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Strategy Consulting
Forrester
We help business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth and be bold at work.
Forrester is a global research and advisory firm that provides independent research, strategy consulting, and events to help leaders across technology, marketing, customer experience, sales, and product functions drive customer-obsessed growth.
Pricing
Custom pricing
Best for
Organizations that want ongoing, research-backed strategic guidance plus consulting to build and execute customer-obsessed strategies across technology, CX, marketing, sales, product, and data.
Platforms
Web
Free trial
No
Free plan
No
Headquarters
Cambridge, MA, USA
Company type
Public
The honest take
What reviewers love, and what to watch
A balanced view of Forrester, drawn from public reviews and product research.
Pros
- High-quality, current research and insights across a wide range of technology and business topics, frequently cited as accurate and up to date.
- Strong reputation as a world-class research and advisory firm with credible, objective analysts and methodologies.
- User-friendly web platform that makes it easy to search, access, and consume reports, ratings, and evaluations.
- Actionable frameworks, models, and best-practice guidance that help organizations translate research into effective strategies.
- Breadth of coverage, including technology trends, DevOps and security topics, CX and marketing, which helps stakeholders across functions make aligned decisions.
- Perceived authenticity and trustworthiness of Forresteru2019s evaluations and opinions compared with vendor marketing claims.
Cons
- Pricing is considered high compared with some alternative sources of market research, making it a significant investment for smaller organizations.
- Some reviewers would like even deeper detail or more prescriptive recommendations in certain reports and summaries.
- Coverage of very niche or emerging trends can feel limited or slower to evolve for some specialized use cases.
Where it fits
What teams use Forrester for
- Customer experience strategy and CX transformation programs
- Enterprise and IT digital transformation and technology roadmapping
- B2B marketing strategy, demand generation, and account-based marketing
- B2B sales strategy, buyer-aligned selling, and sales enablement
- Product strategy, portfolio management, and value-based pricing
- Data, AI, and analytics strategy and governance
- Brand, customer-obsession, and organizational change initiatives
Key strengths
- Global brand credibility and long history as an independent technology and strategy research firm serving many of the world's largest enterprises.
- Comprehensive, cross-functional coverage that spans technology, CX, marketing, sales, product, and data/AI, enabling alignment across executive teams.
- Integration of continuous research with consultative engagements, benchmarks, and events, giving clients multiple modes of engagement and learning.
- Strong focus on customer obsession and customer experience, supported by proprietary indices and frameworks that tie customer outcomes to business results.
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Questions, answered
Frequently asked about Forrester
The short version is on the surface. Open any question to go deeper.
Forrester is a global research and advisory firm that combines independent research, data, consulting, and events to help business and technology leaders become customer-obsessed and drive growth. Its services include role-based Forrester Decisions research subscriptions, strategy consulting across technology, CX, marketing, sales, product, and data/AI, and flagship events and indices such as the CX Index and The Forrester Wave.
Forrester does not publish list pricing for its Forrester Decisions subscriptions or strategy consulting services. Pricing is typically custom and based on factors such as the number and type of licenses, regions and business units covered, and the scope of any consulting engagements. Contracts are usually annual, and enterprise agreements can represent a significant strategic investment, so prospective clients should contact Forrester directly for a tailored quote.
Forrester's main features include extensive proprietary research and forecasts, role-based Forrester Decisions services, technology and service provider evaluations like The Forrester Wave, customer experience and brand indices, strategic frameworks and maturity models, benchmarks and assessments, hands-on analyst guidance, strategy consulting projects, and global events and training. Its Izola genAI assistant is integrated into the digital experience to surface relevant research quickly for licensed clients.
Forrester's primary competitors include other analyst and advisory firms such as Gartner and IDC, as well as global strategy consulting firms like McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Bain & Company, and Deloitte. In specific domains like customer experience or digital transformation, it may also compete with specialized consultancies and boutique agencies.
Forrester can deliver value to smaller organizations that are making high-stakes technology, CX, or go-to-market decisions and are prepared to invest in premium research and consulting. However, its pricing and annual-contract model are generally oriented toward mid-market and enterprise buyers. Very small or early-stage companies with limited budgets may find lighter-weight tools, lower-cost research providers, or targeted point-solution consultancies more practical.
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