Andre Kindness

Principal Analyst Serving Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

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Andre serves IT Infrastructure & Operations Professionals. He is a leading expert on enterprise network operations and architecture. His research focuses on networking technology and strategy--such as software define networking and network function virtualization--for private cloud, remote locations, and hybrid cloud. In particular, he is a leading visionary in defining the network architecture and technology needed inside retail stores, hospitals, manufacturing sites, and hospitality venues. The focus of each is engaging the people involved, especially customers. He helps Forrester clients develop and improve their strategy to ensure they create a network platform for the digital business since the network connection can be a customer's first touch point to the business.

Previous Work Experience

Andre's career spans 20 years in marketing, business, and technology leadership roles. Andre worked for 10 years with networking professionals inside business and value added resellers at HP's networking division and Cisco Systems, researching and defining which features, products, and solutions were needed to solve complex business challenges. Prior to the network industry, he developed an expertise in systems engineering, designing complex rocket propulsion systems for GenCorp Aerojet, a leader in space missile and propulsion industry. His perspective on the importance of customer orientation, standardized process and procedures, continuous improvement, agile tactics, resiliency, and rapid innovation were honed during his years designing new aircraft features and models at an aircraft company.

Education

Andre graduated from the University of California, Davis, in 1994 and has Bachelor of Science degrees in mechanical engineering, material science and engineering, and aeronautical science and engineering. Additionally, he has a pending CISSP certificate from (ISC)² and has received certificates from UC Davis in network administration and management and also routing and switching technologies.

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Andre Kindness

Principal Analyst Serving Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Read Andre's blog posts

Previous Work Experience

Education

Research Coverage

Andre Kindness's Research

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For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

REPORT: What To Consider When Exploring Passive Optical LAN

Make Accurate Comparisons With Traditional LANs When Building Your Next Network Design

January 31, 2019Andre Kindness

The impact of digitalization and smart offices has raised businesses' concerns about energy consumption around the globe. Some vendors are pitching passive optical LAN (POL) as a way to save up to 80% on networking construction and energy costs over traditional local-area networking (TLAN). But when making comparisons, beware of inconsistencies and omissions that may skew the results. This report helps infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals understand critical information to make sound networking decisions based on real-world conditions.
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

REPORT: Scoring Our 2018 Cloud Predictions

We Were Spot-On For Three, Early On Four, And Reaching On Three

December 19, 2018 Lauren E. Nelson, Dave Bartoletti, Charlie Dai, Amanda LeClair, Liz Herbert, Andre Kindness, Paul Miller

Every year, Forrester predicts what lies ahead for cloud in the year to come. But have these predictions proven true over the past year for infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals? This report holds us, the prediction makers, accountable by assessing each prediction against what actually happened in 2018.
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

REPORT: Edge Computing Will Radically Alter Your Infrastructure Strategy

Road Map: The Infrastructure Transformation Playbook

December 5, 2018 Chris Gardner, Andre Kindness

Edge computing and internet of things (IoT) are transformational technologies, extending ubiquitous connectivity and control to the physical world. Only our imaginations limit applications built to deal with the flood of new business insights at the edge. This report analyzes the drivers, challenges, developments, and opportunities now emerging with edge computing, providing guidance for infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals dealing with a profound new class of edge use cases.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Emerging Technology Spotlight: Businesswide Networking Fabric

Businesswide Networking Fabric Enriches Your Digital Business Value

December 3, 2018Andre Kindness

Businesswide networking fabrics have started to disrupt traditional networking service providers and vendors. Enterprises must understand what this disruptive technology is, when it will be mature, and which vendors are best suited to deliver it. CIOs and business technology leaders at advanced companies should read this report and Forrester's associated deeper research to push their organizations to create adoption strategies.
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

REPORT: LoWPAN Technologies Redefine Wireless Infrastructure And Operations

How To Pick The Right Low-Power Wireless Personal-Area Networking Technology

July 31, 2018Andre Kindness

While 5G and low-power 4G derivatives are often the focus in internet-of-things (IoT) connectivity discussions, most IoT devices — due to fit, form, and function — will transmit over very short distances using one or more low-power wireless personal-area networking (LoWPAN) technologies. Failing to understand the characteristics of the short-range wireless technologies that share space with Wi-Fi can derail your IoT initiatives — and even collapse your wireless infrastructure. This report guides infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals through these LoWPAN technologies to help them develop a better wireless environment and highlights the technologies that support the creation of new IoT applications.

