Forrester review
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.
Independently researched by the SalesHive team. Ratings are from public review platforms; this page is not sponsored by or affiliated with Forrester. Research last updated December 2025.
What is Forrester?
Forrester Research, Inc. is one of the world’s most influential research and advisory firms, known for helping business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth. Founded in 1983 by George F. Colony and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Forrester combines syndicated research, data, consulting, and events to give executives a clear view of what’s now and what’s next. Its analysts and consultants work across technology, customer experience, digital business, B2B and B2C marketing, sales, and product management to guide organizations through transformation.
The company’s offerings span research subscriptions such as the Forrester Decisions portfolio, proprietary tools and frameworks, benchmarking and indices (including the CX Index and Brand Experience Index), and hands-on consulting services. Forrester Decisions services pair bold-vision research and curated tools with guidance sessions from analysts, while Forrester’s strategy consulting teams help clients translate that insight into executable roadmaps. Forrester’s genAI assistant, Izola, is embedded into its digital client experience to surface trusted answers drawn from its research library.
Forrester serves more than 1,900 client companies worldwide and counts a large share of the Fortune 100 among its customers. Its clients span industries such as software and technology, financial services, telecommunications, retail, transportation and logistics, healthcare, government, and professional services. The firm emphasizes a “customer-obsessed” operating model, helping organizations put customers at the center of their leadership, strategy, and operations.
Market-wise, Forrester occupies a unique position at the intersection of technology research, customer experience expertise, and strategy consulting. It competes with other analyst firms and global consultancies but differentiates itself through its deep proprietary research, role-based Forrester Decisions services, and long-standing frameworks like The Forrester Wave evaluations, CX Index, and B2B Revenue Waterfall. This combination of research, data, and consulting makes Forrester a strategic partner for organizations seeking to navigate disruption, modernize technology, and build customer-obsessed cultures.
Forrester key features
Teams typically use it 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, and more.
- Customer-obsessed research and advisory services spanning technology, customer experience, digital, marketing, sales, and product domains.
- Strategy consulting for IT and technology leaders. including digital transformation roadmaps, tech-stack modernization, and security and privacy strategy.
- Customer experience (CX) strategy consulting to define CX vision. map journeys, design holistic digital experiences, and build CX measurement frameworks.
- B2B marketing consulting to drive integrated marketing transformations, audience-centric messaging, and demand and account-based marketing programs.
- B2B sales consulting to optimize sales organization design. incentive planning, and buyer-aligned sales processes that improve conversion and renewal rates.
- Product management consulting to align product portfolios with customer needs, assess product strategy, and implement value-based pricing and go-to-market plans.
- Forrester Decisions role-based subscription services that bundle research, data, tools, and analyst guidance for specific leadership roles and functions.
- Bold vision research covering customer insights. market trends and predictions, technology landscapes, and service provider evaluations such as The Forrester Wave.
- Curated tools. frameworks, and templates including maturity models, operating models, and methodologies like the B2B Revenue Waterfall and CX Management Maturity Model.
- Hands-on guidance sessions with Forrester experts to apply research, benchmarks, and frameworks to client-specific priorities and initiatives.
- Benchmarks and assessments that measure current state and future fitness, including customer experience indices, technology benchmarks, and organizational maturity models.
- Izola, a generative AI assistant embedded in the Forrester Decisions digital experience, which synthesizes Forrester research into concise answers to client questions.
- Global events. summits, workshops, and executive programs that extend strategy work through peer networking, training, and deep-dive sessions.
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 Forrester’s 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.
Forrester pricing
Published pricing at the time of research. Always confirm current rates with the vendor.
- Access to a Forrester Decisions research service for a specific leadership role or function
- Engagements with analysts for best-practice guidance and Q&A
- Courtesy Views to access a limited amount of research outside the primary service each contract year
- All Leader/Team license benefits
- Unlimited Courtesy Views across Forrester Decisions and other eligible research products
- Enhanced access to analysts, events, and sharing options for Forrester research within the organization
Who Forrester is for
A strong fit for
Mid-sized to large organizations that need independent, research-backed guidance and consulting to shape and execute customer-obsessed strategies across technology, CX, marketing, sales, product, and data, and that can invest in annual subscriptions and consulting engagements.
Probably not for
Very small businesses or cost-sensitive organizations looking for low-priced, self-serve SaaS tools, short-term tactical advice, or out-of-the-box software integrations rather than research-driven strategy consulting.
How Forrester compares
Compared with traditional strategy consulting firms such as McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Deloitte, Forrester is more deeply rooted in syndicated research, data, and frameworks that are productized through subscriptions. Its Forrester Decisions services and indices like the CX Index give clients repeatable, benchmark-driven tools rather than purely bespoke consulting. This makes Forrester particularly strong when organizations need ongoing market intelligence, role-based guidance, and a consistent methodology they can internalize, rather than a one-time, consultant-driven strategy project.
Relative to other analyst firms like Gartner or IDC, Forrester differentiates through its emphasis on customer obsession, customer experience, and revenue-generating functions such as B2B marketing, sales, and product management. Its Wave and TEI (Total Economic Impact) studies, along with CX- and brand-focused indices, appeal to executives who want to connect technology and experience decisions back to growth and financial impact. However, Gartner generally offers broader coverage across some technology segments, and IDC maintains deep quantitative market sizing, while Forrester’s higher cost and enterprise orientation can make it less accessible to smaller buyers. Overall, Forrester is best positioned as a strategic partner for organizations wanting to embed research-backed, customer-obsessed thinking into ongoing decision-making across multiple functions.
Tool research is the easy part. Someone still has to build the lists, write the copy, make the calls, and book the meetings.
Frequently asked about Forrester
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