For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Understanding Information Worker Smartphone Usage

Emerging Smartphone Use By Information Workers Opens Doors For Vendors

by Michele Pelino, November 20, 2009

Understanding how information workers use smartphones and applications enables marketing executives across the mobile value chain to successfully develop products and services to address the needs of these workers. Currently, 13% of information workers . . .

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 Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Get B2B Messages Right: Balance Global Consistency And Local Relevancy

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., September 15, 2009

With marketing budgets under close scrutiny, global tech marketers need to ensure that marketing messages are spot on. Yet, "spot on" is not the same for all audiences across markets. While corporate marketing wants to maintain consistent brand messages . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

IT Services: Banking And Insurance Services Sourcing Data  (457 KB PPT)

by Ellen Carney, August 6, 2009

A data chart on IT services sourcing data in banking and insurance.

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 Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Digital Marketing: A Global Deep Dive Into Local Decision-Makers

Map Local Marketing Mix To How Buyers Inform Purchase Decisions

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., July 6, 2009

Expanding into new markets requires tech marketers to sharpen local marketing strategies. Buyers in emerging markets, shaped by distinct cultures, languages, and channels, buy according to local business criteria and information sources. Buyers gather . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Hot Insurance Tech Companies To Watch In 2009: Q2 Update

by Ellen Carney, June 29, 2009

The past year has tested the mettle of the insurance industry. Insurers like The Hartford Financial Services Group and Lincoln National Group converted to bank holding companies to take advantage of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. The downturn . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Hot Banking Tech Companies To Watch In 2009: Q2 Update

by Ellen Carney, June 17, 2009

The banking industry continues to suffer from the global recession and backlash from last fall's financial crisis. While it's tempting to believe that bank-related technology investment is dead, financial services firms are actively looking for specialized . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Demand Insights: Predictive Analytics In The Financial Services Sector

How IBM Helps Banks And Insurers Get The Business They Really Want

by Ellen Carney, June 2, 2009

Banks and insurers do a great job acquiring customers, but they fall down when it comes to cross- and upselling other services. Few financial services institutions even know if the customers they have are actually the kind of business that they want. . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

CDN Road Map: New Solutions Storm The Market

Bundled Services Expand The Business Value Of Content Delivery

by Henry Dewing, May 22, 2009

Content delivery network (CDN) leaders like Akamai Technologies, Limelight Networks, and CDNetworks face a perfect storm. Ever more demanding customers, a burgeoning Web, and new content delivery business models threaten to undermine the leading position . . .

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 . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Expand Globally, Market Locally

Adapting The Four Ps Of Marketing To New B2B Markets

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., March 31, 2009

Taking the show on the road — expanding into new markets — is a daunting proposition for tech marketers. New markets mean new requirements, including not only product features, but also price, promotion, and placement attributes — the Four Ps. New geographic . . .

For Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Inquiry Insights: Financial Services, Q4 2008

What Was On The Minds Of Bank And Insurer Roles In '08?

by Ellen Carney, March 10, 2009

To understand how the recession, particularly the collapse of Wall Street and the housing market, is affecting technology decision-makers in the financial services industries, Forrester sorted through more than 20,000 inquiries that it received during . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Mapping IT's Green Opportunities

Get Ready For Green IT 2.0

by Christopher Mines, March 5, 2009

Vendor strategists must raise their sights to take in and capture the full value of IT across the landscape of green business opportunity. The foreground of energy efficiency and waste reduction — the green IT 1.0 zone where many strategists focus today . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Channel Management In A Down Economy

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

by Tim Harmon, February 2, 2009

Vendors are responding to the economic slowdown with a wide range of channel management and channel marketing initiatives. Economic conditions dictate new approaches, in particular rethinking channel performance management and channel model innovation. . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Offshore Product Development Requires Onshore Product Management

The Arguments For Greater Scrutiny Increase

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., Tom Grant, Ph.D., January 29, 2009

Recent developments in the IT services industry illustrate broader risks associated with outsourcing technology product development. While outsourcing is and should remain an arrow in the quiver of development options, product management must play a major . . .

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 Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Hot Banking Tech Companies To Watch In 2009

Profiles Of Technology Companies That Address Banking's Changed World

by Ellen Carney, December 22, 2008

The banking industry is going through its most challenging period since the Great Depression. Bank capital structures are stressed because of write-downs and write-offs, formerly high-flying investment banks face the more regulated world of retail banking, . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Hot Insurance Tech Companies To Watch In 2009

Profiles Of Technology Companies That Are Reinventing Insurance IT

by Ellen Carney, December 12, 2008

Ready or not, the insurance industry is gearing up for some big changes. In 2008, insurers are being tested by a Wall Street collapse that tanked investment portfolios, driving business structural changes; a surge in US catastrophic loss claims; and growing . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The Five Qualities Of Good Software Pricing

An Evaluation Framework To Test How Potential Buyers Will React To Your Software Licensing Model

by Duncan Jones, July 23, 2008

Poorly designed software pricing can limit sales opportunities, extend sales cycles, restrict upselling, and reduce maintenance renewals. Forrester has identified five qualities of good software pricing from talking with hundreds of software sourcing . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Industry Essential: The US Telecom Industry

A Quick Guide To Understanding The Communications Sector

by Maribel D. Lopez, February 1, 2008

Technology marketers charged with targeting their company's products and services to US telecommunications firms like AT&T and Verizon need to understand the trends, business drivers, and industry jargon that drive this sector. While the overall market . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

SWOT Analysis: Microsoft Unified Communications, Q3 2007

Microsoft Markets Complete Package Of UC Application Servers

by Henry Dewing, December 31, 2007

Microsoft's leading share in IM and email puts it in an excellent position to win a substantial share of the unified communications (UC) market. How will it differentiate? With a holistic product set delivering instant messaging, email, collaboration, . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

SWOT Analysis: Municipal Wireless Networking, Q4 2007

Four Key Vendors Compete For Municipal Wireless Deployments

by Sally M. Cohen, December 10, 2007

Today's municipal wireless network vendors must couple innovative access and back-haul technology with forward-thinking network applications and services to win deals. Now these vendors must go further and answer the call from municipalities for business . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Active Directory Management Solutions, Q4 2007

NetPro And Quest Software Lead, With NetIQ Close Behind

by Christopher Voce, December 6, 2007

Forrester evaluated leading Active Directory management solution vendors across 82 criteria and found that Quest Software and NetPro lead in Active Directory management. Quest provides the most complete set of capabilities across its product suite. NetPro . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

SWOT Analysis: IBM Unified Communications, Q3 2007

IBM's Commitment To The Customer On UC Promises A Robust Solution

by Henry Dewing, November 28, 2007

IBM's commanding market share in IM and email puts the company in an excellent position to win a substantial share of the unified communications (UC) market. How will it differentiate? With its customer-first design and development strategy, which will . . .