Forrester Unveils Key Enhancements To The Forrester Wave™, An Iconic Guide For Tech Buyers

December 05, 2024 at 09:00 AM EST

The enhanced capabilities enable buyers to make more informed purchasing decisions regarding tech and service providers

Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) today announced key enhancements to the Forrester Wave™, a comprehensive guide for buyers evaluating technologies and services in the marketplace. Available to Forrester Decisions and Forrester Market Insights clients, the updates simplify the process of buyer selection through a new interactive experience that enables clients to shortlist vendors, conduct a side-by-side comparison of their solutions, and make purchasing decisions based on specific needs, preferences, and priorities. Additional enhancements include a simplified Wave graphic as well as greater emphasis on customer feedback.

“For more than 20 years, our clients have relied on Forrester’s Wave reports to guide them in their technology purchases,” said Sharyn Leaver, chief research officer at Forrester. “We’ve always evaluated both quantitative and qualitative factors, including product capabilities and strategic vision, to help buyers identify strengths, weaknesses, and differentiation of vendors. Now, we’ve added in-depth customer feedback to the evaluations and a more interactive digital experience to help our clients evaluate complex markets and select vendors based on their business priorities.”

Key enhancements to the Forrester Wave include:

A simplified Wave graphic to highlight providers that demonstrate customer obsession. Forrester’s Wave graphic now puts providers into three tiers rather than four — Leader, Strong Performer, and Contender — to better showcase where they sit in a market relative to their peers and simplify the Wave’s visual design. Customer feedback representation replaces market presence to highlight the conversations Forrester has with providers’ reference customers, as well as customer feedback that Forrester collects outside of the Wave process. While other providers have moved to rely on anonymous reviews and ratings, Forrester prioritizes the human aspect of evaluations.

An interactive Wave digital experience to support contextual, customized results about providers. Forrester clients can use a vendor comparison tool to indicate their context — the capabilities and strategic criteria most important to them. From there, they can see corresponding results, compare providers side by side, and review individual provider scorecards for detailed analysis. Clients can then tailor findings into custom vendor shortlists. Additionally, notable providers from Forrester Landscape reports are included in the new digital experience as a streamlined way to represent the full group of potential providers.

Resources:

Read more about Forrester’s enhancements to the Forrester Wave.
Forrester clients can register to attend a webinar, taking place December 13, 2024, to learn how to use the interactive Wave experience to accelerate strategic partner selection.

About Forrester

Forrester (Nasdaq: FORR) is one of the most influential research and advisory firms in the world. We help leaders across technology, customer experience, digital, marketing, sales, and product functions use customer obsession to accelerate growth. Through Forrester’s proprietary research, consulting, and events, leaders from around the globe are empowered to be bold at work — to navigate change and put their customers at the center of their leadership, strategy, and operations. Our unique insights are grounded in annual surveys of more than 700,000 consumers, business leaders, and technology leaders worldwide; rigorous and objective research methodologies, including Forrester Wave™ evaluations; and the shared wisdom of our clients. To learn more, visit Forrester.com.