For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Infrastructure-As-A-Service (IaaS) Clouds Are Local And So Are Their Implications

Know Where Your Cloud Is Before Deploying

by Onica King, James Staten, February 9, 2010

Many leading infrastructure and operations professionals looking for more innovative ways to reduce costs and increase operational flexibility are choosing public IaaS cloud computing solutions. Their elasticity, low entry costs, and ease of use are well . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Trends 2010: Customer Relationship Management

Eleven Trends Shape CRM Technology Adoption Agendas

by William Band, February 9, 2010

As the economy recovers, what are the key trends that will drive customer relationship management (CRM) strategies and technology adoption in 2010? Business and IT professionals who support customer-facing business processes must take into account 11 . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

RFP Template For Applications Maintenance Outsourcing Services

by Bill Martorelli, February 9, 2010

This template is intended to give firms a starting point for thinking about sections to include in an RFP for a application maintenance outsourcing provider selection. Firms should view this as only as starting point and should make sure to adapt it to . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Accenture, Cognizant, And Infosys Boost R&D Services Competition

Three Major Services Firms See Opportunity In Offshore Product Development

by Sudin Apte, February 8, 2010

The previously uneventful offshore product development market is poised for significant change. Anticipating a huge growth in this untapped market, top IT services firms Accenture, Cognizant, and Infosys are investing in it. These firms are tapping their . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Market Overview: Applications Outsourcing Suppliers Adjust To The "New Normal"

by Bill Martorelli, February 8, 2010

Suppliers of application development and maintenance (ADM) were whipsawed during 2009 by the impact of severe economic uncertainty and the subsequent partial recovery throughout the middle and latter parts of the year. Revenues are still down for many . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

London 2012: Athletes And New Services Will Push Boundaries, Not The Underlying Technologies

by Mike Cansfield, February 8, 2010

In the first of our series of reports on the information and communications technology (ICT) behind the London 2012 Olympic Games, we looked at the six lessons that vendor strategists can draw from planning the biggest show on earth. When it comes to . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

ERP Software Trends In 2010 And Beyond

ERP Software Enters A New Wave Of Innovation

by Holger Kisker, Ph.D., February 3, 2010

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions are the core of most companies' IT applications. Over the past three decades, ERP went through several innovation cycles and today is considered to be a mature market. Many ERP software vendors have shifted . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Q&A: Does IBM's zLinux Solutions Edition Go Far Enough?

Trojan Horse Moves: Steroids Linux, Lean Math Is IBM's New Rolling Thunder

by Brad Day, February 3, 2010

When IBM announced its Solution Edition of packaged software solutions for the System z mainframe in July 2009, it had to meet two key customer objectives. On the one hand, the Solution Editions offering needed to create a significant life-cycle cost . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

European Satisfaction With IT Services Firms Indicates The Obstacles Facing Offshore Providers

Client Satisfaction Findings From Forrester's European IT Services Survey

by Sudin Apte, February 3, 2010

Large multinational services firms (MNCs) like Accenture, HP, and IBM have the most client relationships in Forrester's survey of 300 European companies, and their clients were more satisfied than clients of regional European players and Indian firms. . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

EMEA Buyers Need A New Sourcing Recipe For Managed Desktop Services

Global Desktop Technology Trends Require A Localized Response

by Andrew Parker, February 3, 2010

Taking into account the EMEA-specific sourcing environment and the highly fragmented EMEA service provider landscape, sourcing and vendor management teams need to adapt their approach to align with the changing expectations of their stakeholders around . . .

