For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Addressing Diverse Stakeholders In The IT And Business Services Buying Process

Planning For 2010 Requires A Clear Understanding Of Roles

by Chris Andrews, November 20, 2009

For years, Forrester has written about the evolution of information technology (IT) into business technology (BT) — an idea that is rooted in Forrester's view that technology is becoming more relevant and strategic to business processes. This trend, which . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Vendor Strategists: Time To Revisit Your Corporate Strategy And Your Management Portfolio

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., Daniel Krauss, October 29, 2009

The current recession clearly showed at many companies how fundamental issues with corporate strategy can lead to a savage reality, affecting corporate stability in a big way. Strategists have started fighting back with a constant stream of ad hoc decision-making . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Aligning With Business Customers Requires Strategy, Stakeholder Focus, And Metrics

by Chris Andrews, October 20, 2009

Creating greater alignment with business customers is an incredibly hot objective for technology strategists and one that is supported by powerful long-term market trends. Our recent survey of strategy professionals found that 91% of respondents say that . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Analysis Of IT Management Software Sales Deals

The Megavendors Are Missing Out On Smaller Deals

by Peter O'Neill, Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., August 3, 2009

IT management software (ITMS) is one of the most dynamic and complex IT markets, with more than 300 vendors competing for market share. Vendor strategists are increasingly looking for greater insights into the dynamics behind pure revenue by category, . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Demand Insights: Enterprise Mobility 2009

Prepare For The Rise Of The Mobile Wannabes And The Services To Support Them

by Michele Pelino, July 28, 2009

Forrester's latest Enterprise And SMB Networks And Telecommunications Survey, North America And Europe, Q1 2009, shows continued enterprise mobility momentum — even during these challenging economic times. Buyers are investing in mobile applications for . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

How The Recession Is Affecting Tech Vendors

Despite The Challenges, Tech Strategists Seek To Innovate And Provide Solutions

by Chris Andrews, July 10, 2009

For the first few months of 2009, many technology companies operated in a general state of confusion. As the credit crunch of late 2008 took its toll on spending, technology vendors were adapting their strategy on the fly — trying to quickly align their . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Social Media Lower The Risks Of Bad Requirements

Product Managers Must Master The Inbound Side Of The Groundswell

by Tom Grant, Ph.D., June 8, 2009

To date, technology vendors have based product decisions on meager, skewed, and unreliable information, with predictable results. Schedule slips, user rejection, and other expensive problems are directly attributable to this highly flawed customer and . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Capgemini's TechnoVision Framework Translates Emerging Technologies Into Business Value

by Chris Andrews, June 4, 2009

At Forrester we see continuing evidence that technology vendors are incorporating the needs of business users into their strategy, offerings, and go-to-market approaches. While many vendors target business customers simply as a way to reach stakeholders . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Innovating Corporate Strategy Services

by Daniel Krauss, May 29, 2009

Blurring boundaries within the broader consulting services market are leading to heated competition among consulting firms around thought leadership and business model innovation. In this context, strategic management paradigms and models are playing . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

How To Participate In ICT Spending Plans Of Economic Stimulus Packages

Tech Vendors Need To Offer A Holistic Vision To Policymakers

by Pascal Matzke, May 20, 2009

Investment in information and communication technologies (ICT) is an important element of many economic stimulus packages around the globe. In particular, the new US administration strives to leverage the crucial role of ICT for a smart economic recovery. . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Ten Best Practices For Aligning Your Technology Offering With Business Needs

Meeting Business Needs Requires More Than Just Good Marketing

by Chris Andrews, January 12, 2009

A recent Forrester survey showed that 86% of technology strategists consider aligning their products and services with the needs of business customers to be important or very important to their company's organizational objectives. This finding highlights . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Understanding The M&A Services Market

Providers With Different Legacies Frame The Diverse M&A Services Market

by Daniel Krauss, Pascal Matzke, October 15, 2008

While the current credit crunch has led to a decrease in the overall number of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2008 compared with 2007, companies continue to rely on good advice and support to realize the anticipated business benefits of their M&A . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Three Archetypes Of Service Providers

