Bobby Cameron

Vice President, Principal Analyst Serving CIO Professionals

Read Bobby's blog posts

Bobby serves CIOs. He is a leading expert on best practices for IT, including: business technology (BT), the empowered BT archetype, transformation from IT to BT, BT demand management, driving business innovation, business alignment, the business value of IT, BT strategic planning, IT governance, IT structure, IT/BT maturity, the marketing of IT, architecture and technology strategy, application development, IT operations, and serving the business.

His specialty is transformative technology use that drives business success in the emerging world of business technology (BT), like IT value creation, technology-based business innovation, and digital business networks.

While Bobby focuses his research on delivering IT excellence on the road to BT, he continues his close work with members of The CIO Group in the Forrester Leadership Boards, which he conceived and piloted in 2002. In this role, he writes CIO-targeted research, answers individual members' business and technology inquiries, and facilitates CIO Group member exchange meetings where CIOs discuss member-selected topics.

Previous Work Experience

Prior to taking on this role, Bobby's research focused on technology leadership — the impact of technology and services on organizations, budgets, and roles. Bobby previously led Forrester's research on IT services and enterprisewide applications, such as ERP, supply chain, and customer management, that can make or break a company's business performance. Bobby has also directed Forrester's software strategies service. Bobby has led Forrester's research into the transformation of IT governance, measuring IT's success, eBusiness organizations, business growth through applications, harnessing computing chaos, and distributed information infrastructures. He is also a recognized expert in many Internet/intranet technologies and client/server software issues, including packaged applications, databases, middleware, application design, decision support, software development, and security.

Before joining Forrester, Bobby spent five years as director of product management at Dun and Bradstreet Software (DBS), with responsibility for that company's client/server directions, decision support products, and tools and technologies. Bobby came to DBS from Dataquest, the San Jose, Calif.-based market research firm, where he spent two years as associate director for Northeast Research, focusing on business applications and systems. Prior to Dataquest, he spent nine years at Chase Manhattan's electronic banking business in Lexington, Mass., connecting 8,000 treasurers with 100 bank back offices worldwide. While at Chase, Bobby was MIS director and director of product management.

Education

Bobby holds a B.A. in economics from Harvard University and an M.S. in economics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Print Bio

Bobby Cameron

Vice President, Principal Analyst Serving CIO Professionals

Read Bobby's blog posts

Previous Work Experience

Education

Bobby holds a B.A. in economics from Harvard University and an M.S. in economics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Research Coverage

Bobby Cameron's Research

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For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Startups Can Jumpstart Your Innovation

Leading Consultancies Have Ecosystems Of Startups That CIOs Can Leverage

April 30, 2018Bobby Cameron

The age of the customer is driving the age of innovation as companies work to deliver the experience, products, and services that their customers desire. Delivering innovative approaches can be difficult for many companies. This innovation gap has opened the door for others to capitalize upon. But there are challenges for CIOs who try to develop and utilize startups in their plans. One option is to use consulting firms. This report shows the problems with managing startup ecosystems, what a few consultancies are doing, and how CIOs can take advantage of their services.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Case Study: Win Tech Talent In Non-Tech Hubs Like WillowTree

Start With A Strong Talent Brand And The Right Location

March 14, 2018Bobby Cameron, Nate Meneer

Finding top tech talent outside of major tech hubs takes some extra work, but it can be done. This case study explores the talent strategy of WillowTree, an innovation agency that provides mobile app development services to leading global brands. WillowTree has developed a thriving operation out of offices in Charlottesville, Virginia and Durham, North Carolina. The decision to headquarter operations in the Mid-Atlantic has helped WillowTree recruit from an undersubscribed talent pool that wants a change from life inside major tech hubs.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: CIOs At Firms With Great CX Are Different

Their First Priority Is Their Company's Customers

March 8, 2018Bobby Cameron

Forrester's Customer Experience Index (CX Index™) predicts customer loyalty. CMOs work hard to improve CX because better CX drives revenue. We interviewed CIOs from firms with high CX Index scores and found major differences in the way that they operate as compared with CIOs we interviewed from companies with low scores. This report reveals those operating differences and the best practices of customer-obsessed CIOs.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Take Charge Of Digital Transformation Initiatives For Your Organization

