Sharyn Leaver

SVP, Research Serving CIO Professionals

Sharyn leads Forrester’s research organization responsible for creating powerful ideas and objective, courageous, and relevant content that helps Forrester’s clients drive customer-obsessed vision, strategy, and execution that drive growth. She leads the teams that support both the Forrester Research and Forrester | SiriusDecisions research portfolios.

Previous Work Experience

Prior to this role, Sharyn held various positions Forrester, most recently as the group director for the CMO, CIO, and customer experience roles focused on all aspects of leadership in the age of the customer — including customer-led strategic planning, operating models, and emerging technology selection and implementation. Sharyn started her career at Forrester as an analyst, focused on enterprise applications, business process management tools, and several emerging technologies in consumer-driven and manufacturing industries such as life sciences, healthcare, retail, and consumer products.

In addition, Sharyn was a key contributor to the development of the Forrester Wave™ methodology to help clients accurately assess key vendors in a given technology-focused market.

Before joining Forrester, Sharyn spent several years as a consultant and project manager for Clarkston Consulting, a full-service professional services firm. She was responsible for the delivery of vendor selection and implementation projects involving SAP and other enterprise resource planning applications, integration technology, and enterprise portals.

Education

Sharyn holds a BS in computer information systems technology from Purdue University and an MS in medical informatics from Northwestern University.

Print Bio

Sharyn Leaver

SVP, Research Serving CIO Professionals

Read Read Sharyn's blog posts

Previous Work Experience

In addition, Sharyn was a key contributor to the development of the Forrester Wave™ methodology to help clients accurately assess key vendors in a given technology-focused market.

Education

Sharyn holds a BS in computer information systems technology from Purdue University and an MS in medical informatics from Northwestern University.

Sharyn Leaver's Research

Most RecentMost Popular

For CIO Professionals

REPORT: The Roadmap For Delivering Customer-Obsessed IT Transformation

The Strategy Report In The IT Transformation Playbook

February 4, 2021 Matthew Guarini, Laura Koetzle, Sharyn Leaver, Glenn O'Donnell

To deliver on the promise of customer obsession, firms must use a future fit technology strategy. As a CIO, CTO, or other key technology leader, you need to craft a plan tuned to a specific starting point in your IT transformation journey, the urgency with which you must change, and the level of difficulty you'll confront when making those changes. This report describes the steps that will help you chart your course to making transformation real. This is an update of a previously published report; Forrester reviews and revises it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Transform IT To Deliver A Future Fit Tech Strategy

The Vision Report In The IT Transformation Playbook

February 1, 2021 Bobby Cameron, Sharyn Leaver, Glenn O'Donnell

Companies spent heavily on IT and digital transformation in the 2010s, but with disappointing results. Forrester's Customer Experience Index™ (CX Index) scores stagnated, productivity languished, and "digital sameness" took root. And as customer demands and competitors' responses continue to accelerate, CIOs must also change faster, innovating with technology. Read this report to learn how to pursue future fit technology via four tried-and-true competencies. This is an update of a previously published report; Forrester reviews and revises it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy. We're updating it now to incorporate new research, data, and market trends.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Forrester Predictions 2021: Accelerating Out Of The Crisis

October 28, 2020 Sharyn Leaver

2020 shattered the status quo. In 2021, advanced organizations will adapt and use the upheaval to forge a competitive edge. Discover your organization's path to success. Read Forrester's 2021 predictions.
For CMO Professionals

REPORT: The Customer-Obsessed Enterprise

Lead The Competition With A Clear Vision For Customer Obsession

June 25, 2018 Keith Johnston, Sharyn Leaver

Customer-obsessed firms already enjoy higher revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction — and will prevail as the age of the customer intensifies. Forrester surveyed more than 1,000 executives in the US and Europe and conducted in-depth interviews with C-level execs to learn what practices firms use along their journey to becoming customer-obsessed enterprises and distinguish the common core of their success. This report details the strategic and operational reset that companies have to make to drive customer obsession.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Top Five Imperatives To Win In The Age Of The Customer

May 23, 2017 Sharyn Leaver

Customer-obsessed companies have the highest median three-year growth in sales. But only 13% of firms have achieved this level of customer obsession. Why? Because it's hard. It requires remaking your company, systematically, to reorient each element toward the customer. The good news is that, done right, five key imperatives — many of which are likely already underway in your organization — can set you on the path toward customer obsession. This report outlines the why and how of these top executive-level imperatives.

For CIO Professionals

REPORT: The Operating Model For Customer Obsession

November 3, 2015 Sharyn Leaver, Michelle Moorehead, Sheryl Pattek

We know and have proven that a better customer experience correlates with higher revenue growth. But what does it take to succeed in your quest for the level of customer obsession needed to drive these results? To find out, we analyzed the practices of over 30 companies at various stages in their customer-obsessed transformations. Through in-depth discussions with C-level executives at each of these firms, we teased out the common core for success. This report details the fundamental reset of day-to-day operations required to drive customer obsession.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Transform IT To Deliver A Future Fit Tech Strategy

The Vision Report In The IT Transformation Playbook

February 1, 2021 Bobby Cameron, Sharyn Leaver, Glenn O'Donnell

Companies spent heavily on IT and digital transformation in the 2010s, but with disappointing results. Forrester's Customer Experience Index™ (CX Index) scores stagnated, productivity languished, and "digital sameness" took root. And as customer demands and competitors' responses continue to accelerate, CIOs must also change faster, innovating with technology. Read this report to learn how to pursue future fit technology via four tried-and-true competencies. This is an update of a previously published report; Forrester reviews and revises it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy. We're updating it now to incorporate new research, data, and market trends.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: The False Promise Of Bimodal IT

BT Provides A Customer-Led, Insights-Driven, Fast, And Connected Alternative

April 7, 2016John McCarthy, Sharyn Leaver

CEOs, CIOs, and heads of product development face huge challenges and opportunities that require a re-engineering of technology management and the business' role in its implementation. Bimodal IT creates two separate groups that work at different speeds on segregated systems. It is fundamentally unable to address customer and enterprise needs for agility. CIOs need a single, bolder business technology (BT) strategy to accelerate innovation and simplification, not a two-class system that adds more front-end and back-end silos of complexity.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: Top Five Imperatives To Win In The Age Of The Customer

May 23, 2017 Sharyn Leaver

Customer-obsessed companies have the highest median three-year growth in sales. But only 13% of firms have achieved this level of customer obsession. Why? Because it's hard. It requires remaking your company, systematically, to reorient each element toward the customer. The good news is that, done right, five key imperatives — many of which are likely already underway in your organization — can set you on the path toward customer obsession. This report outlines the why and how of these top executive-level imperatives.
For CIO Professionals

REPORT: The Roadmap For Delivering Customer-Obsessed IT Transformation

The Strategy Report In The IT Transformation Playbook

February 4, 2021 Matthew Guarini, Laura Koetzle, Sharyn Leaver, Glenn O'Donnell

To deliver on the promise of customer obsession, firms must use a future fit technology strategy. As a CIO, CTO, or other key technology leader, you need to craft a plan tuned to a specific starting point in your IT transformation journey, the urgency with which you must change, and the level of difficulty you'll confront when making those changes. This report describes the steps that will help you chart your course to making transformation real. This is an update of a previously published report; Forrester reviews and revises it periodically for continued relevance and accuracy.