For Content & Collaboration Professionals

Disciplined Social Innovation

Three Firms Achieve Tangible Results

by Rob Koplowitz, Leslie Owens, August 30, 2010

Companies depend on innovation to sprint out of the current economic doldrums and to return to profitability and growth. Innovation is a discipline with established best practices, needed skill sets, and proven processes and tools. Many organizations . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Demand Insights: The SMB Software Market 2010

Small And Medium-Size Businesses Are Defying Gravity

by Tim Harmon, August 9, 2010

Small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), like their enterprise brethren, are shifting their technology focus from IT to business technology (BT). As their focus on business solutions — as opposed to technology products — continues to grow, SMBs are now . . .

For CIOs

Social Technologies Will Penetrate IT Management Tools

by Tim DeGennaro, August 4, 2010

A Tweet or any other status update, by design, is a small packet of information. When collected and put in a business context — particularly complex collaborative situations like IT project management — those small packets of information are what will . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

SVM Is Uniquely Positioned To Connect Innovation Leadership To Innovation Services

by Chris Andrews, August 3, 2010

Amid the ups and downs of the global economy, the interest in innovation among senior business leadership has only increased. Most CEOs recognize that in a business environment characterized by higher levels of uncertainty and risk, the ability to generate . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Case Study: Dimdim Enters The Web Conferencing Market With Smart Product Design And Marketing

Dimdim Points To How Small SaaS Firms Can Thrive In Crowded Markets

by TJ Keitt, July 14, 2010

Interest in software-as-a-service (SaaS) is heating up; 55% of firms tell us they are deploying the technology, will be deploying it in the next year or so, or are interested in it. In response, large software vendors and a host of startups have emerged . . .

For Content & Collaboration Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Web Conferencing, Q2 2010

Adobe, Cisco, IBM, And Microsoft Lead In The Web Meeting Scenario

by Ted Schadler, June 25, 2010

In Forrester's 60-criteria evaluation of Web conferencing vendors, we found that traditional vendors Adobe, Cisco, IBM Sametime, and Microsoft's two offerings led the pack because of their breadth and focus on the Web meeting scenario that we evaluated. . . .

For CMO & Marketing Leadership Professionals

Marketers' Empowered Opportunity

The HERO Index: Finding Empowered Employees

by David M. Cooperstein, June 25, 2010

Your customers are more empowered every day. Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter — accessible on smartphones, tablets, and connected TVs — are just the latest in the growing list of technologies that put power into the hands of consumers. Fortunately, . . .

For Content & Collaboration Professionals

The HERO Index: Finding Empowered Employees

Empowered Employees Solve Customer Problems: Find Them And Help Them

by Ted Schadler, Josh Bernoff, June 18, 2010

Groundswell technologies — social, mobile, video, and cloud — put tremendous power in the hands of customers. Only empowered employees can respond at the speed of empowered customers — and they're often information workers outside of IT. We call these . . .

For CIOs

Use Social Computing To Boost IT Productivity

by Nigel Fenwick, June 15, 2010

Is Social Computing use in IT a distraction? Not according to our latest research. Our survey of social media users indicates that IT staff increase productivity by adapting Social Computing to their role. CIOs should enthusiastically embrace social media . . .

For Business Process Professionals

Use Social Computing To Build Differentiated Product Development Processes

by Roy C. Wildeman, June 14, 2010

In recent years, leading product development organizations have proven the value of greater cross-functional collaboration to harness contributions from across the business and bring great products to market. With the rise in Social Computing among consumers . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The CaaS Market Heats Up

Communications-As-A-Service Generates High Interest And Will Soon Displace Premises-Based Alternatives

by Elizabeth Herrell, May 27, 2010

Communications-as-a-service (CaaS) shares many attributes with other as-a-service offerings in its pricing model and delivers voice, conferencing, contact center, IVR, and unified communications services from services providers' or vendors' networks. . . .

For CIOs

Social Media Use And Perceptions

by Nigel Fenwick, May 21, 2010

This data chart presents highlights from Forrester's January 2010 Global Social Media Online Survey.

