For Customer Experience Professionals

Four Mistakes To Avoid When Hiring An Interactive Agency For Design Projects

by Vidya L. Drego, November 11, 2009

Finding the right agency is difficult for clients and agencies alike. With so many agencies to choose from and so many skill sets to evaluate, narrowing a list of similar players down to one can be an overwhelming task — one fraught with potential missteps . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

RFP Template For Temporary IT Staffing Services  (99 KB XLS)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, September 25, 2009

This template is intended to give firms a starting point for creating a RFP for temporary staffing services. Firms should view this as only as starting point and should make sure to adapt it to their own specific needs, including adding and removing sections . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Do Site Owners Approach The Agency Selection Process?

by Vidya L. Drego, September 1, 2009

Finding the right agency partner can be a difficult and onerous journey. To help shed some light on the process, we surveyed 41 customer experience professionals, 40 of whom are working with or have worked with an agency in the past. Our respondents told . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Do Interactive Agencies View The RFP Process?

by Vidya L. Drego, July 17, 2009

Site owners often report difficulty finding and hiring the right agency. Despite carefully preparing requests for information (RFIs) and requests for proposals (RFPs), they struggle to identify the right agencies, and when they do, they fail to receive . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Multisourcing By Alliance: Getronics Uses Partners To Deliver Services Globally To Clients

by Andrew Parker, May 7, 2009

On March 25, 2009, Getronics and six partner firms formally announced the Getronics Workspace Alliance. The group will collaborate to deliver managed desktop services and a range of associated capabilities for enterprise clients. Forrester got the lowdown . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Forrester's Rapid Decision Tool For VMS RFPs  (183 KB XLS)

by Patrick M. Connaughton, April 14, 2009

Rapid decision tool using the criteria outlined in the report, "Selecting Vendor Management Systems: Differentiating Criteria"

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

RFP Template For Global Data Wide-Area Network (WAN) Infrastructure And Services  (215 KB XLS)

by Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., March 16, 2009

An Excel template intended to give sourcing organizations a starting point for building an RFP for outsourcing global data wide-area network (WAN) infrastructure and services.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Remote And Small Site Access In The US: A Look At Six Alternative Service Providers

AuBeta, Hughes Network Systems, IVANS, MegaPath, New Edge Networks, And PAETEC

by Lisa Pierce, January 15, 2009

Forrester clients whose network operations span a large number of small or remote locations often express interest in using providers other than AT&T, Qwest Communications, Sprint, or Verizon Business. They want to evaluate the capabilities of alternative . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Reducing Risk In Global Telecom Services Sourcing

Ask The Right Questions And Follow A Disciplined Process

by Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., December 12, 2008

Buyers need to address four categories of risk when sourcing global telecommunication services: (1) physical risks to the network and local business operations; (2) geographic risks including local regulations and business practices; (3) commercial risks . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

RFP Template For Packaged Application Implementation Services  (122 KB XLS)

by Liz Herbert, October 30, 2008

An RFP template, which will be an attached tool for our website.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

RFPs Are Critical To Support Green IT Planning

Findings From The UK Green IT 08 Conference & Exhibition, May 2008

by Euan Davis, September 17, 2008

The key to green IT is the green request for proposal (RFP). Firms driving energy efficiency in desktop and data center environments use the RFP process to gain energy efficiency as part of their green IT goals. This valuable tool proves its worth for . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Focus On Business Fundamentals To Reduce Pain In IT Services Outsourcing Deals

Eight Business Tactics To Improve Chances For Success

by Paul Roehrig, Ph.D., August 18, 2008

The problem with much of the sage advice that pundits give to IT services decision-makers is that very often it only makes sense in retrospect — after the train wreck. It doesn't have to be this way. Forrester has found that most IT outsourcing clients . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Emerging WAN Services: Look Before You Leap

Recent Ethernet RFIs Show Chinks In Providers' Armor

by Robert Whiteley, August 15, 2008

As enterprises continue to migrate to emerging WAN services like Ethernet, it's easy to succumb to the path of least resistance by simply evaluating and migrating to the incumbent WAN provider's new offers. Think again. Forrester's evaluation of responses . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Forrester's Green RFP/RFI  (76 KB XLS)

by Euan Davis, July 3, 2008

Forrester developed the RFI/RFP tool based on past experience and research into the widest range of possible environmental requirements. This tool should be adapted for specific product specs and your organization's objective of identifying environmentally . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Recent Ethernet RFIs Show Chinks In Providers' Armor

by Lisa Pierce, Phil Sayer, March 27, 2008

Whenever making a major change to a critical network, it's important for enterprises to conduct both requests for information (RFIs) and requests for proposals (RFPs). Recent work Forrester undertook with some key clients who have very demanding performance . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Expediting The Services Sourcing Process With Master Services Agreements

by Bill Martorelli, January 25, 2008

Of the complaints about RFP-driven services procurement, one of the most persistent is that the RFP process takes too much time to complete. One of the principal reasons why RFP-driven procurement processes tend to take significant amounts of time is . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Toward A Next-Generation Services Sourcing Process: Making RFPs More Interactive

by Bill Martorelli, January 24, 2008

Sourcing and vendor management professionals are under increasing pressure to streamline RFP processes while adding tangible value to the services sourcing process. Most firms we spoke with believe that, despite its flaws, the RFP process remains a useful . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

RFP Alternatives For Buying IT Services

by Bill Martorelli, January 16, 2008

Numerous sourcing and vendor management professionals are evaluating additional alternatives including more provider-inclusive approaches to services procurement, where provider discussions and interactions take the place of activities that otherwise . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Five Trends That Will Shape Sourcing And Vendor Management In 2008

by Christine Ferrusi Ross, December 14, 2007

One year into our role-based transition, the Forrester Sourcing & Vendor Management (S&VM) team distilled all of the knowledge gained from our research and conversations with sourcing executives at large firms and the insights gained at our recent . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Best Practices For Sales Performance Management RFPs

by Liz Herbert, November 6, 2007

The sales performance management/incentive compensation market continues to evolve. In the past year, Centive sold its on-premise division to focus on its software-as-a-service (SaaS) product line, and Callidus Software and SAP entered into a strategic . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Quick Tips For Leveraging Global Telecom RFIs Into A Successful RFP

by Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., October 2, 2007

The process of using requests for information (RFIs) can help companies with global operations to better understand new and emerging telecommunications technologies and service options that will help them meet their business goals at the most efficient . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Topic Overview: Professional Services Provider Selection And Governance

by Christine Ferrusi Ross, December 12, 2006

Project success hinges on appropriate vendor selection. A thorough selection process minimizes risk and lays the foundation for a winning project. Forrester's research helps clients compare potential vendors to find the optimal solution for their business . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

The Forrester Rapid Decision Tool For Services RFPs  (150 KB XLS)

by Christine Ferrusi Ross, December 12, 2006

Reality, Risks, And Best Practices For Managing Multiple Service Providers

by Paul Roehrig, Ph.D., August 22, 2006

As more companies adopt a multiple-provider outsourcing strategy, executives are struggling to install governance processes that are cost-effective, ensure delivery quality, and provide responsible oversight of multiple complex contracts. Most practitioners . . .

How To Craft A Web Design Agency RFP

by Harley Manning, November 29, 2005

Business is booming for top Web design agencies, which currently "no bid" more RFPs than they respond to. To get the attention of the best vendors and pick one that suits your company, follow a streamlined RFP process that focuses on end results, not . . .