For Vendor Strategy Professionals

B2B Channel Incentive Programs In The Technology Industry

A Benchmark Of 11 Technology Vendors' Programs And Operations

by Peter O'Neill, Tim Harmon, October 13, 2009

One of the most important business processes for technology industry (TI) vendors is to manage an indirect sales channel, which some vendors see as only an augmentation to their direct sales efforts. Forrester interviewed 11 leading TI vendors about their . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Rewrite The Netbook Story For Business Technology Buyers

Position Netbooks For Business Use — Especially In Emerging Markets

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., October 9, 2009

For a device that originated in the concept of the $100-laptop, the netbook certainly hasn't been fully marketed to emerging markets. Nor have firms really marketed netbooks for serious business use. Netbooks have become known as companion devices for . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Trends In Innovation Consulting

A Market Snapshot Of Innovation Consulting Services Specialists

by Daniel Krauss, October 6, 2009

Severe pressure induced by the current economic downturn pushes executives toward efforts related to cost reduction and internal restructuring. Nevertheless, innovation remains one of the high priorities on their agenda, which is mainly focused either . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: How AT&T Is Helping The Williams F1 Racing Team Become More Competitive

by Mike Cansfield, September 22, 2009

AT&T is the title sponsor and exclusive telecommunications services provider of the Williams Formula One (F1) motor racing team. Like any other business, F1 is a relentlessly competitive environment. AT&T is more than just a sponsor of the team; . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Momentum: IT Security Market, H1 2009

by Jonathan Penn, September 16, 2009

Forrester's market momentum overview assists vendor strategy professionals in tracking the evolution of the IT security market and in gathering intelligence about the major activities in that industry. In H1 2009, we tracked 178 different activities across . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Ten-Point Checklist For Assessing Eurocentric IT Partnerships For Global Delivery  (36 KB XLS)

by Euan Davis, September 1, 2009

Euro-centric IT services partnerships will grow as India’s pure-plays seek deeper penetration for their application expertise and local providers respond to client demands for cheaper IT service delivery. In this checklist, Forrester assumes that local . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Making The SaaS And Collaboration Marriage Work

A Framework For Collaboration SaaS Vendors To Capitalize On The Channel

by TJ Keitt, August 31, 2009

Finding collaboration and Web 2.0 technologies to facilitate collaboration between employees and partners is a top business priority. How technology enters businesses is changing as business leaders and individual workers are demanding more say in choosing . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Assessing Your European Service Provider's Partnering Strategy For Global Delivery

European Sourcing Teams Need To Understand How GDM Partnerships Get Implemented

by Euan Davis, August 11, 2009

Offshore service propositions are filtering down to the European market as local IT service providers partner with India's pure-plays. Each needs the other in a symbiotic relationship fueled by Indian scale and European revenue growth. Sourcing groups . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Music And ISPs: The Time Is Right For A New Relationship

by Sonal Gandhi, July 14, 2009

Universal Music and Virgin Media's launch of an unlimited MP3 subscription service in the UK marks a new era in the music label/ISP relationship. While labels and ISPs have not had much success at forming mutually beneficial partnerships in the past in . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The Changing Yin And Yang Of Tech Vendors And Channel Partners

Business Model Changes Call For Realigning The Demand Chain

by Tim Harmon, July 10, 2009

For years, channel partners have based their businesses around specific offerings sold into specific geographies or verticals. Today, channel partners are making dramatic adjustments to business models to cope with new levels of complexity, software-as-a-service/platform-as-a-service . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

We Are All Media Companies Now

How Brands Can Benefit From The Media Meltdown

by Nick Thomas, July 7, 2009

The media meltdown — where traditional media business models based on scarcity and control are fundamentally challenged by the new realities of digital media consumption — is creating huge problems for media companies that create and distribute content . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Momentum: IT Security Market, H2 2008

by Jonathan Penn, June 11, 2009

Forrester's market momentum overview assists vendor strategy professionals in tracking the evolution of the IT security market and in gathering intelligence about the major activities. In the second half of 2008, we tracked 169 different activities across . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

TechRadar™ For Vendor Strategy Professionals: Database And Server Data Security, Q2 2009