For Content & Collaboration Professionals

Enterprises' Productivity Plans Include SharePoint 2010 And Office 2010

by Sheri McLeish, May 11, 2010

These data charts, with fresh data from the Q1 2010 Global Desktop Innovation Online Survey, highlight some continuing trends -- as well as a few shifts -- in the collaboration and productivity markets.

For Content & Collaboration Professionals

POST: A Systematic Way To Define Your Collaboration Strategy

A Structured Methodology Drives The Business Conversation

by Ted Schadler, April 28, 2010

Information and knowledge management professionals all too often go about collaboration strategy backwards: picking technologies like social networks or videoconferencing instead of focusing first on what they're trying to accomplish. This document outlines . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Business Web 2.0 Buyer Profile: 2010

Web 2.0 Technologies Find Internal And External Roles In Firms

by TJ Keitt, April 28, 2010

Business leader interest in Web 2.0 technologies has led software vendors of all stripes to add social layers to their applications. Sixty-five percent of firms have adopted at least one Web 2.0 technology, but businesses are focusing on a subset of tools . . .

For Content & Collaboration Professionals

Enterprise Social Networking 2010 Market Overview

by Rob Koplowitz, April 22, 2010

2010 will be a defining year for enterprise Web 2.0. With IBM Lotus and Microsoft attempting to extend dominant positions in collaboration and messaging to social software, a very broad and rich landscape of technology vendors will differentiate to stay . . .

For CIOs

The CIO's Guide To Establishing A Social Media Policy

by Nigel Fenwick, April 21, 2010

An effective social media policy provides an essential guide for employees with respect to their use of social media, whether they are engaging for personal reasons or business reasons. Research shows that employees using social media do read the organization's . . .

For CIOs

Social Media Policy Template For CIOs

by Nigel Fenwick, April 21, 2010

This template provides a starting point from which to draft your own social media policy. The template follows the outline provided in the associated report, "The CIO's Guide To Establishing A Social Media Policy." Remember that a new social media policy . . .

For CIOs

CIOs: Foster Software Innovation To Drive Business Success

Best Practices In Software Innovation

by Bobby Cameron, April 19, 2010

As the tech sector recovers faster than the overall economy through 2010, software is playing a key part in more and more products and services across many kinds of firms — not just technology vendors. CIOs should recognize that software innovation is . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Sourcing Strategies For Community Platforms

A Key Role Emerges For Sourcing Execs As Community Platform Space Matures

by Chris Andrews, April 12, 2010

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 . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Solving SharePoint Infrastructure Problems

Examining The Challenges, Solutions, And Partner Ecosystem Surrounding SharePoint

by Christopher Voce, April 9, 2010

SharePoint has achieved great success, but as organizations shine a bright spotlight on it they also reveal some of its nasty little challenges. Building it, running it, and even licensing it can be an ordeal. But the fact remains that it's a key platform . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The State Of Collaboration Software Adoption

Firms Continue To Turn To Collaboration Software After Recession

by TJ Keitt, April 2, 2010

Collaboration software adoption grew during the recessionary years of 2008 and 2009, and we anticipate this continuing. Why? Changes in how businesses work internally and with their customers and partners are increasing the emphasis on tools to facilitate . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

How Tech Strategists Can Ride The Coming Tidal Wave Of Business Video

Opportunities And Issues For Video And Networking Vendors

by Henry Dewing, April 1, 2010

Video will become the new business norm for communication and collaboration over the next five to 10 years. Why? Technology maturity, end user demand, and competitive pressures drive further creativity and productivity. Both business leaders and IT leaders . . .

For CIOs

The CIO's Guide To Social Computing Leadership

by Nigel Fenwick, March 31, 2010

Social Computing and social media represent a new wave of energy sweeping through business. "Social" holds out the promise of a customer-driven business model, one in which the voice of the customer influences business strategy and where corporate marketing . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Smart Computing Innovation Must Be Guided By EAs

by Henry Peyret, March 30, 2010

Forrester predicts that the latest cycle of technology innovation, "Smart Computing," will reshape the technology market through 2017. Smart Computing — which involves a blend of smart devices, smart networks, smart analytics and applications, and smart . . .