Sourcing Strategies For Community Platforms

Community platforms, no longer an "emerging technology" or regulated to use only in marketing departments, have evolved into common strategic business tools. As the market for these tools and technologies grows, however, so do the challenges associated with managing a variety of suppliers and stakeholder objectives. More and more, Forrester hears from sourcing teams struggling to consolidate several internal community platforms and identify the vendor that most closely aligns with long-term organizational objectives. This challenge creates opportunities for sourcing professionals, who can play a valuable role in making these groundbreaking technologies more effective. To uncover some of the best practices in sourcing community platforms, Forrester interviewed seven providers to see how their relationship with sourcing professionals is changing, and why that change is an important part of their market's evolution.