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Noel Yuhanna" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=46643&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-46643 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54780&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54780 Even though cloud services delivered by major IT service providers hold potential promise for long-term value, they are currently awash in a frenzy of irrational exuberance. Forrester's data shows that a growing number of enterprise clients are implementing or seriously investigating cloud IT services delivered by major IT service providers. But cloud services still have to clear technical and business hurdles to be enterprise-ready for many firms. Decision-makers who monitor how these key issues play out over the next months will be in a stronger position to leverage value from cloud services near-term and in the future. Forrester surveyed 11 major global IT service providers to provide sourcing decision-makers with the provider perspective on barriers to cloud services adoption in the enterprise. IT Infrastructure & Operations IT Services Sourcing & Procurement High-Tech Professional Services Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Paul Roehrig, Ph.D." <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54780&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54780 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=48356&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-48356 To paraphrase the title of Richard Fariña's 1960s novel, "been down so far it looks like up to me" is an apt description of the US and global IT market markets at mid-year 2009. While the Q1 2009 tech market indicator data ranged from bad to ghastly, we think that the US tech market is more than halfway through the downturn, and the global IT market is not far behind. The very weak Q1 results in both the US and the global market, and likely similarly poor results in Q2, mean that our 2009 growth forecasts are lower than before, with the US IT market now expected to shrink by 5% in 2009 and the global IT market to drop by 11% in US dollars. Computer and network equipment vendors have been especially hard hit, with licensed software revenues and IT outsourcing also weak. However, the weak results in the first half of 2009 also mean that the market will hit bottom sooner, setting a low base from which positive year-over-year growth will start to occur in Q4 2009 and into 2010. Vendors can start to look beyond the downturn and get prepared for a strong tech recovery in late 2009 and 2010. Economy IT Spending & Budgeting High-Tech Professional Services Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Andrew Bartels" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=48356&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-48356 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47741&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-47741 Location is at the very heart of the mobile value proposition. Thirty percent of European online consumers with mobile phones are interested in using mobile GPS/navigation services, while 52% of smartphone owners with unlimited mobile Internet packages already do so. Beyond navigation services and mapping, a range of innovative location-based services (LBS) for mobile phones is emerging. Coupled with consumer interest are significant changes in the value chain, with Nokia's acquisition of NAVTEQ and Web developers' interest in the mobile platform being key drivers for LBS. Location identifiers help filter and search for information, facilitating interactions between people. If consumer product strategists manage to build a compelling user experience and reassure consumers about privacy and pricing issues, location as a service will become obsolete — and will instead become a core enabler of mobile activities. Customer Experience eBusiness/eCommerce Enterprise Mobility Telecommunications Services High-Tech Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Thomas Husson" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=47741&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-47741 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54694&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54694 Backup is one of the most critical day-to-day responsibilities for IT operations. You must have a recent backup of your critical data to recover from accidental deletions, system crashes, disk failures, and data corruption. But backup is complex, error prone, and getting more difficult as data storage increases at a rate of 30% or more every year. Between May 2008 and May 2009, Forrester answered 83 end user inquiries on backup, independent of disaster recovery. Topics included overall backup strategy, virtual tape libraries (VTLs), deduplication, tape encryption, and tape hardware. Deduplication as a standalone topic as well as part of overall backup strategy generated more than 27 inquiries. Companies want to know how deduplication facilitates more cost-effective backup to disk but also how deduplication plus replication solves remote office challenges. End users still had plenty of questions about tape, including off-site tape vaulting services and tape encryption options. So while deduplication paves the way to more data backed up and stored to disk, it's clear that tape still remains a part of most companies' backup strategy. IT Infrastructure & Operations Storage & Data Management Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Stephanie Balaouras" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54694&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54694 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54732&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54732 A group of tech marketers and Forrester analysts recently engaged in an all-day Forrester event in London on the use of social media in a B2B marketing context. Our discussions focused on trends in social media adoption by B2B technology buyers and nascent best practices in social media marketing. While participants' experiences with social media varied, clearly the bell has rung on getting social media into the marketing mix. One question emerged in several conversations, which we answer here: How can marketers localize content and tools to address global audiences, or more accurately, how can marketers address local audiences in target markets around the world? Customer Experience eBusiness/eCommerce Marketing & Advertising High-Tech Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D." <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54732&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54732 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54697&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54697 As the adoption of virtualization across servers, storage, and networks continues to climb and organizations push to larger implementations of virtual infrastructure, a new question arises: Who is going to manage your virtual infrastructure? Sure, you could continue as you have in the past, with each technology group managing the virtualization as it pertains to their particular silo, but who, for example, will oversee the interdependencies between virtual storage and networks? Who will set policies and standards and ensure that they are adhered to? The answer comes in the emerging role of the virtual infrastructure (VI) architect — an employee (or group of employees) who oversees the operation of both the physical and virtualization platform across server, storage, and network infrastructure domains. Enterprise Architecture IT Infrastructure & Operations Storage & Data Management Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Galen Schreck, Rachel A. Dines" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=54697&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-54697 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=46935&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-46935 In Forrester's 95-criteria evaluation of document output for customer communications management (DOCCM) vendors, we found no overall Leader across all segments; however, numerous Strong Performers and Contenders bring their own strengths to the structured, interactive, and on-demand segments of customer communications. Within these segments, HP and Pitney Bowes Business Insight are Leaders in structured output, Thunderhead achieves Leader status in interactive, and EMC Document Sciences emerges as a Leader in the on-demand segment. During the next five years, powerful, transformational DOCCM platforms will evolve built on advanced authoring, workflow, business rules, integration with enterprise marketing platforms, and service oriented-architecture (SOA). We expect then to see true enterprise solutions that can manage requirements across all DOCCM segments. Customer Experience Information & Knowledge Management Thu, 25 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Craig Le Clair, Sheri McLeish" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=46935&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-46935 http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/distributed_enterprise_20/q/id/5688/t/1 Distributed firms like retailers, look to differentiate from online competitors through customer experience and service. The pressure is on CIOs to deliver infrastructure, platforms, applications, and processes that continue to provide resilient and responsive transaction support but also deliver, through the network, experience-based differentiation and personalization across any channels that consumers choose. In order to manage this, a new generation of processes must incorporate intelligence and predictive analytics based on the sum of enterprise knowledge about contracts, customers, and offerings. New processes must enable customer service associates to interact with consumers in the context of the sum of the enterprise's knowledge. IT Management Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "George Lawrie" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/rb/teleconference/distributed_enterprise_20/q/id/5688/t/1 http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=46828&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-46828 Convergence is happening today in the communications sector at multiple levels. This creates opportunities for telecom companies — notably in information and communications technology (ICT), entertainment, solutions, and services — but also threats as others come into their space (such as Google and Amazon.com). Vodafone Germany is a case study on how to address the opportunities created by convergence. Vodafone Germany succeeded by starting with strategy, integrating management, and then moving on to deal with networks, systems, service, and devices. As a result, the performance of Vodafone Germany has improved markedly. Vendor strategists can learn four lessons from Vodafone Germany: 1) Convergence is here, so you need to respond; 2) convergence is good for business; 3) to become a convergent operator, start with strategy; and 4) convergence is more than just networks and services. Telecommunications Services High-Tech Wed, 24 Jun 2009 04:00:00 GMT "Mike Cansfield" <resourcecenter@forrester.com> http://www.forrester.com/go?docid=46828&src=RSS_CustomFeed&cm_mmc=Forrester-_-RSS-_-Document-_-46828