Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR): Analyse SWOT [Jan-2025 Mise à jour]

Dans le monde rapide de la recherche technologique, Forrester Research, Inc. se dresse à un moment critique en 2024, naviguant dans un paysage complexe de transformation numérique, de technologies émergentes et de concurrence féroce du marché. Cette analyse SWOT complète révèle le positionnement stratégique de l'entreprise, découvrant ses forces puissantes, ses vulnérabilités potentielles, ses opportunités prometteuses et ses défis imminents qui façonneront sa trajectoire concurrentielle dans l'écosystème de recherche technologique dynamique.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - Analyse SWOT: Forces

Réputation établie en tant que cabinet de recherche technologique et de conseil en technologie

Forrester Research, fondé en 1983, a généré 496,94 millions de dollars de revenus totaux pour l'exercice 2022. La société maintient une Position du marché solide dans la recherche technologique avec 498 employés au 31 décembre 2022.

Forte reconnaissance de la marque dans la technologie et l'industrie des études de marché

La force de la marque de Forrester est démontrée par sa portée mondiale et ses rapports de recherche influents.

• Couvre 45 domaines de technologie et commerciaux
• Sert des clients dans plus de 70 pays
• Produit plus de 300 rapports de recherche chaque année

Services de recherche et de consultation complets

La société propose divers services de recherche dans plusieurs secteurs technologiques.

Clientèle diversifiée

Le portefeuille de clients de Forrester comprend des entreprises mondiales importantes.

• 70% des entreprises du Fortune 500 en tant que clients
• Clients dans les secteurs de la technologie, des finances, des soins de santé et de la vente au détail
• Présence internationale du client en Amérique du Nord, en Europe, en Asie-Pacifique

Plateformes de recherche numérique robustes

Forrester offre des capacités de recherche numérique avancées.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - Analyse SWOT: faiblesses

Capitalisation boursière relativement petite

En janvier 2024, la capitalisation boursière de Forrester Research s'élève à environ 389,52 millions de dollars, nettement plus faible par rapport aux grandes entreprises de recherche comme Gartner (capitalisation boursière de 26,48 milliards de dollars) et IDC.

Dépendance à l'égard des dépenses technologiques des entreprises

Les revenus de Forrester sont fortement liés aux budgets de conseil en technologie des entreprises, qui peuvent fluctuer en fonction des conditions économiques.

• Attribution du budget de consultation technologique: environ 60 à 65% du total des dépenses de recherche d'entreprise
• Sensibilité aux ralentissements économiques: forte vulnérabilité aux coupes budgétaires

Défis dans le paysage de la recherche technologique

Le secteur technologique en évolution rapide présente des défis importants pour maintenir la pertinence de la recherche.

Diversification des revenus géographiques limités

Les sources de revenus de Forrester sont principalement concentrées sur les marchés nord-américains.

• Amérique du Nord Revenus: 78,4%
• Part de marché européen: 16,2%
• Région Asie-Pacifique: 5,4%

Coûts de recherche opérationnelle élevés

Le maintien de capacités de recherche complètes nécessite des investissements financiers substantiels.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - Analyse SWOT: Opportunités

Demande croissante de recherche et de services de conseil en transformation numérique

La taille du marché mondial de la transformation numérique prévue pour atteindre 1 268,9 milliards de dollars d'ici 2026, avec un TCAC de 22,7% de 2022 à 2026. Les services de recherche de Forrester sont placés pour saisir la croissance du marché.

Expansion du marché pour l'intelligence artificielle et les informations technologiques émergentes

Le marché mondial de l'IA devrait atteindre 190,61 milliards de dollars d'ici 2025, avec des opportunités importantes pour la recherche technologique et les services de conseil.

• Le marché de la recherche sur l'IA augmente à 33,2% CAGR
• L'adoption de l'IA d'entreprise augmentant de 37,3% par an
• Les revenus de consultation technologique prévus pour atteindre 53,9 milliards de dollars en 2024

Potentiel pour développer plus de produits de recherche numérique basés sur un abonnement

Marché de l'abonnement à la recherche numérique d'une valeur de 8,2 milliards de dollars en 2023, avec un potentiel d'expansion.

Besoin croissant de consultation de la cybersécurité et de la stratégie technologique

Le marché mondial de la cybersécurité prévu pour atteindre 345,4 milliards de dollars d'ici 2026, créant des opportunités de conseil importantes.

