For Vendor Strategy Professionals

IT Buyers Prioritize Virtualization Over Cloud

Strategists Should Plan Practical Offerings And Messaging For Buyers

by Frank E. Gillett, October 30, 2009

In the Forrester Enterprise And SMB Hardware Survey, North America And Europe, Q3 2009, we used carefully worded questions to test buyer priorities on initiatives for virtualization, consolidation, automation, internal cloud, and infrastructure-as-a-service . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

How To Message "Cloud" Offerings And Not Get Lost In The Fog

Speak Clearly To The Right Prospects Without Boosting Competitors

by Frank E. Gillett, July 24, 2009

The cloud computing phenomenon is extraordinarily hot, leading tech marketers to make messy messaging mistakes in their rush to respond. Positioning IT products and services vis-à-vis cloud concepts is challenging because marketers are using the term . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Chrome OS Will Extend Google's Online Services, Not Imitate Windows

Google's New PC OS Moves It Further Toward A Personal Cloud Strategy

by Frank E. Gillett, July 9, 2009

On the evening of July 7, 2009, Google created a tech media storm with the announcement of Chrome OS, an operating system for netbooks and personal computers (PCs) separate from Google's Android, which is designed for smartphones and was rumored to be . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Personal Cloud

How Individual Computing Will Shift From Being Device-Centric To Information-Centric

by Frank E. Gillett, July 6, 2009

The personal computing experience is complex and challenging, as individuals wrestle with multiple personal computers (PCs) and online services to manage an increasingly diverse set of information. Existing technologies for online information synchronization, . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Cloud Infrastructure-As-A-Service: Interest And Adoption By Region  (443 KB PPT)

by Frank E. Gillett, May 29, 2009

Cloud Computing, Compute-As-A-Service: Interest And Adoption By Region.

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Conventional Wisdom Is Wrong About Cloud IaaS

Enterprises Lead SMB; Cloud Services Trump Internal Cloud Build-Outs And More

by Frank E. Gillett, May 29, 2009

Survey results confirm strong interest in cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) but debunk several stereotypes. Large firms are more interested in cloud IaaS than small firms. Firms are interested in cloud services slightly more than internal cloud, . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Cloud Infrastructure-As-A-Service: Interest And Adoption By Industry  (394 KB PPT)

by Frank E. Gillett, May 29, 2009

Cloud Computing, Compute-As-A-Service: Interest And Adoption By Industry.

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Open Cloud Manifesto Offers Worthy Ideals

But It Is A First, Primitive Step For Thinking Clearly About Cloud Openness

by Frank E. Gillett, March 30, 2009

Thirty-six firms have signed on in support of the Open Cloud Manifesto that was published on March 29, 2009, with IBM taking a strong role in driving the document and promoting its launch. The goal of the Manifesto's authors is to establish principles . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

IBM's Bid For Sun Is About More Than Just Solaris And Java

Sun's Innovations Can Improve IBM's Prospects Outside Enterprise Markets

by Frank E. Gillett, March 24, 2009

Vendor strategists are calling Forrester asking what we make of the possibility of IBM buying Sun Microsystems. The conventional wisdom is that IBM wants to capture the Solaris/SPARC customer base to boost the AIX/Power business and own Java to protect . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Inquiry Insights: Server Virtualization, Q4 2008

Marketing Executives Must Help Buyers Navigate A Swift Market

by Frank E. Gillett, March 6, 2009

To help marketers of virtualization-related offerings understand what customers are wrestling with, we reviewed 153 Forrester client inquiries regarding server virtualization from the beginning of 2007 through the end of 2008. Inquiries about server virtualization . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

PC Budgets And Operating Systems  (184 KB PPT)

by Benjamin Gray, Frank E. Gillett, February 27, 2009

Firms report on their budget for PC purchases and operating sytems.

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Cloud Computing, Compute-As-A-Service: Interest And Adoption By Company Size  (220 KB PPT)

by Frank E. Gillett, James Staten, February 27, 2009

Enterprises and SMBs report on their interest and adoption of cloud computing.

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Information Sources And Influences In Purchasing  (232 KB PPT)

by Laura Ramos, G. Oliver Young, Frank E. Gillett, February 27, 2009

North American and European hardware decision-makers report on information sources and influences in purchasing.

