For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Changing Face Of Telecom Wholesale

Telecom Wholesale: From Regulatory Mandate To Customer Demand

by Mike Cansfield, November 3, 2009

Last year we said that the wholesale sector in telecom was at an inflection point. This study shows that the changes we detected last year accelerated with market forces driving change in what customers want from their wholesale suppliers and in the business-to-business . . .

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 Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Market Overview Of Cloud IT Services From Major Telcos

by Paul Roehrig, Ph.D., September 1, 2009

Interest and hype around cloud IT services is at an all-time high, but most enterprise decision-makers are still exploring the potential risks and rewards. Although most clients are not rushing to implement an unproven set of services, the promise for . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Recession Insights: What's Up, What's Down, And What It Means To The Communications Sector

Telecom And Network Spending Shows Some Bright Spots

by Mike Cansfield, August 20, 2009

The recession rumbles on, and, although summer has arrived (for the Northern hemisphere at least), the economic winter looks likely to be a long one. Forrester's research shows some metrics falling but also other indicators that show there are bright . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: How Vodafone Germany Became A Convergent Operator

Four Lessons In Strategy Implementation

by Mike Cansfield, June 24, 2009

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 . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Inquiry Insights: BSS/OSS For Communications Service Providers, Q2 2009

by Michele Pelino, June 10, 2009

Forrester receives thousands of inquiries each year on a variety of topics that provide insight into the key issues and challenges facing our clients. Analysis of inquiries related to the business and operational support systems (BSS/OSS) issues facing . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Enterprise And SMB Global IT Budgets And Spending Survey, Q2 2009

Business View and IT View Technographics Survey, June 1, 2009

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 Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

No Capex, No Problem: Eight "Guerrilla" Tactics To Reduce Facilities Costs Without Capital Investment

by Doug Washburn, May 8, 2009

Reducing facilities costs — such as energy, paper, and real estate — is a top priority in 2009 for IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals as organizations look to cut expenses. As investment plans shift to supporting these broader cost . . .

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

US Enterprise Versus SMB IT Budgets In 2009

Enterprises Will Not Do As Badly As SMBs In Many Verticals In 2009 Downturn

by Andrew Bartels, May 7, 2009

US IT budgetary spending will fall in 2009 by 2% as the recession takes its toll on US businesses and governments. Contrary to past experience, small and medium-size business (SMB) IT spending will decline more than enterprise IT spending as SMBs bear . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Best Practices: Customer Onboarding

A Visible Target During Economic Uncertainty

by Craig Le Clair, April 27, 2009

Take customer onboarding . . . please. Customer onboarding lags behind other business processes in both the quality of customer experience and costs. The poor state of customer onboarding results in customers abandoning the application process, loss of . . .

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 Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Forrester's Best Practices Framework For Adopting PLM In Services Organizations

Lessons For Companies Where The "Product" Is Not a Manufactured Good

by Roy C. Wildeman, April 10, 2009

Forrester interviewed users, vendors, and systems integrators operating in financial services, telecom, and other services industries to research the common principles behind leading methods for the collaborative management of product information where . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Case Study: Asian Telecom Boosts Its Service Offerings With Product-Centric Practices

by Roy C. Wildeman, April 10, 2009

To better compete in the Asia Pacific telecom market, this leading communications service provider needed a way to revamp its product delivery capabilities and address distressing time-to-market and cost performance. By taking a product-centric view of . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Telecoms And The Economic Recession: Some Silver Linings Exist

ICT, Public Sector, And Connecting Objects All Offer Growth

by Mike Cansfield, March 27, 2009

The current economic recession is the sharpest and deepest many of us have seen in our lifetimes, and it has the potential to be far more prolonged. The telecom sector is not immune from this, although the reported sector revenues of telcos in Q1 2009 . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Telstra's Telecom Marketing Excellence

by Mike Cansfield, March 26, 2009

Telcos today don't just compete with other operators; they also compete with premier brands such as Apple, Sony, and Microsoft. To be successful, they need to be top-notch marketers, yet traditionally, telcos are poor at this. Telstra, the Australian . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Index 2008 Snapshot: Internet Service Providers

ISPs Are Not Enjoyable To Work With

by Bruce D. Temkin, March 19, 2009

Forrester asked nearly 4,600 consumers about their interactions with a variety of companies, gauging the usefulness, usability, and enjoyability of those experiences. Based on these consumer responses, we calculated the Customer Experience Index (CxPi) . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Green Data Center Starts With A Rationalized Application Portfolio: A Sprint Case Study

How One IT Ops Group Generated Eco(nomic) Value By Removing Underutilized Apps And The Infrastructure Tied To Them

by Doug Washburn, February 12, 2009

Sprint's end goal was to cut costs, increase capacity, and reduce the carbon footprint of IT infrastructure in the data center — but that's not where they started. Recognizing that the data center and its server, storage, and network assets exist to support . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Advice For Vendors From The Telco Sector On Shifting From IT To BT

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., February 3, 2009

Forrester has argued that a fundamental shift from information technology (IT) to business technology (BT) is occurring. Whether or not you are in the telco sector, the following report provides actionable advice based on the experience of shifting to . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Best And Worst Of Brand Building Web Sites, 2008: Mobile Carriers

Forrester Applies Its Web Site Brand Review Methodology To The Sites Of Four Top Mobile Carrier Brands

by Ron Rogowski, January 12, 2009

The mobile carrier industry features some of the most recognized brand names in the US, like AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. But how good is the online brand experience offered by these companies? To find out, we graded the sites of four top . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

The Down Economy Is Accelerating The Adoption Of Key Agility Indicators

by Henry Peyret, January 12, 2009

When Forrester first published research about agility assessment, the chief concern for companies was the ability to keep pace with innovation. But the current financial uncertainty also reinforces the need to establish measurable key agility indicators . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

European IT/Telecom Converged Service Delivery Outsourcing Deals: H1 2008

by Pascal Matzke, Daniel Krauss, January 9, 2009

The European Converged Service Delivery (CSD) market has continued on its strong growth path from the second half of 2007, with Forrester recording a record number of deals in the first half of 2008. The overall number of deals containing converged IT . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Index 2008 Snapshot: Wireless Carriers

Alltel Takes The Top Spot Across Six Mobile Carriers

by Bruce D. Temkin, December 24, 2008

Forrester asked nearly 4,700 consumers about their interactions with a variety of companies, gauging the usefulness, usability, and enjoyability of those experiences. Based on these consumer responses, we calculated the Customer Experience Index (CxPi) . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

From Financial Crisis To Economic Recession

What Should The Telecoms Sector Do?

by Mike Cansfield, December 24, 2008

Despite the efforts of governments and regulatory bodies, the financial crisis rumbles on and has yet to be fully resolved. As feared, it has spread like a contagious virus from finance and banking into other sectors of the economy including communications. . . .