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 Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Make Sure You Capture IT Service Providers' Value-Add When They Front Third-Party Cloud Services

by Andrew Parker, February 3, 2010

Sourcing execs face a growing barrage of cloud computing offerings from suppliers across the tech industry. Although some offerings promise real benefit to enterprise users, the whole new range of services coming to market only adds to the complexity . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

FAQs About Vendor Management Systems And Managed Service Providers

by Patrick M. Connaughton, February 1, 2010

Forrester clients ask us many questions about vendor management systems (VMS) and managed services providers (MSPs) — ranging from what pricing models are available to whether it makes sense to contract both together, and of course, what shortlist . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

Shift Happened In The Strong Authentication Market In 2009

Key Vendors Made Dramatic Moves And Are Looking At A Cloudy Future

by Bill Nagel, February 1, 2010

The strong authentication market is on the move — slowly but surely. Nearly half of the authentication vendors profiled in Forrester's July 2008 market overview have since changed hands. Even those that haven't had a shift in ownership — or . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Platform BPO: Process Outsourcers Take A New Approach To Traditional BPO

by John C. McCarthy, January 29, 2010

Outsourcers like Accenture, Genpact, Infosys, and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) are making another run at the BPO market. This new line of attack is based on a standard software "platform" underpinning the BPO offering. No longer will these and other . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Predictions 2010: The Tech Industry Rebounds Faster Than The Overall Economy

by Christopher Mines, January 29, 2010

The technology industry will be among the bright spots of the global economic recovery in 2010. We forecast that IT purchases (measured in US dollars) will grow by more than 8% over the depressed levels of 2009, led by software sales and some segments . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

From London To Munich — Where To Colocate Your Data Center? And With Which Provider?

Colocation And Managed Services Providers In Western Europe

by Rachel A. Dines, January 28, 2010

Are you running out of data center space or planning for a backup data center? Today, more companies are looking to colocation and managed services in lieu of building their own facility. Why? For many, the upfront capital required to build a facility . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Momentum: Corporate Strategy Services Market, H2 2009

Demand For Business Intelligence, Performance, And Risk Management As Well As Sustainability Consulting Is Driving New Services

by Daniel Krauss, January 27, 2010

In H2 2009, we found fewer merger and acquisition (M&A) as well as partnership activities among the core providers of the corporate strategy services market. While providers continued to strengthen and align their portfolio and go-to-market approach . . .

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 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 Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Business Users Are Not Ready For Cloud Storage

Current And Planned Adoption Of Storage-As-A-Service Is Minimal For Now

by Andrew Reichman, January 22, 2010

There's been a lot of talk over the past year about moving data to the cloud, from storage vendors and IT professionals alike. Why? Given that data storage capacities are growing at 30% to 40% per year but storage budgets are flat or growing minimally, . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Agile Development: Mainstream Adoption Has Changed Agility

Trends In Real-World Adoption Of Agile Methods

by Dave West, Tom Grant, Ph.D., January 20, 2010

In the past few years, Agile processes have not only gained increasing adoption levels; they have also rapidly joined the mainstream of development approaches. And while more organizations are adapting to Agile conventions, Agile is also adapting to the . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Five Key Elements Of Risk In Transitioning To Managed Outcome ADM Relationships

by Bill Martorelli, January 20, 2010

One of the major drivers for entering into managed outcome relationships for application development and maintenance (ADM) services is the transfer of delivery and financial risk from the customer to the supplier. However, entering into managed outcome . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Case Study: Siemens IT Solutions And Services Successfully Positions A Community Cloud

Siemens IT Solutions And Services Tailors Forrester's Cloud Taxonomy To Communicate Its Vertical Strength

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., January 19, 2010

Cloud computing has become the dominant theme of the marketing campaigns of many infrastructure outsourcing and services providers. Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SIS) — one of the largest European-based service providers — felt challenged . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

As IaaS Cloud Adoption Goes Global, Tech Vendors Must Address Local Concerns

Infrastructure-As-A-Service Clouds Are Local, And So Are Their Implications

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., January 15, 2010

Despite the buzz about cloud computing, global adoption rates for infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) remain anemic. However, a look at regional differences in adoption and local concerns reveals that security and privacy are often top of mind as potential . . .