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Articles by Amanda Leclair
Knowledge Worker Autonomy And It’s Impact On The Employee Experience Original
As organizations continue efforts to perpetually reduce costs, knowledge worker productivity becomes a key focus. Specifically this means giving knowledge workers the ability to work on their own without assistance from other knowledge workers. Done well, this is autonomy. Done poorly, it can be difficult to know what to do, how to do it, and to know if it is done right.
Success Of New-School Vendors Shows That Lean Core Banking Is Finally Here
When looking to buy off-the-shelf banking capabilities such as core banking and digital banking, technology teams in banks need insight into the software’s functional breadth, depth, technology, and roadmap. However, to make the best possible decision, they also need to know which vendor their peers preferred for a given business functionality and what the vendors’ current market position globally, regionally, or in the bank’s own country is.
How Your DOP SIs Are Fighting “The War On Talent”
Companies in many industries are facing concerns with skill shortages, particularly with 4 Million Americans quitting their jobs in July 2021 alone. The war on talent is affecting the tech services industry, including large SIs focused on ERP implementations like those in the SAP and Oracle ecosystems. For enterprises embarking on major DOP programs, if talent strategy isn’t already an elevated criteria in your partner selection, it should be. Customers are already feeling these pain points.
Introducing The Tech Exec Guide for Services 2022
Technology Executives face an age-old dilemma when it comes to tech services partners: They need partners who can help with business and customer solutions, who have strong relationships with relevant industry providers, and who can align with their company’s core values and culture. Tech executives also need the old standbys from their partners -bring more knowledge, more speed, and more resources to manage cost.
Introducing The Forrester New Wave™: Workday Implementation Partners, Q3 2021
Workday has captured the hearts of many enterprise buyers looking to modernize their employee experience with its human capital management (HCM) software in a way competitors have struggled to match. In recent years, Workday has sought to expand that foothold and compete more broadly to serve as a digital operations platform by expanding into financials and procurement.
April and May 2021 Research Recap - Cloud And Tech Operations
Each month, the infrastructure and operations (I&O) team writes incredible research (sorry for missing April initially!). As a research director, I get to not only see the final outcome but all of the work and client insights that went into its creation. For those who know me, I am quick to call these out via inquiry calls — but I’d love to capture this on a more permanent platform.
Announcing The First Forrester Wave™ Covering Cross-Channel Campaign Management Solutions In Asia Pacific
Following up the previously published Now Tech report, I’m excited to announce that The Forrester Wave™: Cross-Channel Campaign Management In Asia Pacific, Q2 2021 is now live.
A Deal About Talent, Not Titles
As the overpopulated streaming video landscape continues to expand, Amazon is vying to keep its top-tier ranking by buying MGM for $8.45 billion. While MGM’s library isn’t worth the premium price Amazon is paying, the talent behind the screen is the real deal.
PIM Powers Digital Experience: Introducing The Latest Forrester PIM Wave™
Marketers, eComm directors, data analysts, content operations managers, MDM managers, heads of channel management…these are just some of the roles we talked to for our recently published our Wave evaluation on product information management (PIM) vendors. This diverse set of PIM users reflects how this role has broadened in the world of omni-channel commerce — exaggerated greater over the last year when in many cases the digital shelf was the only shelf open to consumers.
Forrester Decisions for Technology Architecture & Delivery
Forrester Decisions for Technology Architecture & Delivery Technology design, infrastructure, and development are the digital expression of the business. Ever-changing digital expectations and a heightened focus on customer and employee experience call for greater agility, resiliency, and creativity across the technology ecosystem. To keep pace with both internal and external demands, a disparate, legacy approach to architecture no longer suffices.
Walmart Is Currently The World's Largest Retailer, But Alibaba And Amazon Are Closing In
Global B2C eCommerce grew by 10% in 2017 to reach US$1.8 trillion, driven by online sales from brick-and-mortar stores and marketplaces. Marketplaces Grow Their Share Of eCommerce Fifty-six percent of global B2C eCommerce occurred via marketplaces in 2017. As Amazon’s latest earnings report highlights, global retail marketplace performance is strong and isn’t showing signs of slowing down.
Great Product Experiences Start With Great Product Data
Product information management (PIM) tools help marketing and product teams ingest, enrich, and distribute product data — but the functional description sells the full value of PIM short. The mandate to support product experience continues to grow in prominence within the PIM world. By now, most people in the field nod along at variations of “great product data drives great product experiences.” Great product experiences are the why; managing product data is part of the how.
Does Atrify Signal The Atrophy Of GDSN? Decoding the 1World Sync Acquisition
“Product data is the lifeblood of many large enterprises. For manufacturers and CPG companies, the efficiency of the product supply and distribution chain may be their one and only true differentiator,” Forrester wrote in 2009. Ten years later it’s still true, and data synchronization is the means to connect that data outside your org to ecosystem.
