For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Addressing Diverse Stakeholders In The IT And Business Services Buying Process

Planning For 2010 Requires A Clear Understanding Of Roles

by Chris Andrews, November 20, 2009

For years, Forrester has written about the evolution of information technology (IT) into business technology (BT) — an idea that is rooted in Forrester's view that technology is becoming more relevant and strategic to business processes. This trend, which . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

IT Services: Banking And Insurance Vendor Management Practices Data  (606 KB PPT)

by Ellen Carney, August 5, 2009

Data chart on IT services vendor management data for banking and insurance industries.

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Judging The Maturity Of Your Vendor Management Efforts

Forrester's 20-Question Test Helps Firms Refine Their Vendor Management Approach

by John C. McCarthy, July 23, 2009

Two key vectors define the development sophistication of an organization's vendor management efforts. The first is the overall corporate support and governance acumen, and the second is the sophistication of the underlying processes and the level of automation. . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Work Closely With Enterprise Architects During Vendor Consolidation Projects

by Christine Ferrusi Ross, April 3, 2009

Many sourcing and vendor management teams are looking for ways to cut costs — and consolidating vendors is a logical part of that effort. But doing spend analysis only starts the ball rolling. Other considerations like "is this vendor going to be important . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Use Procurement Touchpoints For A Lightweight Enterprise Architecture Governance Process

Targeted EA Artifacts Can Improve Governance Even When Resources Are Tight

by Jost Hoppermann, March 4, 2009

In difficult economic times, enterprise architecture (EA) groups must often switch from a strategic focus to more tactical issues and cost management. Nevertheless, EA groups should maintain some capability to steer toward the future-state vision. A strong . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Case Study: A Manufacturer Lowers Costs With Automated Spend Analysis

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 14, 2009

Over the past five years, a successful global manufacturer increased its size tenfold through various acquisitions — good news for the company but essentially outstripping its strategic sourcing group's ability to effectively manage spend. The rapid growth . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Best Practices: Successfully Planning For And Managing Automated Spend Analysis Projects

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 14, 2009

Forrester estimates that only 13% of the companies that have implemented eSourcing solutions have also rolled out automated spend analysis. At a time when vendor consolidation and cost cutting is paramount, why isn't there higher adoption of a tool that . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Case Study: US Specialty Retailer Improves Sourcing With Automated Spend Analysis

by Patrick M. Connaughton, January 14, 2009

Centralized strategic sourcing was just in its infancy at this large retailer and it was feeling the growing pains. Without an accurate and credible single source of spend data, it was difficult to justify many of the hard decisions required to move to . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Digital Media Steer IT Services Buyers

Buyers Complement Old Media With New Social Technologies

by Euan Davis, October 6, 2008

New information access and information-sharing media allow sourcing executives to make IT services decisions, inform others of those decisions, execute and monitor the outcomes, and report them to their peers. This is where the power of digital media . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

2008 IT Services: North American Versus European Buyers' Information Source Preferences  (217 KB PPT)

by Ellen Daley, October 1, 2008

North American and European firms reporting on the influence of traditional and digital media as sources of information for informing their purchasing decisions and which publications they refer to when making enterprise-wide purchase decisions.

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Canadian IT Services Buyers' Information Source Preferences  (184 KB PPT)

by Ellen Daley, October 1, 2008

Canadian firms reporting on how influential some traditional and digital media as sources of information for informing their purchase decisions.

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Lease Or Buy? Funding Server Life Cycles

Technology And Procurement Specialists Must Weigh In Equally

by Brad Day, August 11, 2008

The office of the CIO is under constant pressure to meet the financial expectations of executive management by continually lowering the life-cycle cost of the computing infrastructure without sacrificing any of the expected feature/functionality. When . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Sourcing Professionals: Get Ready To Deal With Volatility

Business Change Will Drive Conflicting Demands On Sourcing And Vendor Management

by Christine Ferrusi Ross, Caroline Hoekendijk, July 24, 2008

Most business people would regard volatility as a given even in the best of times. Even so, volatility looks set to be historically high for the coming decade. In this context, sourcing professionals need to make sure that they keep up with the business, . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Aligning Sourcing Processes With Corporate Sustainability

by Euan Davis, July 7, 2008

The strategy for corporate sustainability focuses on resource management and is deployed for a number of reasons, including energy efficiency, legislation, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments to name a few. Sourcing does not set the . . .

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 Technology Sales Enablement Professionals

Industry Essential: The US Retail Banking Market

by Ellen Carney, May 19, 2008

At the end of 2007, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured banks in the US held nearly $6.9 trillion in deposits, supported more than 73,000 branches, and employed 1.8 million people. With changing demographics, increasing choices for consumer . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Case Study: HP Masters Procurement Risk

by Patrick M. Connaughton, August 3, 2007

Volatility of component costs, product demand, and supply availability can significantly increase procurement risks for high tech companies. Legacy supply chain software can help forecast demand and balance supply, but does not provide a holistic view . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Avoid The Hidden Costs Of Shelfware

Software Vendor Discounts Aren't Always As Good A Deal As They Seem

by Duncan Jones, April 5, 2007

Many clients complain to Forrester about expensive software maintenance and unsympathetic vendors but recognize that they are in a weak negotiation position. Whether it's application software or infrastructure, both problems often have a common cause . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

ePurchasing Software Market

eProcurement And eSourcing Mature; CLM, EIPP, And Automated Spend Analysis Grow

by Andrew Bartels, February 20, 2007

The market for ePurchasing software, also called spend management or supplier relationship management solutions, will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10% from 2003 to 2008, with more mature segments of the market like eProcurement and . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

IT Asset Management: IT Asset Sourcing And Fulfillment Best Practices

by Norbert Kriebel, February 12, 2007

From the point of view of an IT asset, sourcing and fulfillment is a one-time activity that marks the beginning of its life cycle in an organization. In the best case, the asset will serve a long and fruitful life and eventually be removed from the organization . . .

Close The Software Negotiation GAAP!

Buyers Must Help Vendors Work Around Their Accounting Constraints

by Duncan Jones, January 2, 2007

Software vendors frequently refuse to give in to IT buyers' perfectly reasonable commercial requests for simple contractual commitments covering future license audits, maintenance price increases, and product enhancements. One reason for this that buyers . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

US Federal Enterprise Architects Are Committed To SOA, But Procurement Gets Complicated

by Gene Leganza, April 12, 2006

Forrester recently surveyed 20 federal enterprise architects to discover how they view the role of service-oriented architecture (SOA) in their agencies. They tell us that both the program areas and agency IT groups appreciate the value of SOA. More significantly, . . .