For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

The Online Customer Engagement Software Ecosystem

Understand Your Options For Supporting Public-Facing Web Sites

by Stephen Powers, February 8, 2010

Information and knowledge management (I&KM) professionals who support public-facing Web sites face a potpourri of product options from software vendors. Currently, persuasive content functions — such as content services, analytics, and more . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

SharePoint 2010: Search Improved, But Think Twice About FAST Search Upgrade

by Leslie Owens, February 8, 2010

Microsoft recently unveiled the public beta of SharePoint Server 2010 and the public beta of FAST Search for SharePoint. Information professionals will welcome the new ability to centrally manage metadata, as well as improved search for people functionality . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Predictive Analytics And Data Mining Solutions, Q1 2010

SAS, SPSS/IBM, KXEN, Oracle, And Portrait Software Lead, With Others Innovating

by James G. Kobielus, February 4, 2010

In Forrester's 53-criteria evaluation of predictive analytics and data mining (PA/DM) vendors, we found that SAS Institute, SPSS (evaluated separately from new parent IBM's other PA/DM offerings), KXEN, Oracle, Portrait Software, and IBM (pre-SPSS acquisition . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

TechRadar™ For Enterprise Architecture Professionals: Enterprise Data Integration, Q1 2010

Data Integration Technologies Evolve To Address New Challenges

by Noel Yuhanna, Rob Karel, February 4, 2010

Today, enterprises face increasing data integration challenges, largely because of growing data volumes, data protection issues, data migration complexities, the need for real-time information, integration of structured with unstructured data, and the . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Peer Adoption -- The State Of Email In The Enterprise, 2009

by Christopher Voce, February 3, 2010

Organizations are continuing to invest in ways to allow users to work better together and give them faster access to the information they need -- and IT pros have to support this with flexible, reliable, cost-effective infrastructure.

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

IT's Role In Creating Better Presentations

Visualization Is An Art That Can Be Improved With Practical Approaches

by Sheri McLeish, January 29, 2010

Let's face it: most presentations fall short. While professionally produced presentations might represent the corporate brand with pride, most PowerPoint decks produced by normal people miss that mark. But is "visual literacy" a skill you can teach? Forrester . . .

For CIOs

CIOs: Is Workforce Planning On Your Agenda?

Global Workforce Planning Through 2016

by Marc Cecere, January 29, 2010

Over the next decade, the global workforce will change dramatically. An aging workforce and a shrinking economically active population will affect how organizations hire staff and source skills both locally and globally. CIOs need to understand which . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

How To Foster Software Innovation To Exploit The Economic Recovery

Best Practices In Software Innovation From Leading Software Developers

by Mike Gilpin, January 29, 2010

Software innovation plays an increasingly vital role in enterprise success as a key part of more and more products and services, whether on the Web, a phone, a desktop PC, a car, or in your home. Innovation is important whether the software is . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Software Innovation Assessment Workbook

by Mike Gilpin, January 29, 2010

Forrester’s Software Innovation Assessment Workbook helps you assess your current software innovation characteristics, capabilities, and opportunities for improvement. The tool calculates scores automatically for the archetype that applies to your situation, . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

SMBs Lag Behind Enterprises In Intranet Use And Maturity

by Tim Walters, Ph.D., January 28, 2010

This data chart presents data from Forrester's Workforce Technographics® US Benchmark Survey, Q2 2009 showing that intranet usage increases with company size but still mostly remains in early stages of Forrester's Intranet Maturity Model.

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Exchange 2010 — An Upgrade Worth Considering

Better Back End, Basic Archiving, And Bigger Mailboxes Lead The Benefits List

by Christopher Voce, Ted Schadler, Brian W. Hill, January 27, 2010

Email is business dial tone. Whether on computers or smartphones, email is the most popular application. And Microsoft Exchange is a popular choice for business email. Microsoft's recent release of Exchange Server 2010 has material benefits that should . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Microsoft SharePoint Muscles Into The Records Management Market

by Brian W. Hill, January 27, 2010

Pervasive adoption of SharePoint isn't exactly a secret, but it may come as a surprise to some that organizations are now using SharePoint extensively for records management. SharePoint records management users, however, report lower than average satisfaction. . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