VIDEO: What Can You Learn From Digitally Advanced Firms?
Welcome to this episode of FORR in 3. In this video, Amanda LeClair and I discuss whether digital maturity matters based on our survey of almost 800 enterprises in North America and Europe. (Spoiler alert — it does matter.) For example, unlike digital beginners, which often pursue initiatives in an uncoordinated way, advanced firms treat technology as a business asset.
Tech news and marketing news for executives
Having A Digital Ad Strategy Doesn’t Mean You’re Ready For This $100 Billion Market This week, the IAB announced that US digital ad spend topped $100 billion for the first time last year. We’re not surprised – our forecast predicts that by 2023, CMOs will spend nearly $150 billion on various digital marketing channels in the US. Increased video and mobile use along with improved adtech underly this growth.
Introducing the DT&I Forum Experience Zone
With Forrester’s Chicago Digital Transformation Forum and Innovation Summit right around the corner, I’m happy to introduce something new this year on the sponsor floor: theExperience Zone. What is it? The Experience Zone is an opportunity to play around and interact directly with solutions that leverage some of the emerging technologies, like AI and video recognition, that you’ll be hearing more about during the sessions.
What Accenture's Droga5 Acquisition Means For The Tech Services Market: FORR/3 Video
I am happy to introduce the very first FORR/3 episode! FORR/3 is a new video blog series on commerce, content, and services. In this episode, Nick Barber and I discuss Accenture’s recent acquisition of the creative agency Droga5, what this means, and how it reflects some of the broader trends I see in the tech services market. For more insights on recent acquisitions, Forrester clients can check out the full infographic here. And if you have more questions, reach out via inquiry.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Office Design
Much of my research on Agile team working, developer spaces, and innovation labs is guided by my strong belief that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable problems, there are small changes within your control you can make to just get started (whoever you are, whatever role you’re in). Part of those changes can be supported by your physical environment and cues you can control to reinforce new or different behaviors.
If You Can’t Beat ‘Em-- Buy ‘Em
The lines between agencies, consultancies, and tech services firms are continuing to blur. This convergence is driven in part by an acquisition-heavy strategy. Like in 2017, the last year of acquisitions saw cloud and agency capabilities as most in-demand. But what does this mean for buyers? Your go-to boutique agency may (soon) be part of a larger firm. Or your managed services partner likely has whole new set of intelligent solutions that weren’t even ideas yet when you signed the contract.
Getting On The S/4 Bandwagon (Or Not)
Historically, SAP has not been as renowned for innovation as some of its pure SaaS competitors, like Salesforce. But between a steady stream of SaaS (and now data) acquisitions, a notable and ongoing effort to simplify the product portfolio, and clear messaging around marrying the X (experience) and O (operations), SAP’s own digital revolution is well underway. But are customers keeping pace? On the S/4HANA front, the answer is not so much.
The Top Mistakes That Will Haunt Your Digital Projects
I’ve been waiting for today to use a Halloween-themed title to promote a topic Chris Condo and I have been discussing for a long time: the most common missteps we see clients make in their digital services projects. Next month on November 29, we’ll be hosting a webinar to discuss the top six mistakes we see clients make and how to prevent your projects from meeting an untimely demise based on our respective research.
Five Questions To Ask About Digital Studios Before Your Next Project
Virtually all global services firms have invested in digital studios, and for many agencies, it’s just the way they’ve worked for years. But despite these investments, many services buyers don’t know what digital studios are — never mind how they can utilize them.
Siemens Snaps Up Mendix; Low-Code Platforms Enter New Phase
Siemens announced acquisition of Mendix, a leading low-code development platform, for $730 million in cash, or 7-8 times annual revenues, we estimate. Yes, that’s the $83 billion industrial powerhouse, Siemens. Mendix will join Siemens’ $13 billion Digital Factory software division, but operate independently and as it did before the acquisition (scheduled to close in October 2018).
Apple's Earnings Are Amazing But Not Enough
Apple’s Tim Cook announced stellar earnings yesterday, exceeding analyst estimates, but not surprising us at Forrester. We have predicted for a while that Apple was poised to become the world’s first trillion-dollar company (at the moment of this writing, the company’s market cap stands at $982 billion). Apple’s products are outstanding and it’s revenue outlook will be bright for years to come. But it’s not enough. Enough to do what?
Digital transformation and automation shake up the tech services market
US tech consulting services spend is growing at 8.3 percent — but that’s not good news for all services firms. Twice a year, my colleague Andrew Bartels publishes Forrester’s US tech market outlook, covering tech spending on everything from CIO staff salaries to systems integration for licensed apps. For the first time, Liz Herbert and I published a complementary report taking a deeper dive into what US tech services spending tells us about the health and direction of the services market.
