To help companies select the best vendors and implement the right software products to propel their business forward, Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) today announced significant enhancements to its TechRankings research. TechRankings combines independent lab-tested evaluations, objective analysis, and online customization tools for selecting and implementing technology products. In its latest upgrade, Forrester focused on improving the product’s usability and performance, resulting in a more user-friendly interface, enhanced Web tools, and simplified access to the lab results and research analysis.

“TechRankings is the first type of research that truly changes the buying dynamic in the rapidly changing software industry,” said Ted Schadler, group director, TechRankings. “TechRankings puts buyers in the driver’s seat by equipping them with a powerful combination of comprehensive analysis; rigorous and reliable lab evaluations; and interactive, team-oriented decision tools.

“Vendors tell us that they win, too,” added Schadler, “as educated decision teams come to the table ready to buy. In hundreds of deals, TechRankings is accelerating the buying process. And as the technology evolves, TechRankings research will help technology buyers master it, stay on top of new vendors, and make smarter decisions.”

With TechRankings 1.5, Forrester has enhanced the research and its presentation with:

  • Custom rankings. Firms can rank the products and vendors on their specific requirements by weighting major product attributes. Additionally, users can focus their investigation on a shortlist of products and do side-by-side tradeoff analyses. The resulting custom rankings can be saved and shared among decision-making team members.
  • Category pages. Each TechRankings category has a dedicated home page that houses relevant research (Insight & Analysis), product scorecards, custom rankings, and shared rankings. Users can easily toggle from one category to another for multicategory projects.
  • Category updates. Forrester now updates product scorecards quarterly. These updates are based on new vendor information, re-evaluations of major product releases, and the addition of new and important vendors.
  • Product selection services. Forrester delivers product selection services for each category it reviews to help clients apply TechRankings to their needs assessment, RFP preparation, and product purchase and pricing negotiations.
  • Easier access. TechRankings is an integral part of Forrester’s recently announced WholeView™ Research, which provides companies with comprehensive guidance on customer trends, business strategy, and technology investments. As a result, TechRankings is fully accessible to clients through a unified, customizable Web experience.

Launched in October 2000, Forrester offers TechRankings research, analysis, and RFP services in eight software technology markets: content management, customer service applications, portal servers, application servers, marketing automation applications, integration servers, eProcurement applications, and commerce platforms.

In partnership with Doculabs Inc., Forrester continually evaluates more than 70 vendors in these software categories and has defined more than 500 key criteria in each that matter most to Global 3,500 firms. In 2002, Forrester and Doculabs will continue to add important vendor evaluations and overhaul the existing categories to reflect buyers’ 2002 needs, in addition to adding new categories of software for evaluation.

About TechRankings
TechRankings’ laboratory-based methodology is open, rigorous, and unbiased. Forrester invites all important vendors, based on their product fit and momentum, to participate. TechRankings research combines the results of hands-on laboratory evaluations, strategic market analysis, and in-depth research into the needs of technology users. Each product is evaluated in the lab by Doculabs based on more than 500 criteria. Forrester does not charge vendors in any way to participate in TechRankings. Forrester extensively checks and verifies results and updates the research whenever vendors are assessed in the lab. To learn more about TechRankings, visit www.forrester.com/TR.