For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Who's Who In IT Management Software 2.0

Mapping Top Vendors' Portfolios — And Future Perspectives

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., Jean-Pierre Garbani, August 12, 2010

Within the next five years, IT organizations and their role in enterprises will evolve through major structural changes. If the present IT technology sustains its exponential growth rate, IT organizations will have to shift their focus from manufacturing . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Role Overview: I&O Release Manager

Ensuring Uninterrupted Service Availability And Performance

by Evelyn Hubbert, August 3, 2010

Service management promises to reorganize infrastructure and operations (I&O) to provide better value to the business. But, there's a catch. The service must be designed, transitioned, and delivered in such a way as to satisfy the service consumer. . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Market Overview: Service-Level Management Tools For Outsourcing Governance

by Patrick M. Connaughton, Philipp Karcher, July 15, 2010

The advent of new service delivery models and the rise of multisourcing have complicated an already difficult task for clients — monitoring vendor performance and ensuring that contractual obligations are met. As a result, sourcing and vendor management . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Writing On IT's Complexity Wall

The Future Role Of IT Management Software

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, June 30, 2010

The past years have seen IT organizations struggle with issues of service development, deployment, and delivery. Forrester believes that these issues are directly linked to the increased complexity of IT, born from technology's diversity and exponential . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

ITIL Version 3 Adoption Not Yet Taking The World By Storm

by Evelyn Hubbert, Onica King, June 7, 2010

The global adoption of ITIL v3 is occurring, but gradually. It is most visible in the growth of selected processes as organizations travel their ITSM journey. Forrester anticipates that many organizations will continue with ITIL v2 to gain maturity in . . .

For CIOs

Do CIOs Care About IT Management Tools?

by Tim DeGennaro, Sharyn Leaver, May 17, 2010

CIOs are constantly working to run IT like a business — focusing on business orientation through capabilities like IT planning, portfolio management, and IT investment optimization. A myriad of vendors — from small niche players to traditional heavyweights . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Market Overview: IT Service Management Support Tools

An Overview Of The Modern Service Desk And Other Technologies

by Evelyn Hubbert, March 22, 2010

The service desk market generated more than $1.3 billion in 2008 and is expected to grow at about 10%. This market segment has experienced very little innovation in the past few years. The goals of service desk customers are primarily to improve customer . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Knowledge Management Is A Foundation For Good Customer Support

A Best Practice Introduced To The IT Operations And Service Desk Teams

by Evelyn Hubbert, March 9, 2010

As IT organizations deepen their maturity in service management, they progress from a simple ticketing system to an IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) process-oriented service desk with self-service functionality. The next stage is to augment the service . . .

For Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals

Three Capabilities To Measure Before You Multisource

Build Preparations Around A Gap Analysis

by Euan Davis, March 4, 2010

Measuring the gaps between your service delivery skills today and where they need to be for multisourcing guides sourcing's preparations. Three key areas to measure are: 1) how well you set your service-level agreements (SLAs) because contracts are built . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Update: IT Management Software In 2009

Say Farewell To IT Management Software 1.0

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., February 22, 2010

The IT management software market is one of the most dynamic and multifaceted markets in the whole IT industry. The importance has grown significantly over the years. This dynamic, however, also means that the way we look at the market and report changes . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Best Practices Of IT Management Software Vendor Positioning

Positioning Is Influenced By The Web Site But Extends Through Social Media

by Peter O'Neill, February 18, 2010

Two years after Forrester first published it, our vendor positioning review (VPR) methodology has become a proven strategy tool; Forrester analysts have applied it in multiple advisory engagements, and marketing professionals actively leverage it as a . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Projections For 2010: IT Management Software

