Forrester Research

Analyst's Photo	Name and Title	Contact information
	Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D. Principal Analyst

Research Coverage

Contract Negotiations, Convergence Services, Data Services, Enterprise Mobility, Fixed-Mobile Convergence, Global Mobile Services, Hosted & Managed IP PBX Services, Managed Telecommunications Services, Mobile Roaming, Mobile Services, Networking, RFPs, Site-To-Site MPLS Services, Sourcing & Procurement, Sourcing Strategy & Execution, Telecommunications Services, Telecommunications Services By Region, Unified Communications, Voice Over IP Services, Voice Services, Wide Area Network Services, Wireless Data Services, Wireless Voice Services - Mobile Voice & VoWi-Fi

Research Focus

Based in North America, Brownlee serves IT Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals. She is a category expert in enterprise network and telecom services and advises enterprise clients on reviewing, revising, and defining landline and mobile services sourcing strategies. This includes strategic sourcing; single versus multiprovider sourcing; outsourcing and managed network and telecom services; prequalifying providers; expert guidance on service RFP preparation; developing provider scorecard criteria and selection; and negotiating SLAs for WAN, remote access, voice, and mobile services. Brownlee also advises clients on contract governance and best-practice vendor management.

Brownlee has more than 20 years of experience in the international network and telecom industry and is a leading industry expert on global enterprise network and telecom services.

Previous Work Experience

Brownlee joined Forrester in 2003, through the acquisition of IT analyst firm Giga Information Group, where she was research director for its global telecom advisory practice. She previously worked for several years at Teleglobe Inc. (now part of Tata Communications) in a variety of analyst and management roles, with responsibility for a team of market analysts in the firm's strategic planning organization in the office of the chairman and CEO. Brownlee also ran a private telecom consultancy in Geneva and Canada, focusing on telecom regulation and policy. Its clients included the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Program, the Canadian telecom regulator (CRTC), and intergovernmental task forces on telecom market competition and regulation.

Fluently bilingual in English and French, Brownlee is often invited to speak at international industry conferences and service provider events as a keynote and expert speaker on emerging enterprise network and telecom technologies and services trends and marketplace dynamics. She also is regularly interviewed and quoted in the technical and business media, including the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune, The New York Times, and USA Today.

Education

Brownlee has an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in communications and a master's degree in political science from McGill University. Her doctoral research was on civil and disaster preparedness telecoms, and her master's thesis was on the role of communications in sustainable economic development.