For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Microsoft Ups The ALM Ante With Its Bet On Teamprise

Expect VS 2010 To Accelerate The Shakeout In The Application Life-Cycle Management Market

by Jeffrey S. Hammond, November 16, 2009

Microsoft's Team Foundation Server (TFS) has proven very popular with .NET developers but not so much with Eclipse developers. This presents a problem for Microsoft, because many of its largest customers develop for both .NET and Java and want a consolidated . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

SAP Will Retrench With NetWeaver

SAP Will Focus On New Analytics Opportunities, Not Stack Wars

by John R. Rymer, November 12, 2009

Pop quiz: What is SAP's direction with NetWeaver? We couldn't answer that question either, so we traveled to SAP's TechEd conference in October to find out. NetWeaver is an also-ran in enterprise middleware but is vital to the many organizations that . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Enterprise Platform Trends, H1 2009: Bye-Bye Vista

by Ellen Daley, November 10, 2009

Forrester's six-month study of 75,453 enterprise users during H1 2009 reveals interesting insights into browser type, operating system, screen resolution, color depth, and Java and Flash adoption. These insights are especially useful for enterprise software . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Modernization Decisions: Migrate, Rewrite, Or Replace A 40-Year-Old Assembler Application?

by Phil Murphy, October 2, 2009

Client inquiries asking Forrester for help in making application modernization decisions have spiked in recent months, spurred on by firms' need to make the most of the applications they already own while jettisoning applications that no longer effectively . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

The Tier One Middleware Vendors

A SWOT Analysis Of The Leading Business Process Platform Vendors: IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, And SAP

by Stefan Ried, Ph.D., September 4, 2009

The four largest traditional software vendors — IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP — compete around business process platform software. This broader software segment covers all the components that independent software vendors (ISVs) need to create a packaged . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

A Surprising New Java Platform Option: VMware

Acquiring SpringSource, VMware Targets Java And Clouds

by John R. Rymer, Mike Gualtieri, James Staten, Jeffrey S. Hammond, August 26, 2009

VMware's ambition is to expand up the stack from its franchise in systems virtualization software into application platforms. The company's decision to buy Java frameworks specialist SpringSource is a first step toward realizing this larger ambition as . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

With "11g," Oracle Steps Out Of IBM's Middleware Shadow

New Release Will Also Blast Past SAP NetWeaver And Challenge Microsoft

by Jeffrey S. Hammond, John R. Rymer, August 19, 2009

The latest release of Oracle Fusion Middleware, dubbed "11g," establishes Oracle as the innovator among Java platform vendors. The first modules of Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g — the core Java application server, development tools, service-oriented architecture . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Complex Event Processing (CEP) Platforms, Q3 2009

The Fledgling CEP Platform Market Is Vibrant, Competitive, And Dynamic

by Mike Gualtieri, John R. Rymer, August 4, 2009

Forrester evaluated nine complex event processing (CEP) platforms using 114 criteria and found Progress Software and Aleri to be standout Leaders because of their top scores in the event processing features and strategy categories. Solid features and . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Packaged Apps Versus Platforms For Custom Development: Which Ones Sell Better?

IT Spend Analysis 2009: The Right Focus For Software Vendors

by Holger Kisker, Ph.D., Stefan Ried, Ph.D., July 31, 2009

In times of economic challenge, IT budgets face the same pressures as other cost centers of a company. We thus analyzed the 2009 IT spending plans of 2,731 IT executives and technology decision-makers to identify any budget shift between different software . . .

For CIOs

Enterprise Software Budgets And Initiatives

Consolidation, Modernization, And Collaboration Are Top Software Priorities

by Sharyn Leaver, July 10, 2009

Budgeting and planning season is right around the corner, and an armful of new and unproven technologies and software initiatives promise to change the way IT conducts its business. IT organizations are wondering what to consider and what to let pass . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

Demand Insights: The SMB Software Market

Where Small And Medium-Size Businesses Are Investing

by Tim Harmon, June 15, 2009

Small and medium-size businesses' (SMBs') software priorities, investment levels, vendor relationships, buying processes, and use of IT differ significantly from large enterprises'. Technology marketers must hone their product portfolios and go-to-market . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

The State Of SMB Software: 2009

Business Data Services North America And Europe

by Heidi Lo, R "Ray" Wang, Jean-Pierre Garbani, June 5, 2009

This document gives highlights of an extensive data set collected across North American and European small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) via our Enterprise And SMB Software Survey, North America And Europe, Q4 2008. Hot software topics covered include . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

The State Of Enterprise Software: 2009

Business Data Services North America And Europe

by Heidi Lo, R "Ray" Wang, Jean-Pierre Garbani, June 5, 2009

This document gives highlights of an extensive data set collected across North American and European enterprises via our Enterprise And SMB Software Survey, North America And Europe, Q4 2008. Hot software topics covered include software-as-a-service (SaaS), . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Microsoft's Web Platform Expands To PHP

