Forrester Research Inc. (NASDAQ: FORR) and Maturity Consulting GmbH announced today that they have signed an alliance agreement that will help companies optimize their business and technology decisions. The two companies will deliver a complementary portfolio of services ¿ based on Forrester¿s technology research and industry knowledge, Maturity¿s information technology (IT) benchmarking capabilities, and their combined consulting expertise ¿ to customers across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

Forrester and Maturity¿s joint offering will provide comprehensive support for decisions in corporate information systems (IS), including sourcing, technology planning, and benchmarking, as well as vendor strategy. Under the new alliance, clients will benefit from objective benchmarking data and intelligence about the impact of technology on business, taking into account market intelligence, best practices, innovations, and global developments.

¿Forrester¿s mission is to help business thrive on technology change,¿ said Robert Davidson, President of Forrester Research EMEA. ¿By working together, Forrester and Maturity are in an extremely strong position to advise executives clearly and objectively how their companies compare to the market and their peers, the impacts on their business, and how to increase their competitiveness.¿

Forrester¿s research offering delivers a comprehensive, unified view of technology’s impact on business, from deep information technology issues to broad strategic goals. Forrester¿s forward-thinking advice and in-depth analysis allows senior professionals from around the world to gain a real business advantage and make future-proof decisions. The strength of Forrester¿s consulting services further leverages this research and analysis, in practice areas including: marketing strategy; effective use of technology; innovation & organizational design; supply & demand networks; IT sourcing; and customer experience consulting.

¿Maturity is the only company that is dedicated exclusively to IT benchmarking services,¿ said Thomas Karg, CEO of Maturity. ¿Thanks to the alliance with Forrester, we can now give our customers an even clearer understanding of their current situation by focusing on our core competency: Benchmarking enriched with first-class analysis and technology advice.¿

Unlike other benchmarking firms, Maturity collects the data itself, providing substantial time savings to its clients. Furthermore, Maturity captures real values by storing unweighted company data; the resulting database is more objective and of a higher quality than that of Maturity¿s direct competitors. It also allows companies to normalize benchmarking data and compare it with that of their industry peers.

The agreement brings together two companies that are best-of-breed in their respective industries, each with a rigorous and independent methodology and a shared focus on helping companies deal with technology change.