Nigel Fenwick

Vice President, Principal Analyst Serving Application Development & Delivery Professionals

Read Nigel's blog posts

Nigel serves digital business professionals working across the C-suite to provide insight and guidance in a world disrupted by technology. A leader in digital business and strategy, Nigel can be seen speaking at events around the world and is frequently quoted in both trade and mainstream media. Recognized as a visionary with insight into emerging trends, he has published leading research on digital transformation, social media, business strategy, innovation, retail, and marketing. His latest research on digital business examines customer value and the fundamental business changes needed in the age of the customer to win, serve, and retain customers.

Previous Work Experience

Nigel's career spans 30 years in marketing, business, and technology leadership roles. After earning a first degree in computing in business, Nigel dedicated his career to transforming business through technology. Reebok UK recruited Nigel to its executive board when he was just 26. While with Reebok, he pursued innovations in technology to help the company become the No. 1 sportswear brand in the UK while simultaneously pioneering the offshore software development model with the founders of Infosys. Reebok subsequently transferred Nigel to the USA to help Reebok globally. Following Reebok, Nigel moved into marketing leadership at Transatlantic Software before launching a startup researching emerging internet retailing trends and another supplying vehicle telematics. Nigel joined Forrester as the general manager and practice leader of Forrester's Leadership Boards business in 2006, growing the business more than 300% in three years. Nigel is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and holds UK and US citizenships.

Education

Nigel holds a first degree in computing in business from the University of Huddersfield (UK) and an MBA with concentrations in marketing and international business from Warwick Business School at the University of Warwick (UK).

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Nigel Fenwick

Vice President, Principal Analyst Serving Application Development & Delivery Professionals

Read Nigel's blog posts

Previous Work Experience

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Nigel Fenwick's Research

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For CMO Professionals

REPORT: Accelerate Disruption With The Business Innovation Canvas

Unlock Your Company's Hidden Potential For Disruptive Innovation And New Revenue Growth

March 2, 2018Nigel Fenwick

To disrupt your business, you need to think like a startup. But that's easier said than done. This report introduces you to Forrester's Business Innovation Canvas. Forrester designed this framework to help CMOs and CIOs develop a more disruptive customer-obsessed business strategy. Use this framework to help challenge thinking and lead change.
For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

REPORT: Digitize Your Business Strategy

The Strategy Report In The Digital Business Playbook

February 26, 2018Nigel Fenwick, Julie A. Ask

How your business uses digital capabilities to create customer value will define your future success. And you must simultaneously deliver operational effectiveness in support of customers. To win, you must digitize your business strategy, creating a digital business. This report examines business strategy in the digital age.
For CMO Professionals

REPORT: Digital Rewrites The Rules Of Business

The Vision Report In The Digital Business Playbook

February 26, 2018Nigel Fenwick, Ted Schadler

Digital technology dramatically improves the economics and capabilities of every business. Using hardware, software, algorithms, and the internet, it's 10 times cheaper and faster to engage customers, create offerings, harness partners, and operate your business. Digital natives like Amazon and Tesla and innovative giants like CaixaBank and Siemens embrace digital's new rules of business. They create customer value with technology at the core. It's your job as a digital business leader to apply the rules to engage, compete, and grow. This is an update of a previously published report; Forrester reviews and updates it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: The State Of Digital Business 2018: Top Technologies By Maturity

Technology As Fuel For Business Growth

February 21, 2018Nigel Fenwick

The scope of business strategy is increasingly defined by technology. This report helps CIOs understand the technology priorities surrounding digital business strategies. It also reveals the relative importance of technology to business strategy changes based on a company's digital maturity.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: It's Not Easy For An Industrial Product Company To Build A Software Platform Business

Lessons From GE's Bumpy Digital Transformation Journey In 2017

February 21, 2018Nigel Fenwick, Brian Hopkins, Frank E. Gillett, Paul Miller, Michele Pelino

General Electric (GE) has been on a journey of digital transformation since at least 2014. But GE's new digital business unit hit unexpected bumps in the road in 2017. This report examines the challenges GE has faced and outlines some of the lessons CIOs and CTOs can learn about creating a software company inside an industrial giant.

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

REPORT: The Digital Business Imperative

February 15, 2017 Ted Schadler, Nigel Fenwick

Customers' power in the marketplace continues to ramp up, so eBusiness leaders still need to transform digital customer experiences, including marketing, sales, and channels. The ability to align products, operations, and business models to what we call a "customer-obsessed operating model" will determine firms' ultimate success. To digitally transform both experiences and operations, eBusiness professionals will apply technology to these facets of the business, ensuring that they are customer-led and insights-driven. This is an update of a previously published report. Forrester reviews and updates it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy; we revised this edition to factor in new data, examples, and ideas.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Plan Strategy Around 10 Business Trends

May 2, 2012Nigel Fenwick

CIOs and IT strategists participating in strategic planning must bring to the discussion an understanding of emerging business trends. This report provides our take on the important emerging business trends CIOs need to plan for. Each of the trends identified in this research has the potential to transform future business. In addition, we call out where we see a trend will have a profound impact on a specific industry. Through regular updates, we'll keep CIOs on top of the trends that matter.
For CMO Professionals

REPORT: The Future Of Business Is Digital

The Powerful Advantages Of Embracing Dynamic Ecosystems Of Value

March 10, 2014Nigel Fenwick, Martin Gill

Business leaders don't think of digital as central to their business because in the past, it hasn't been. But now your customers, your products, your business operations, and your competitors are fundamentally digital. While 74% of business executives say their company has a digital strategy, only 15% believe that their company has the skills and capabilities to execute on that strategy. A piecemeal strategy of bolting on digital channels or methods is no longer sufficient. Instead, you must think of your company as part of a dynamic ecosystem of value that connects digital resources inside and outside the company as needed to compete. You must harness digital technologies, both to deliver a superior customer experience and to drive the agility and operational efficiency you need to stay competitive.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Six Strategies To Strengthen Your Company's Digital DNA

Assess Your Company's Readiness For Your Digital Journey

February 17, 2017Nigel Fenwick

Digital transformation is a journey, not a destination. And every journey has a starting point. What you do next depends on where you begin. Use this self-assessment to find out where your company is today, then use the report "Begin Your Journey To Digital Mastery" to help chart your course forward. An interactive Excel tool associated with this report is also available to download. This is an update of a previously published report; Forrester reviews and updates it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Industry Innovation: Retail

Technology Trends That Retail CIOs Must Tap To Drive Growth

July 28, 2010Nigel Fenwick

Today's retail CIOs can radically influence the future of their business, with more new opportunities to use technology to transform the competitive landscape since the emergence of EPOS in the early 1980s. While retail CIOs may still be under pressure to lower IT costs, it is clear that only increased investment in technology will position today's retailer to cope with the challenges of supplying tomorrow's empowered customers. CIOs must educate their peers on the executive team to help them see both the potential and the threat of emerging social technologies. For retailers looking to maintain a physical presence, the ability to deliver a customer experience that seamlessly moves between online and offline many times per shopping encounter is going to be a critical success factor.