Microsoft Aims To Simplify Adoption Of PHP Web Apps On Windows

by Mike Gualtieri, Jeffrey S. Hammond, May 12, 2009

Blasphemy might be the first word that comes to mind when you hear Microsoft, PHP, and open source mentioned in the same breath. But no more: The new Microsoft Web Platform will offer simplified install of certain popular PHP Web applications such as . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

JAVA Under Oracle: Seven Things You Need To Know

Java Standards Will Narrow; MySQL, ADF, And JDeveloper Will Expand

by John R. Rymer, Noel Yuhanna, Jeffrey S. Hammond, Mike Gualtieri, May 8, 2009

Oracle's proposed purchase of Sun Microsystems (ticker symbol: JAVA) will give it control over two of the most widely used application development technologies in the industry: the Java platform and MySQL. Oracle can't say exactly what it intends to do . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

Deliver Cloud Benefits Inside Your Walls

Economic And Self-Service Gains Are Within Reach

by James Staten, April 13, 2009

While the excitement about cloud computing centers on Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and other public infrastructure-as-a-service products, many enterprise infrastructure and operations professionals are taking this concept in-house and building their . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Behind "Cloud" Is Your Future Application Environment: Ultra Modular Computing

Shift Cloud Excitement To Your Own Data Centers

by Charles Brett, Jeffrey S. Hammond, April 6, 2009

Cloud computing is all the rage, but its greatest benefit may be to teach IT organizations how to build flexible and cost-efficient private data centers. The technical foundations of cloud computing — commodity hardware, virtualization, elastic workload . . .

For Infrastructure & Operations Professionals

PaaS Has A Place In Your Infrastructure Plans

Taking The Fog Out Of Cloud Computing: Platform-As-A-Service

by Simon Yates, April 3, 2009

Cloud computing has generated a lot of interest, but what services exist to support this model? In an effort to cut through some of the hype and let you discuss their real benefits and drawbacks, Forrester has defined a taxonomy for understanding cloud . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Platform-As-A-Service Is Here: How To Sift Through The Options

The Rewards And Risks Of PaaS For Application Development Shops

by John R. Rymer, April 1, 2009

The term platform-as-a-service describes many different approaches to developing applications that run in Internet data centers, and each of these approaches is suited to a limited number of application scenarios. These scenarios are evident in the developer . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

IBM's Bid For Sun Is About More Than Just Solaris And Java

Sun's Innovations Can Improve IBM's Prospects Outside Enterprise Markets

by Frank E. Gillett, March 24, 2009

Vendor strategists are calling Forrester asking what we make of the possibility of IBM buying Sun Microsystems. The conventional wisdom is that IBM wants to capture the Solaris/SPARC customer base to boost the AIX/Power business and own Java to protect . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Enterprise Platform Trends, H2 2008: Chrome Arrives And Vista Departs

by Thomas Mendel, Ph.D., March 16, 2009

Forrester's month-on-month study of 51,913 enterprise users in H2 2008 reveals interesting insights into browser type, operating system, screen resolution, color depth, and Java and Flash adoption. These insights are especially useful for enterprise software . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Base Your Oracle "Red Stack" Negotiations Strategy On Your Oracle Adoption Strategy

Preparation And Product Expertise Are Key To Winning

by R "Ray" Wang, John R. Rymer, Noel Yuhanna, March 13, 2009

Amidst worsening economic conditions and a rapidly consolidating vendor landscape, applications professionals will have the opportunity to consolidate their own landscapes by committing to single-vendor "platform stacks." IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Platform-As-A-Service Is Here; Can It Help You?

The Opportunities And Risks Of PaaS For Application Development Shops

by John R. Rymer, February 10, 2009

The nascent and overhyped idea that organizations should move their applications from on-premise data centers to Internet "clouds" has hit platforms. "Platform-as-a-service" (PaaS) isn't theory; Forrester has found 20 products available today — several . . .

For Enterprise Architecture Professionals

Taking The Fog Out Of Cloud Computing: Platform-As-A-Service

Begin Building PaaS Into Your Application Platform Strategy

by Randy Heffner, February 10, 2009

As part of their application platform strategies, enterprise architects should become familiar with platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings. PaaS is one of the multiple categories of offerings that fly under the vague and often ill-used banner of "cloud . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Five Steps To Building A Recession-Proof Packaged Applications Strategy

A Practical Approach Using Forrester's Long-Term Apps Strategy Framework

by R "Ray" Wang, December 22, 2008

Application delivery professionals continue to face tremendous change from new business models, economic crises, changing workforce dynamics, and technology advancement. The current global recession challenges enterprises to tightly align packaged apps . . .