Aligning Your Positioning And Portfolio With Client Stakeholder Objectives

by Pascal Matzke, Daniel Krauss, September 5, 2008

The IT service provider market is undergoing a major transformation that will have a profound impact on how providers design and structure their portfolio and conduct their go-to-market approach. Service providers have traditionally used labels like business . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

Best Practices: Managing The Responsibility And Associated Risks Of Global Business Partners

by Chris McClean, July 15, 2008

Managing risk and compliance and assuring a commitment to corporate social responsibility (CSR) is hard enough internally. As global corporations extend their partner network, professionals in these functions struggle to define and enforce requirements . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Access Structural Separation And Regulation Gain Traction

How The UK Experience Can Help Your Strategy

by Mike Cansfield, May 22, 2008

Despite the success of the liberalization of communications markets that began in the early 1980s, near-monopolies still exist in many countries at the access layer (from the street cabinet to the customer's premises). In 2005 in the UK, the regulator . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Forrester's Strategy Review Methodology Tool  (55 KB XLS)

by Chris Andrews, May 1, 2008

Forrester's Strategic Review Methodology Tool

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Three Archetypes Of IT Vendors

Aligning Your Vendor Archetype With Client Stakeholder Objectives

by Euan Davis, April 25, 2008

Forget labels like systems integrator, outsourcer, telco, or software vendor: The bottom line for clients is where and how you deliver value to their businesses — and they will want you to communicate this to them in terms that they understand. That means . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Vendor Partner Positioning Review Self-Assessment Tool  (182 KB XLS)

by Peter O'Neill, April 24, 2008

The Vendor Partner Positioning Self-Assessment Tool

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Introducing Forrester's Vendor Partner Positioning Review

An Assessment Tool That Helps Develop Compelling Partner Positioning

by Peter O'Neill, April 17, 2008

Technology vendors describe themselves in different ways across multiple channels, but their real position — and value — is defined by the perceptions of decision-makers across customers' and prospects' IT and business organizations. Vendors generate . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Hardware Vendor Positioning Benchmark, Q1 2008

A Review Of Hardware Marketing Practices With A Self-Assessment Tool

by Norbert Kriebel, March 26, 2008

Forrester used its vendor positioning review (VPR) methodology to evaluate the positioning of eight top hardware vendors across 14 criteria to determine where they are currently positioning themselves on the continuum between information technology (IT) . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Introducing Forrester's Vendor Positioning Review

An Assessment Tool That Helps Develop Compelling Technology Positioning

by Norbert Kriebel, Pascal Matzke, January 16, 2008

Technology vendors describe themselves in different ways across multiple channels, but their real position — and value — is defined by the perceptions of decision-makers across customers' and prospects' IT and business organizations. Vendors generate . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Amazon's Kindle Won't Ignite The E-Book Market

Why The Retailer Should Make And Market It Anyway

by James L. McQuivey, Ph.D., December 12, 2007

Just in time for the holidays, Amazon.com announced its first consumer electronics device, the Kindle, a wireless e-book reader jam-packed with innovation. We love the device but hate to break it to Amazon that it will be lucky to sell more than 50,000 . . .

For CIOs

Case Study: CIOs Can Learn From Kimberly-Clark's Innovation Design Studio

by Bobby Cameron, December 12, 2007

Innovative initiatives cascade from corporate strategies down to action. Example? Kimberly-Clark Corporation (K-C) advanced its enterprisewide strategy "to become an indispensable partner to \[its\] customers" with a virtual reality system that helps . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

IBM's Positioning Is Out Of Alignment

Vendor Positioning Review: Hardware Vendor Summary, Q3 2007

by Norbert Kriebel, November 7, 2007

IBM's corporate positioning is among the most business technology (BT)-oriented of the vendors we reviewed. Its corporate advertising, Web site, and sales structure are designed to address the needs of business decision-makers. Even its tagline, "What . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Vendor Positioning Review: Hardware Vendors, Q3 2007

by Norbert Kriebel, October 19, 2007

Forrester evaluated four of the top hardware vendors across 15 criteria and three product domains to determine how they are positioning themselves on the continuum between information technology (IT) and business technology (BT). We found that Cisco leads . . .