Indian CIOs Are Slow To Embrace Digital Transformation

February 20, 2018 Ashutosh Sharma, Bobby Cameron

Indian CIOs are still delivering traditional IT capabilities. But digital businesses require a different type of leadership, one that focuses on leveraging digital technologies to serve customers. Indian CIOs can use the insights in this research to identify habits they need to adopt and ones they need to change to become customer-obsessed digital leaders.
For CMO Professionals

REPORT: While Getting Started With Digital, Invest In Technology For Customer Engagement

Beginner Level: Technology Practices For Digital Business

February 8, 2018 Ted Schadler, Bobby Cameron

Companies beginning as digital businesses have a giant leap to make: They must stop treating technology as a cost center, and start treating it as a source of revenue, agility, and engagement. This report outlines the four technologies that digital business leaders at the beginner level of digital maturity should focus on: web and mobile interfaces for customer engagement, data and analytics to understand your customers, identity management to protect and serve customers, and cloud computing to move to the future of software.

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

REPORT: The Top 10 Technology Trends To Watch: 2016 To 2018

The Age Of The Customer Will Drive Firms To Increase Their Investments In End-To-End Technology Solutions

September 8, 2015 Brian Hopkins, Bobby Cameron

Five years into the age of the customer, investments in mobile, cloud, big data, predictive analytics, and social technologies are booming. But unlike previous technology cycles, tech investments will continue to grow rather than diminish throughout the refinement period. This year's top 10 tech trends demonstrate why; a shift is underway from cyclical, invention-led spending on point solutions to investments targeting customer-driven, end-to-end value. Enterprise architects should read this report to understand the trends that are enabling continuous customer value innovation from end to end — across journeys, channels, and the enterprise.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: The Top 10 Technology Trends To Watch: 2018 To 2020

Ten Trends Will Help You Maximize The Value Of Business Technology

October 19, 2017 Brian Hopkins, Bobby Cameron, Ted Schadler, Rusty Warner

Maximizing the value of your business technology investments requires an understanding of trends — not just as interesting reading but as vital clues to your firm's future success and, possibly, even survival. CIOs must demand trend analysis that goes deeper than trite statements about artificial intelligence, digital platforms, or meshes. Our 2018 to 2020 trends do exactly that. Read this report to understand the top 10 trends and how they will change the nature of your business.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: The Emerging Technology Trends That CIOs Should Care About

August 13, 2008Bobby Cameron

Today's technology trends may appear like only incremental changes compared with historic changes like ERP and the Internet, but Forrester believes that we are in the initial phases of a major technology innovation and growth wave called "IT everywhere." We are witnessing multiple trends that, when combined, will drive a dramatic change in technology adoption and use. Some of these trends — like X Internet, mobile, SOA, and BPM — have been around for a few years but are just gaining the footing required to launch them into enterprise use. Others — including Technology Populism, Digital Business Architecture, security and risk management, IT ecosystems, the Information Workplace, master data management, and Dynamic Business Applications — are just truly coming online. CIOs must continuously assess these trends to successfully navigate this new wave.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Engaging Customers With Technology

Take An Outside-In View Of The World

February 8, 2016Bobby Cameron

Technology brings together technology and traditionally customer-facing roles like marketing, sales, service, brand/product management, and fulfillment to deliver superior (digital) customer experience. The increasingly crucial role that digital technologies play in customer engagement elevates the CIO role in business. Read this report to understand how the age of the customer requires tech management to transform into an outside-in function that plans, builds, and runs technology according to customers' expectations.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Forrester's Balanced Scorecard Helps Redefine How You Manage Performance

Make Business Outcomes And Agility The Key Metrics For Your Team

September 15, 2016 Martha Bennett, Bobby Cameron

Forrester developed its IT Balanced Scorecard for CIOs almost a decade ago, based on the original Balanced Scorecard framework proposed by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton. In 2014, we updated this framework to reflect that — in an age where powerful customers are disrupting every industry — companies will have to change how they develop, market, sell, and deliver products and services. CIOs and their teams need new metrics to track transformation and performance. This report discusses Forrester's current Tech Management Balanced Scorecard.