• Le marché du conseil en cybersécurité augmente à 14,5% de TCAC
• Les dépenses de cybersécurité de l'entreprise devraient dépasser 188,3 milliards de dollars en 2024
• Revenus de consultation de stratégie technologique estimés à 42,7 milliards de dollars

Possibilité de se développer sur les marchés et les régions technologiques émergentes

Les marchés technologiques émergents en Asie-Pacifique et en Amérique latine montrant un potentiel de croissance rapide.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - Analyse SWOT: menaces

Concurrence intense des grandes entreprises de recherche et des analystes technologiques

Forrester fait face à une pression concurrentielle importante des principales sociétés de recherche:

Ralentissements économiques potentiels affectant les dépenses de recherche d'entreprise

Vulnérabilité des dépenses de recherche lors des défis économiques:

• Les baisses budgétaires de la recherche d'entreprise étaient en moyenne de 17,3% pendant les ralentissements économiques
• Les dépenses de recherche technologique devraient diminuer de 6 à 8% dans les scénarios de récession potentiels
• La recherche discrétionnaire dépense le plus en danger pendant les contractions économiques

Des changements technologiques rapides nécessitant une adaptation de recherche constante

Défis d'évolution technologique:

Plateformes de recherche alternatives émergentes

Plateformes de recherche compétitives:

• CB Insights: 118,5 millions de dollars de revenus annuels
• Pitchbook: 225,6 millions de dollars de revenus annuels
• Des plateformes alternatives capturant 12,4% de la part de marché

Perturbation potentielle des outils de recherche alimentés par l'IA

Dynamique du marché des outils de recherche sur l'IA:

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - SWOT Analysis: Opportunities

The biggest opportunities for Forrester Research, Inc. right now are in leveraging their deep research base to capture high-margin, recurring revenue from the explosive growth in Generative AI (GenAI) and by finally pushing hard into high-growth international markets. The transition to the Forrester Decisions platform is largely complete, so the focus shifts to maximizing client value and geographic reach.

Expand into high-growth, specialized markets like AI governance and GenAI strategy consulting.

You have a clear path to higher-margin business by positioning Forrester Research as the definitive source for AI governance and strategy. The global AI Governance market is projected to reach USD 309.01 million in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.74% from 2025 to 2034. That is a massive tailwind. The broader AI consulting market is expected to increase by USD 38.16 billion with a CAGR of 28.8% from 2024 to 2029. Forrester's existing GenAI tool, Izola, and the new self-service offering, Forrester AI Access, are the right products to capture this demand. The market is moving from experimentation to strategic scaling, and companies need help to avoid failure; 25% of enterprises using GenAI are forecast to deploy AI agents in 2025, but 60% of initiatives fail to scale. Your expertise can close that gap. This is a defintely a high-priority, near-term revenue driver.

Increase wallet share by cross-selling Forrester Decisions and Forrester Connect platforms.

With roughly 80% of your Contract Value (CV) now migrated to the Forrester Decisions platform, the heavy lifting of the product transition is done. The next step is 'enrichment,' which means selling more to existing clients. Your wallet retention rate was 86% in Q3 2025, which is solid, but there is headroom to push that closer to 100% and beyond. You already proved this model works, increasing the contract value per client by 10% to $158,000 at year-end 2024. Cross-selling Forrester Connect (events) and high-touch consulting to your core Forrester Decisions clients is the quickest way to boost revenue without the high cost of acquiring new logos.

Here's the quick math on the opportunity:

Strategic acquisitions of smaller, niche data providers to bolster data-driven insights.

Your last major acquisition was SiriusDecisions in 2018. In a market where competitors are constantly buying up niche data and AI startups, a lack of recent M&A activity is a missed opportunity to immediately inject new capabilities. You had cash reserves of $135 million in Q2 2025 and only $35 million in debt, giving you a strong balance sheet for targeted, tuck-in acquisitions. Acquiring a provider specializing in real-time data or a vertical-specific GenAI data set could immediately bolster your research offerings and justify higher subscription prices.

Grow international market penetration, especially in APAC and EMEA regions.

The growth outside of North America is a clear, uncaptured opportunity. The Asia Pacific (APAC) technology spending market alone was initially projected to grow by 6.5% in 2025 to reach US$722 billion. More specifically, the software market in APAC is set to grow 10.4% in 2025, which is exactly where Forrester Research's core offerings sit. You need to aggressively target these high-growth pockets:

• Indonesia: Tech spending growth of 8.5% in 2025.
• Philippines: Tech spending growth of 9.4% in 2025.
• Vietnam: Tech spending growth of 10% in 2025.

A more focused sales and marketing investment in these regions, backed by localized research, can capture a meaningful share of this multi-billion dollar market. You have the global presence; now you need to fund the execution.

Convert more consulting engagements into higher-margin, recurring subscription revenue.

