For Vendor Strategy Professionals

IT Buyers Prioritize Virtualization Over Cloud

Strategists Should Plan Practical Offerings And Messaging For Buyers

by Frank E. Gillett, October 30, 2009

In the Forrester Enterprise And SMB Hardware Survey, North America And Europe, Q3 2009, we used carefully worded questions to test buyer priorities on initiatives for virtualization, consolidation, automation, internal cloud, and infrastructure-as-a-service . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The IT Management Software Challengers

SWOT Analysis For ASG, Compuware, EMC, Quest Software, And Microsoft, Q3 2009

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, October 26, 2009

The 2009 IT management software (ITMS) market seems to favor smaller vendors to the detriment of larger ones. Preliminary results for the first three quarters of 2009 show that the megavendors' share of the ITMS market has again declined from 2008. This . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Capgemini Consulting Is Moving To Become A Global Transformation Partner For M&A

M&A Services SWOT Analysis: Capgemini Consulting, Q4 2009

by Daniel Krauss, Pascal Matzke, October 21, 2009

Capgemini Consulting, the newly formed global consulting business unit of Capgemini, provides a well-defined portfolio for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) services. This step of globalizing its business is timely, given that strategic decisions in . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Tata Consultancy Services: Using The Downturn To Reposition Its IT M&A Services

M&A Services SWOT Analysis: Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Q4 2009

by Daniel Krauss, Pascal Matzke, October 6, 2009

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has primarily focused on the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) IT requirements of clients in the financial services industry for many years. Backed by its strong IT system and process knowledge and experience, it has mainly . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Tech Horizons: OpTier, A Step Toward Business Service Management (BSM) 2.0

Is Business Transaction Management The New BSM?

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, October 5, 2009

BSM is firmly established now as a way to manage IT as a business tool rather than as a collection of fragile technologies. In this transformation of IT into a service provider, technology is only one element of the equation and is no longer the only . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Lead Management Automation Market Overview

Multiple Vendor Choices And Confusing Claims Slow Adoption

by Laura Ramos, September 22, 2009

Lead management automation (LMA) requires a degree of process maturity many business-to-business (B2B) firms don't possess, resulting in underachievement by vendors and users alike. Yet, the benefits of adopting LMA are clear: B2B marketers that successfully . . .

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 Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Tier One Middleware Vendors

A SWOT Analysis Of The Leading Business Process Platform Vendors: IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, And SAP

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., September 4, 2009

The four largest traditional software vendors — IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP — compete around business process platform software. This broader software segment covers all the components that independent software vendors (ISVs) need to create a packaged . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Key Takeaways For IT Asset Life-Cycle Management

The Recent Forrester Wave™ Separates IT Asset Life-Cycle Management Vendors In A Cloud From The Rest

by Peter O'Neill, August 19, 2009

We published a Forrester Wave™ on IT asset life-cycle management (ITALM) in April 2009. It has generated a lot of interest in the topic among users and some interest among vendors. Users are downloading the Wave tool and adjusting the criteria weightings . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The IT Management Software Megavendors

SWOT Analysis For BMC Software, CA, HP Software, And IBM Tivoli, Q3 2009

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, Peter O'Neill, August 12, 2009

The current recession and credit crunch deeply affected IT spending in the last quarter of 2008 and into 2009. Despite this bleak overall picture, Forrester forecasts 4% growth in nonapplication software products (e.g., storage management, middleware), . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Yet Another Cloud

Forrester's First Proposal Of A Cloud Taxonomy

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., July 30, 2009

Despite the current crisis, the demand for cloud computing is growing at enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Some customers consider virtual infrastructure in the Internet as cloud, while others deem their business applications delivered . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

SWOT: The Evolution Of IT Service Providers To Business Technology Competitors

The Business Technology Offerings Of Accenture, Capgemini, Cognizant, And IBM

by Chris Andrews, June 22, 2009

The market for traditional IT services will change dramatically over the next five years as more vendors realize the benefits of aligning their technology solutions with the needs of business customers. Unlike other technology trends that come and go, . . .

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

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 Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The Enterprise 2.0 Buyer Profile: 2009

The Top Priorities And Needs Of Firms Looking At Enterprise 2.0 Technology

by G. Oliver Young, May 7, 2009

In 2009, nearly one in two businesses will make use of enterprise 2.0 software, a staggering number given that the application of social software to employee collaboration and productivity goals is just three years old. However, few firms are currently . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Overview: IT Financial Management Software

The Time Is Right For More Cost Transparency In IT

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., Peter O'Neill, May 7, 2009

As IT continues to morph into business technology, it increasingly gets the same treatment and is subject to the same expectations as any other business operation. Some of the most pressing needs in this respect are clearly measured, continuous process . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Momentum: Green IT 2008

A Look At Sustainability Announcements Of Leading Systems Vendors

by Christopher Mines, April 29, 2009

We reviewed the sustainability-related activities of 13 leading IT systems vendors from 2007 to 2008 by examining public announcements on their Web sites. Three takeaways emerged from our analysis: 1) The rate of green-related announcements increased . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Overview: The IT Management Software Market In 2009

The Current Economy Is A Catalyst For Change

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, Peter O'Neill, March 13, 2009

In 2009, IT faces the problem of cutting costs without affecting the productivity of business users. Ideally, enterprises will look at solutions that increase IT ops' productivity, reduce the time needed to correct problems, and eliminate wasted time: . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

Vendors Tailor Product Offerings To Security's Needs

Market Momentum: IT Security Product Market, H1 2008

by Robert Whiteley, March 4, 2009

To investigate the IT security software market, Forrester examined a set of 20 representative IT security vendors and tracked more than 200 different activities in the market. These activities included mergers and acquisitions (M&A), partnerships, . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

IT Management Software Positioning Benchmark, Q4 2008

A Review Of IT Management Software Marketing Practices With A Self-Assessment Tool

by Peter O'Neill, February 12, 2009

Forrester used its vendor positioning review methodology to re-evaluate the four leading IT management software vendors across 14 criteria and three product domains and determine where they are now positioning themselves on the continuum between information . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Momentum: IT Security Product Market, H1 2008

by Jonathan Penn, February 2, 2009

The IT security software market is poised for growth and transformation. Despite the economic climate, security is taking a larger slice of the overall IT budget as businesses recognize that the damage to brand reputation and customer issues arising from . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Software Vendor Positioning Benchmark, Q4 2008

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

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., December 23, 2008

A year after we first published it, Forrester's vendor positioning review (VPR) methodology has become a proven strategy tool; Forrester analysts have applied it in multiple advisory engagements, and marketing professionals actively leverage it as a self-assessment . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Leveraging Forrester's Research And Models For Strategic Advantage

Uncertain Economic Times Create Competitive Opportunities

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., Daniel Krauss, December 22, 2008

A recession provides companies in general and vendor strategists in particular with a unique opportunity to leapfrog the competition. But not all strategic paradigms and models are equally well suited for this task. We have designed Forrester's research . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Overview 2008: Automated Testing Software

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, November 7, 2008

Conventional wisdom says that the goal of testing is to find bugs in software, and that this should be achieved by running known usage cases that yield expected results. This opens the door to automation and automated testing solutions. New applications, . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Selling IT Services In An Economic Downturn

When Economic Conditions Are Poor, Segmentation And Positioning Matter More Than Ever

by Chris Andrews, November 4, 2008

The global credit crunch is beginning to affect providers of IT services and outsourcing. Vendors in this market have spent years building up their value-added service offerings in an effort to generate higher margins and foster more strategic relationships . . .