How Vendor Strategists Should View A Critical But Complex Segment Of Security

by Jonathan Penn, Andrew Jaquith, June 9, 2009

The risks of theft, corruption, and abuse have made securing data stored on servers and in databases not only more important and relevant to businesses than ever — but also much harder. To help vendor strategy professionals properly time their investments . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

The Mobile Internet Creates New Opportunities For Direct-To-Consumer Strategies

by Thomas Husson, May 22, 2009

The success of Apple's iPhone has acted as a marketing catalyst and showcased the potential of the mobile platform. Open mobile Internet browsing and the distribution of widgets and applications via new retail stores represent two sides of the same coin: . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Building TV Communities Online

by Bobby Tulsiani, May 21, 2009

From consumer product goods to political candidates, everyone seems focused on trying to build communities online. With some of the most passionate fans, TV brands are in a perfect position to tap into the energy of their bases and build communities online. . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Sun Is The Center Of The New Oracle Universe

How Cisco, HP, And Oracle Are Shaping IT's Future

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, May 21, 2009

There are defining moments in IT where all the stars align to create a big bang. Twenty years ago, IT vendors faced clients wanting application and service value, not technology. The market dominance of IBM mainframes forced these smaller vendors to find . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Demand Insights: The Global Collaboration Market Is Flat

Universal Business Needs Make Collaboration Tools Important Globally

by TJ Keitt, May 19, 2009

Universal business concerns about keeping employees and partners on the same page and productive in an increasingly stratified business environment have business leaders around the world scrambling for solutions. Recognizing this need, vendors have emerged . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Lessons In Planning The Biggest Show On Earth

How ICT Will Be The Heartbeat Of The London 2012 Olympic Games

by Mike Cansfield, May 14, 2009

Regardless of whether you are a sports fan or not, the Beijing Olympic Games were one of the highlights of 2008. In 2012, it is London's turn to host the summer Olympic Games. Information and communications technology (ICT) is a key enabler in making . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Farewell To The Traditional Telecom Ecosystem

How Vendor Strategists Can Win With Customer-Led Ecosystems

by Mike Cansfield, May 7, 2009

Until as recently as 2000, it was pretty clear what the telecommunications sector was all about. Customers — consumers at home and firms at work — bought calls and lines from telcos, which in turn purchased the technology components required to create . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Technology Populism Shapes The Collaboration Vendor Landscape

A Bottom-Up And Top-Down Selling Approach Is Required

by TJ Keitt, April 28, 2009

The transition from IT to business technology (BT), technology populism, and the down economy are changing businesses and the collaboration vendors that serve them. The door has opened to new vendors that appeal to the less technically savvy users in . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

New Business Models Emerge For Telcos

How Telecom Vendor Strategists Can Seize Big Opportunities

by Mike Cansfield, April 24, 2009

The traditional one-size-fits-all business model in the communications sector is breaking down. New ways to do business are emerging, and as a result, vendor strategists in telcos have hard choices to make as they break out of the unsustainable status . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Forrester's Partner-Type Taxonomy: Lingua Franca For A New Era

Simplifying The Partner Dance Card So Everybody Is On The Same Page

by Peter O'Neill, April 22, 2009

Compared with other industries, outsiders perceive information technology (IT) to be relatively young — influenced in its youthfulness more by technology than business trends and driven by technology experts with only occasional business-savvy. The partnerships . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

The Global Landscape Of Online Music Stores And Services

by Sonal Gandhi, April 17, 2009

Given the decline of physical stores along with physical media, online music stores and services represent the future of music commerce. Although iTunes leads in most markets on either side of the Atlantic, the online music landscape has become very competitive. . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Monetizing Social Music

Choosing The Right Product And Services Strategy

by Mark Mulligan, April 8, 2009

As CD sales continue to fall off the proverbial cliff and the paid download market fails to take up the slack, social music destinations prosper, utilizing the power of the Web to a degree that download stores never did. Although the most sophisticated . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Discovering Tech Opportunity In Islamic Finance

Big Segment Captures Banker And Tech Vendor Attention

by Ellen Carney, Jost Hoppermann, April 6, 2009

The move to Islamic banking will challenge conventional bank IT, which means strong opportunities for tech vendors with expertise and experience in rolling out Islamic finance systems. In the face of a deep and long-lasting recession, conventional banks . . .