Top SAP Services Providers Focus on Transformation-- Not Implementation
The set of relevant services for SAP in the services market is growing, fueled by SAP’s recent cloud acquisitions and focus on the digital core. Watch below to learn more, and find the full Wave here: The Forrester Wave™: Services Providers For Next-Generation SAP Products, Q2 2018”. Check out the report to see how the top providers stacked up here.
Insider Threat Has Undergone A Digital Transformation
Before the internet gave us ubiquitous connectivity, selling secrets was hard. Finding buyers and sellers required research, relationship building, and connection in person or by phone. Exchanging data was harder. It required physical media and data exchange had to be done in person. You’ve likely seen old spy movies where spies had microfilm with top-secret plans on it. In the 80s and 90s, floppy disks replaced the microfilm. USB sticks eventually replaced the floppies.
Ready for the Future? Ask Your Body
Are you future-ready? Your body contains the secrets to your behavior, including future readiness. Though obvious, most of us fail to recognize this day to day. We think that our brains — our minds — make decisions about how we should feel, what we should do. But the decision of what to wear to work today, whether to post pictures on Facebook, or how to feel about the future of AI — all of that starts in our bodies. Two fabulous stories in the news this week help illustrate this.
US GDP Report For Q2 2018 Will Increase US Tech Market Size, And Slightly Raise Our 2018 Tech Market Forecast
The US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released its Q2 2018 report on US Gross Domestic Product this morning, and it contained some surprises for the US tech market.
Digital Transformation And Automation Shake Up The Tech Services Market - Are You Ready?
US tech consulting services spend is growing at 8.3% — but that’s not good news for all services firms. Twice a year, my colleague Andrew Bartels publishes Forrester’s US tech market outlook, covering tech spending on everything from CIO staff salaries to systems integration for licensed apps. For the first time, Liz Herbert and I published a complementary report taking a deeper dive into what US tech services spending tells us about the health and direction of the services market.
How to Make the Business Case for PLM
When business or technology executives ponder improving company results with digital transformation, it’s safe to say that investment in product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions isn’t the first thing that pops into their heads. Instead, they gravitate to IoT initiatives or improving customer experience. But what senior stakeholders often miss is that to enable many of the exciting digital initiatives we hear about today, they need to modernize core operational systems of record like PLM.
Imperva Buying Prevoty Signals A Major Shift In Application Runtime Protection
In last year’s RASP Vendor Landscape, I noted that eventually RASP would eventually take over WAF as the best way to combat web app attacks. They have deeper knowledge of applications they protect than WAFs, and they can virtually patch vulnerabilities and weaknesses. In an upcoming report, we’re predicting WAF market growth to significantly slow down over the 2021-to-2023 period as bot management and RASP tools fully cover traditional WAF capabilities.
The Future Is Here: Want A Ride In A 3D-Printed Autonomous Shuttle?
I’m posting this just as our New Tech & Innovation Forum in Boston gets underway. Hundreds of attendees from client organizations, startups, and event sponsors are gathering for a day-and-a-half of content about emerging technologies. Quantum computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain . . . it’s all here. I look forward to some great discussions about how these technologies will transform businesses in the years to come.
Adopt the 'spirit of agile'—beyond software development
There are two types of agile people in the world: Because of the two interpretations, the word tends to trip people up in conversations. From both types of people, I hear “that won’t/doesn’t work for us” frequently from interviewees for anytime I mention the word in research. I hear it even more often now that my research is more focused on tech services buyers.
Adopt The “Spirit Of Agile”-Beyond Software Development
There are two types of Agile people in the world: Capital “A” Agile people equate “agile” with Agile software development methodologies or frameworks. Agile requires specific roles, processes, and deliverables. You have to do Agile, to be Agile. Lower case “a” agile people subscribe to the underlying values of Agile development, but most often use the term by its dictionary definition. Businesses can be agile. Because of the two interpretations, the word tends to trip people up in conversations.
Startups Help -- Not Destroy -- Your Business
The drumbeat to “disrupt or be disrupted” is often substantiated by the success of Uber and Airbnb, insinuating that your organization is under threat from digital startups. As the importance of the ecosystem grows, we see more opportunities for startups to help your business than to destroy it.
Startups Help - Not Destroy - Your Business
The drumbeat to “disrupt or be disrupted” is often substantiated by the success of Uber and Airbnb; insinuating that your organization is under threat from digital startups. As the importance of the ecosystem grows, we see more opportunities for startups to help your business than to destroy it.