Say Hello To IT Management Software 2.0

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., February 4, 2010

The past decade has seen a considerable improvement in IT management software, especially where operational effectiveness is concerned. However, the economic downturn as well as new technologies such as virtualization and new thinking such as green IT . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Get Onboard With The IT-To-BT Transformation In 2010

by Simon Yates, February 4, 2010

With the global economy showing signs of life and the expectation of a better budget climate in 2010, bidding farewell to 2009 won't be hard. 2010 brings the promise of renewed energy and new opportunities as companies try to sprint out of the post-recessionary . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Predictions 2010: The Tech Industry Rebounds Faster Than The Overall Economy

by Christopher Mines, January 29, 2010

The technology industry will be among the bright spots of the global economic recovery in 2010. We forecast that IT purchases (measured in US dollars) will grow by more than 8% over the depressed levels of 2009, led by software sales and some segments . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Spotlight On: The IT Management Software Challengers

An Overview Of The Challengers In The IT Management Software Market

by Evelyn Hubbert, December 28, 2009

The 2009 IT management software (ITMS) market seems to favor smaller vendors to the detriment of larger ones, as preliminary results for the first three quarters of 2009 show that the megavendor share of the ITMS market has again declined from 2008. This . . .

For Market Research Professionals

European Firms: Decision-Makers For Servers, Storage, And Systems Management Software

by Frank E. Gillett, December 14, 2009

Using data from Forrester's Enterprise And SMB Hardware Survey, North America And Europe, Q2 2009, we examine responses from European firms regarding the question: "Who Is Significantly Involved In The Decision-Making Process For Servers, Storage, And . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Put DCIM Into Your Automation Plans

Data Center Infrastructure Management Should Be A Part Of Your Architecture

by Galen Schreck, December 9, 2009

Data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tools are system management platforms covering rack, cooling, and electrical infrastructure for your data center facilities. Most companies have implemented some IT process automation, but this automation stops . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

It's Time For IT Management Software 2.0

Lean Thinking Brings Forward New Management Tools

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, December 8, 2009

IT is still struggling with growing pains, meaning that the current economic conditions present a catalyst for change and an opportunity to mature. These conditions present a catalyst because they bring more stringent budgets and the need to control IT . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Spotlight On: The IT Management Software Megavendors

An Overview Of The Top Four Anchor Vendors

by Evelyn Hubbert, December 1, 2009

The current recession and credit crunch deeply affected IT spending in the last quarter of 2008 and into 2009. Despite this bleak overall picture, Forrester forecasts 4% growth in nonapplication software products (e.g., storage management, middleware), . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Driving Multitenancy In Your Virtual Environments

How To Get Business Units To Share Your Consolidated Infrastructure

by James Staten, November 18, 2009

As you continue to consolidate your server infrastructure and make it more cloudlike, a key hurdle you and most enterprises must overcome is the sharing of physical infrastructure between business units (BUs). While some organizations have a centralized . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

The Low-Hanging Fruit That Service Operations Teams Should Consider Now

by Evelyn Hubbert, November 13, 2009

Some IT organizations are confident that they can weather the storm of our current economic situation. Others believe they can maintain their current staffing level, and some are saying that they can maintain their current IT technology investment levels. . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Overview: Workload Automation, Q3 2009

Is BSM The Future Of Workload Automation?

by Jean-Pierre Garbani, November 9, 2009

Job scheduling is a necessary component of data centers. Without job scheduling, an enterprise could simply not execute long application processes that deal with massive amounts of data and are necessary to prepare for online and transactional processing. . . .

For CIOs

A Catalog Of Technical Services Improves The Manageability Of The BT Service Portfolio

by Alexander Peters, Ph.D., November 6, 2009

Business technology (BT) changes IT's roles within the enterprise, forcing IT leaders to deploy business service processes and technology demand management. CIOs are embarking on the IT-to-BT journey by concentrating their efforts on the consolidation . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Role Overview: Service Catalog Manager

by Evelyn Hubbert, November 6, 2009

Most IT organizations "get" the service management concept and many have implemented and improved their processes, and the interrelationships of these processes, to support and service the business. Many companies have implemented elements of ITIL as . . .

For CIOs

Catalog Of Technical Services

by Alexander Peters, Ph.D., Wolfgang Benkel, November 6, 2009

The workbook defines 10 generic profiles of technical services and associates provisioning processes and activities with each of them. The activity-based descriptions enable IT executives to establish the link between technology assets, resources, and . . .