For B2B Market Research Professionals

The State Of Emerging SMB Hardware Trends: 2008 To 2009

Business Data Services North America And Europe

by Frank E. Gillett, February 27, 2009

This report provides sample highlights of an extensive data set collected across North American and European enterprises via our Enterprise And SMB Hardware Survey, North America And Europe, Q3 2008. Hot topics include server virtualization, cloud computing, . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

The State Of Emerging Enterprise Hardware Trends: 2008 To 2009

Business Data Services North America And Europe

by Frank E. Gillett, February 27, 2009

This report provides sample highlights of an extensive data set collected across North American and European enterprises via our Enterprise And SMB Hardware Survey, North America And Europe, Q3 2008. Hot topics include server virtualization, green IT, . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Predictions 2009: Economic Trends Will Set The Tone For Technology Marketers

by Emily Van Metre, Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., Laura Ramos, Frank E. Gillett, December 23, 2008

2008 was an eventful year, marked by a recession, the collapse of major financial institutions, and record unemployment. Next year will bring many challenges for technology marketers as they work to do more with lower budgets, differentiate their product . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

There Are Two Types Of Compute Clouds

Server Clouds And Scale-Out Clouds Serve Very Different Customer Needs

by Frank E. Gillett, November 21, 2008

Cloud computing is a confusing topic for vendor strategists. One reason? Most of us confuse two fundamentally different types of compute clouds as one. Server clouds support the needs of traditional business apps while scale-out clouds are designed for . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Inquiry Insights: Cloud Computing, Q3 2008

Enterprise IT Is Just Starting To Tune In — Vendors Are Way Ahead Of The Market

by Frank E. Gillett, August 28, 2008

Cloud computing is the latest Silicon Valley trend to hit the circuit. To understand the effect of the latest wave of hype on Forrester clients, we sifted through the more than 20,000 client inquiries we get every year, looking for questions using the . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Future View: The New Tech Ecosystems Of Cloud, Cloud Services, And Cloud Computing

Understanding, Segmenting, And Competing In The Next Computing Evolution

by Frank E. Gillett, August 28, 2008

Strategists at product and service purveyors, big and small, are pondering the right paths to take as a variety of Web and Internet "cloud" technologies and cloud services offerings envelop the market. Three myths are fogging up the options: 1) Cloud . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Vendor Profile: Hewlett-Packard, Q2 2008

HP Is A Differentiated Technology Platforms Vendor, With Room To Grow

by Frank E. Gillett, May 27, 2008

Strategists at technology vendors looking to partner with Hewlett-Packard (HP) see the company's sprawling size and wonder how to partner effectively for their own success. Forrester believes that HP has revitalized itself since 2005 under CEO Mark Hurd . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

X86 Virtualization Drives New Buyer Behavior

SMBs Will Adopt Enterprise-Style Approaches And Criteria For Servers

by Frank E. Gillett, May 23, 2008

Despite just a couple of year's experience with x86 server virtualization, IT managers have virtualized an average of almost one-quarter of their servers. And cost-cutting is no longer the sole motivation — business continuity and server manageability . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

High Performance And Grid Computing Don't Generate Broad Interest

Marketers Should Lead With Business Value, Not These Tech Themes

by Frank E. Gillett, March 11, 2008

Global enterprise buyer interest in grid computing grew slightly in 2007, but the growth was mostly in Asia Pacific, with nearly flat interest in North America and a decline in interest in Europe. For the first time, we also asked buyers about high performance . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Virtualization Won't Simplify ISV Platform Choices

Strategists Should Choose One Or Two Infrastructure Stacks To Support

by Frank E. Gillett, January 3, 2008

As x86 hardware commoditizes and VMware-style virtualization proliferates, many independent software vendor (ISV) strategists are hoping that they'll be able to reduce the à la carte variety of IT infrastructure they must support, such as OSes, CPUs, . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

There Are Three IT Architectures, Not One

Cloud IT Joins Organic IT As A Key IT Architecture For Marketers

by Frank E. Gillett, December 24, 2007

Forrester launched Organic IT as the ideal IT architecture in 2002. Server virtualization is driving recognition of this vision of a highly shared, automated, and virtualized infrastructure. But it has become apparent that two other IT architectures will . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

x86 Virtualization Adopters Hit The Tipping Point

It's Time For Software Marketers To Upgrade Offerings — Or Risk Customer Ire

by Frank E. Gillett, November 30, 2007

Server virtualization has gone mainstream — half of surveyed enterprise IT shops are using x86 server virtualization today, and two-thirds will by 2009. Enterprises using virtualization have an average of 24% of servers virtualized today and expect to . . .