Your full-year 2025 revenue guidance of $395.0 million to $405.0 million is a decline from 2024, and your consulting business saw an 8% revenue decline in Q3 2025. This volatility is exactly why you need to push clients from one-off consulting projects into sticky, recurring subscription contracts. Research accounted for approximately 73% of total revenue in 2024, and that recurring base is the foundation of your business. By structuring consulting projects-especially those around GenAI strategy-to include a mandatory, multi-year subscription to the relevant Forrester Decisions service, you can stabilize and grow the top line.

Forrester Research, Inc. (FORR) - SWOT Analysis: Threats

Aggressive competition from Gartner, which dominates the technology advisory market.

The competitive landscape is defintely a David-and-Goliath situation, and it's the biggest threat to Forrester's top-line revenue. Gartner is the market gorilla. To put it in perspective, Gartner's 2022 technology research revenue was approximately $3.6 billion, while Forrester Research's total revenue for the full year 2024 was only $432.5 million. That size difference gives Gartner a massive advantage in sales reach, brand recognition, and the ability to bundle services at scale. Forrester is guiding for full-year 2025 revenue between $395.0 million and $405.0 million, a decline of up to 8.7% from the prior year, showing they are actively losing ground in a tough market. This isn't a fair fight; it's a battle for niche relevance.

Here's the quick math on the competitive gap:

Rise of free or low-cost, AI-powered research and self-service data platforms.

The democratization of data through generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) is a direct threat to the subscription model of traditional analyst firms. Why pay a premium for a report when a sophisticated AI tool can synthesize similar insights from vast public and proprietary datasets almost instantly? The market is shifting fast: 83% of organizations plan to significantly increase their AI investment in 2025, and 89% of market researchers are already using AI tools regularly. Plus, 71% of market researchers believe synthetic data will account for over half of all data collection within three years.

Forrester is trying to adapt by launching Forrester AI Access, a new self-service offering that uses their own generative AI capabilities. Still, this move risks cannibalizing their high-margin, human-led research and advisory services. The threat isn't just new competitors; it's the technology itself making the old model obsolete. They're trying to outrun a tidal wave.

Economic downturns directly impact client spending on discretionary research and consulting.

When the economy tightens, research and consulting are often the first line items that Chief Financial Officers cut because they are seen as discretionary spending. This threat is already visible in Forrester's 2025 results. The company's management cited ongoing market uncertainty as a key factor impacting their Contract Value (CV), which was down 7% to $288.1 million as of Q3 2025. Their full-year 2025 revenue guidance reflects this pressure, projecting a decline of up to 8.7% compared to 2024. The decline in their events segment revenue was particularly sharp, falling 42% in Q4 2024, a clear sign that clients are pulling back on non-essential spending like travel and conference attendance.

The financial impact of client spending cuts is clear:

• Q1 2025 Revenue: $89.9 million, a 10.2% decline from Q1 2024.
• Q2 2025 Revenue: $111.7 million, an 8.3% decline from Q2 2024.
• Q3 2025 Revenue: $94.3 million, down from $102.5 million in Q3 2024.

High analyst turnover risks losing proprietary knowledge and client relationships.

Forrester's value is fundamentally tied to the expertise of its analysts and the deep, personal relationships they hold with clients. High turnover means those relationships and the proprietary knowledge walk out the door. While a specific analyst turnover rate for 2025 is not published, the company's actions signal a problem. Management has made improving retention one of its three core priorities for 2025. Also, the company's headcount was down 12% in Q2 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. This reduction, while partly a cost-control measure, exacerbates the risk of overburdening remaining staff and further eroding the personal touch that justifies the high cost of their advisory services. Client retention, a key metric, stood at 74% in Q2 2025, which means one in four clients are choosing not to renew their subscriptions over a period of time. That's a churn rate that needs urgent attention.

Increased scrutiny on research quality and methodology defintely impacts credibility.

The rise of free and AI-generated content puts immense pressure on the perceived value and quality of paid research. For a research firm, credibility is everything. The most concrete evidence of a threat to their valuation and market perception in 2025 is the Q1 2025 non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $83.9 million. This charge signifies that the value of past acquisitions on their balance sheet is now considered lower, often due to a sustained decline in the expected future cash flows of the business. It's a financial admission that the market value of their intangible assets-like brand and methodology-has been seriously challenged. This financial hit directly impacts investor confidence and suggests a fundamental reassessment of the long-term value of their traditional business model.

What this estimate hides is the internal pressure to transition from a traditional analyst model to a more scalable, digital-first platform. That transition is expensive, plus it creates internal friction. Your next step should be to look closely at their capital allocation-specifically, how much is going into product development versus sales and marketing.

Finance: Analyze FORR's Q3 2025 CapEx report for digital transformation spend by Friday.