Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) announced today that more than 1,400 IT and business professionals — spanning organizational roles such as CIO, Information & Knowledge Management professionals, Application Development & Program Management professionals, Technology Product Management & Marketing professionals, and Enterprise Architecture professionals — attended Forrester’s IT Forum at The Palazzo in Las Vegas, an 18 percent increase over last year’s event. In addition, 300 members of the Forrester Leadership Boards, an exclusive community of leading executives worldwide, attended eight separate, role-focused board meetings. It was the largest audience in the 12-year history of Forrester’s IT Forum and the biggest member meeting in the history of the Leaderships Boards.

“As Forrester’s role-based strategy continues to evolve, Forrester Events such as IT Forum have become more relevant to our clients,” said Charles Rutstein, Forrester’s chief operating officer. “IT Forum provides our clients in IT and technology industry roles with insight from prominent keynote speakers; one-on-one analyst interaction; and new research to help them successfully achieve the objectives, responsibilities, and aspirations that comprise their professional role.”

The Leadership Boards meetings that preceded IT Forum included: Applications & Program Management, the CIO Group, Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure & Operations, Sourcing & Vendor Management, Security & Risk Management, and Analyst Relations. The inaugural meeting of the Information & Knowledge Management Council was also held. Board meetings, which bring together senior executives with similar responsibilities to leverage their expertise and freely exchange ideas, are just one of the many unique benefits members receive.

“Forrester’s Leadership Boards are an effective and invaluable use of my time,” said Rob Rubio, chief information officer, Woodmen of the World Life Insurance. “They provide a comprehensive experience for me and my colleagues, who are members of the Infrastructure & Operations and Applications & Program Management Councils. The Leadership Boards present us with an opportunity to compare notes, discuss what’s top of mind with peers from other organizations, and gain insight from Forrester’s analyst community and key industry leaders on addressing the issues that are critical to my role.”

The following IT leaders gave keynote addresses at IT Forum that supported the event’s theme of driving business innovation:

  • John Chambers, CEO, Cisco Systems
  • Marta Foster, VP Business Solutions, Global Business Services, Procter & Gamble
  • Dean Hager, Senior Vice President of Product Management, Lawson Software
  • Mark J. Hennessy, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, IBM
  • Andy Roach, Chief Information Officer/B2B Technology Practice Lead, Ketchum
  • Tim Stanley, CIO and Senior Vice President, Innovation, Gaming & Technology, Harrah’s Entertainment
  • Rebecca Wanta, Former Senior Vice President and CIO, Best Buy
  • Chris Capossela, Senior Vice President, Microsoft Business Division, Microsoft
  • Rich Lechner, Vice President, Marketing and Strategy, Enterprise Systems, IBM
  • Esat Sezer, CIO, Coca-Cola Enterprises

Led by more than 80 Forrester analysts, IT Forum featured more than 100 sessions across nine role-based tracks, exploring how each role within the IT organization could affect business innovation. Attendees also had an opportunity to attend two full-day, pre-event workshops — “The Infrastructure Consolidation Imperative” and “Enhancing IT’s Role As Business’ Innovation Partner.”

The event had 43 sponsors, including platinum sponsors IBM and Microsoft. Gold sponsors for IT Forum were BMC Software, CompuCom, HP, ThoughtWorks, VMware, and Wipro.