Startups Help- Not Destroy- Your Business
The drumbeat to “disrupt or be disrupted” is often substantiated by the success of Uber and Airbnb; insinuating that your organization is under threat from digital startups. As the importance of the ecosystem grows, we see more opportunities for startups to help your business than to destroy it.
Functional Programming Finally Goes Mainstream-Here's What You Need To Know
Last week, Forrester released our take on functional programming (FP), “The New Dawn Of Functional Programming“. While FP isn’t a new concept, for tech professionals “functional programming” is going to become inescapable over the next 18 months—that is, if it isn’t already on your radar. But FP is a complex concept, even for some rockstar developers. Here’s what you need to know about functional programming: Functional programming is a programming paradigm.
Royal Caribbean and EY Embark On A Digital Transformation To Put Cruising Back On The Grid
All companies face a new digital reality, where the accelerated pace of change today is the slowest it’s ever going to be. Partnering with EY, Royal Caribbean is taking on this challenge by transforming the once “off the grid” cruise vacation into a connected, tech-enabled experience. I recently attended the Sea Beyond event for a hands-on view of the new cruise experience—all from the shore at the Duggal Greenhouse in Brooklyn.
Digital Services In Transition: Tech Services Acquisitions In 2017 · Forrester
Digital transformation is a business transformation. To help orchestrate the associated cultural change, modernization of legacy technologies, and cross-functional organization structures, many companies seek help from a third-party services provider. Forrester data indicates that over 50% of services decision-makers have hired a management consultant or technology firm in the last 12 months.
Digital Studios Pave The Way Toward Service Innovation · Forrester
Every major services company now offers its clients a digital studio experience — but many companies are struggling to understand what exactly they are and why they exist. Since becoming an analyst at Forrester a month ago, I’ve been asked many times “What is the role and focus of these studios?” It’s a good question.
On An Agile scaling journey? Take our survey to find out how you are doing.
This year I’m excited to be teaming up with Diego Lo Giudice on the bi-annual Forrester Agile at Scale Adoption survey. For the 2017 study we’ve added a few more questions in areas that we see organizations are struggling with. So in addition to successful Agile team practices, alignment with business stakeholders upstream and downstream with testing and operations, we are looking into more Agile at scale issues like budgeting and DevOps.
Futurology Episode 4: The Future Of The Connected Workplace
Conversations with thought leaders to define and demystify the changing market. Forrester’s What It Means Podcast Conversations with thought leaders to define and demystify the changing market. This post was authored by Claudia Tajima, Researcher at Forrester. On the second part of the forth episode of our Futurology webinar series, Mike Facemire, Julie Ask and James McQuivey convened to discuss the future of the connected workplace.
The API Management Buyer's Guide, Q4 2016
In November 2016, we published our 27-criteria Forrester Wave evaluation of 14 vendors of API management solutions. The findings in that report show how well each vendor fulfilled the breadth and depth of our criteria. However, there are a wide variety of possible API strategies, and application development and delivery (AD&D) pros' must-have criteria will vary similarly. Buyers may also need a perspective on vendors' ability to provide other API platform elements.
The Forrester Wave™: API Management Solutions, Q4 2016
In our 27-criteria evaluation of API management solution providers, we looked for solutions that can stand on their own, independent of the vendor's other offerings. We identified the 14 most significant providers of such solutions — Akana, Apigee, Axway, CA Technologies, IBM, Mashape, Microsoft, MuleSoft, Red Hat, Sensedia, Software AG, TIBCO Software, Tyk Technologies, and WSO2 — and researched, analyzed, and scored them.
Sales Love Affair: What Sales and Dating Have in Common [Infographic]
So, you want to be a better salesman? Well, you can become a better Romeo while you're at it. When it comes to your sales process, take a cue from your dating life; they aren’t as different as you might think. When you boil them down, sales and dating are pretty much identical. In dating, you need to: Then, when working as a sales representative, you need to: No, those weren't typos. The processes are ideally the same.
The Top 3 Ways to Avoid Getting Blocked on Facebook
Social media has changed the way that marketers (and small business owners) everywhere go about promoting their businesses. With over 1.59 billion users, Facebook can’t be overlooked. The sheer amount of traffic that it can garner for any business presents an optimal way for businesses to grow at no cost. But there’s a catch -- Facebook has the ability to ban your business and shut down your page for good at any time.
The 3 Types of Content People Love to Share [Data-Packed Infographic]
What do “Charlie Bit My Finger”, Buzzfeed quizzes, and #BringBackOurGirls all have in common? They are all viral sensations -- pieces of content that were so good, they’ve been shared by millions of people across social media. They are pieces that pushed all the right buttons. They were appealing, helpful, or entertaining enough that people wanted, no needed, to share it with their friends, who then shared it with their friends, and so on.
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