For CIO Professionals

REPORT: The Top Emerging Technologies To Watch 2018

July 11, 2018 Brian Hopkins, Christian Austin, Andre Kindness, James Staten, Brandon Purcell, Nate Fleming, Frank E. Gillett, Jeffrey S. Hammond, Martha Bennett, J. P. Gownder

To outpace the competition, CIOs must keep a constant finger on the pulse of technology change. Forrester has identified 12 emerging technologies with massive disruptive potential; their impact will be seen across a range of products, services, and solutions. This report helps CIOs zero in on the technologies most worthy of their focus, strategic planning, and investment.
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

REPORT: Predictions 2018: Cloud Computing Accelerates Enterprise Transformation Everywhere

New Private Cloud Options And Even More Public Cloud And SaaS Innovations Will Power Enterprise Transformation In 2018

November 7, 2017 Dave Bartoletti, Lauren E. Nelson, Liz Herbert, Paul Miller, Charlie Dai, Andras Cser, Andre Kindness

After a decade of powering digital transformation in small and medium-size businesses, cloud computing has quickly become a must-have enterprise technology. Cloud's impact has been global, yet fewer than half of all enterprises use a public cloud platform. In 2018, we'll cross the significant 50% adoption milestone, and cloud applications, platforms, and services will continue to radically change the way enterprises compete for customers. This report outlines the 10 key factors that will shape the cloud computing landscape in 2018 and advises infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders on how to respond.
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

REPORT: Strategic Benchmarks 2013: IT Infrastructure

IT Complexity And Growing Business Demands Orient Infrastructure Priorities Toward Increasing Hardware And Cost Efficiency

May 8, 2013Sophia I. Vargas, Richard Fichera, Dave Bartoletti, Henry Baltazar, Andre Kindness, Rachel A. Dines

This report provides IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals with strategic benchmarks to compare their IT infrastructure budgets, priorities, motivations, and technology adoption to their peers. The benchmarks in this report focus on key categories of IT infrastructure: servers, server operating systems, storage, data center networking, virtualization, and data center facilities. These benchmarks represent a subset of data collected in Forrester's Forrsights Hardware Survey, Q3 2012, fielded to 2,330 hardware decision-makers. Use these benchmarks as an important input to determine if you will maintain, adjust, or rethink your strategic infrastructure plans in 2013.
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

REPORT: Five Tenets Define Virtual Network Infrastructure, A Bold New Business Network

A Digital Business Network Built With NFV, Fabrics, Service Chaining, SDN, Programmability, And Multitenant Tenets

October 20, 2016Andre Kindness

In 2009, Forrester developed a new business technology network framework called virtual network infrastructure (VNI). Technology has advanced enough to support it, but a confusing array of names and acronyms, including software-defined networking (SDN), network functions virtualization (NFV), and service chaining, has emerged. Infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals must understand why VNI is a core technology strategy to help win, serve, and retain customers. This report explains the vision and key concepts of the model and connects industry buzzwords with five fundamental tenets to fit the VNI vision. This is an update of a previously published report; Forrester reviews and updates it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy.
For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

REPORT: Networking Predictions For 2013

Networking's Renaissance Breaks Down The Technology Silos And Introduces Teamwork

July 17, 2012Andre Kindness

As infrastructure & operations (I&O) leaders move aggressively to execute on their private cloud plans, they've run headlong into growing frictions between networking professionals and the rest of the data center team. Fundamentally, the networking organization can't handle key cloud strategy elements like virtual machine mobility and cloud bursting with today's rigid, manually controlled network. Thus, I&O professionals must accelerate network investment both inside and outside the data center. The business needs a network that interweaves local-area networks, wide-area networks, wireless, application acceleration, and management with application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs). This report delivers eight key predictions designed to help I&O leaders set their networking strategy for the next five years.