The Best And Worst Of Site Search 2010

by Leslie Owens, January 26, 2010

Forrester reviewed the search functionality on the corporate Web sites of the top 50 US companies according to revenue. Almost all of the search engines executed queries very quickly, but the majority of sites barely passed our test. We encountered a . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

BI In The Cloud? Yes, And On The Ground, Too

Why, When, And How To Select A BI SaaS Vendor

by Boris Evelson, January 26, 2010

Slowly but surely, with lots of criticism and skepticism, the business intelligence (BI) software-as-a-service (SaaS) market is gaining ground. It's a road full of peril — at least two BI SaaS startups have failed this year — but what software . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

How Carphone Warehouse Uses Twitter And Social Media To Transform Customer Service

by Natalie L. Petouhoff, Ph.D., January 26, 2010

The Carphone Warehouse (CPW) is Europe's leading independent retailer of mobile phones and services, with more than 2,400 stores in nine countries. Because CPW's customers posted comments about service issues on Twitter, blogs, and e-review sites, CPW . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Five Myths That Hobble Your Intranet

by Tim Walters, Ph.D., January 25, 2010

Information and knowledge management (I&KM) professionals aiming to advance their organization's intranet or employee portal are hampered by five widely held myths about intranets: 1) information should be organized on departmental lines; 2) user . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

IBM's BAO Service Offering Is Positioned For Growth In 2010

by Chris Andrews, January 25, 2010

In April 2009, IBM Global Business Services (GBS) announced the formation of its Business Analytics and Optimization (BAO) services organization, a move that IBM claimed would help clients make "a fundamental shift to a smarter, fact-based enterprise." . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

SharePoint Server 2010: An Evolutionary Step Toward Content-Centric Middleware

by Rob Koplowitz, January 25, 2010

At the SharePoint Conference in October 2009, Microsoft disclosed the full functional road map for SharePoint Server 2010. Forrester views this release as evolutionary, not revolutionary. Since its debut in 2001, SharePoint's value proposition has evolved . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Enterprise Architecture Must Lead Enterprise Metadata Management Strategies

by Henry Peyret, Rob Karel, January 22, 2010

IT organizations already recognize metadata management as crucial for structured data quality but increasingly look to leverage metadata to improve the quality of business and IT processes. Despite this growing realization of metadata's potential, most . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Take A Fresh Look At Microsoft's Subscription Program

Recent Price Cuts Could Make It Sourcing Managers' Best Licensing Option

by Duncan Jones, January 14, 2010

Many enterprises are considering upgrading to new Microsoft products, but they lack the capital budget and are worried about the double impact of software depreciation and Software Assurance (SA) on their P&L. Sourcing teams are also reluctant to . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Topic Overview: Information Architecture

by Gene Leganza, January 13, 2010

Information architecture (IA) is a cornerstone of enterprise architecture (EA), but 43% of the architects we surveyed either have not yet addressed this domain or have only begun to implement what they need. And for the vast majority of the established . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Enterprise Smartphone Platforms And Usage

by Chris Silva, January 13, 2010

iPhone users are a mobile lot, relying on their devices for much. However, Forrester’s data shows that 75% of email from users of Apple smartphones still happens at their desk. The smartphone extends the user’s experience and allows him or her to remain . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

2010 Update: Evaluating Integration Alternatives

Enterprises Face A Growing Need For A Unified Integration Competency Center

by Ken Vollmer, Rob Karel, Noel Yuhanna, January 12, 2010

Just as in 2009, technical innovation and merger and acquisition (M&A) activity have continued to have a significant impact on the integration space. The most common trend has been the expansion of existing products and services to the point where . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

A Glimpse At The Best And Worst Of Office 2010

Fluent UI Extended, Groove Becomes SharePoint Workspace, Web Apps Debut

by Sheri McLeish, January 7, 2010

When Microsoft Office 2010 arrives for consumers in June, many enterprises will have the opportunity to upgrade through their existing licensing programs. For others, upgrade plans may not be as clear. In Office 2010, the Fluent user interface (UI) that . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

TechRadar™ For Business Process Professionals: Human Resource Management Apps, Q1 2010

Core Components Show Maturity While Collaborative Elements Evolve

by Paul D. Hamerman, Claire Schooley, January 6, 2010

Human resource management (HRM) applications range from essential tools to hire and pay employees and administer benefits programs to strategic components for assessing and developing talent. More than ever, enterprises now encounter a dynamic, diverse, . . .