Doug Washburn

Vice President, RoleView For Business Technology

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The Future of IT Infrastructure And Data Centers: A New Wave Of Consolidation And Optimization

Doug Washburn September 30, 2013
Like a song stuck on repeat, enterprise IT hardware decision makers tell Forrester once again that consolidation and optimization top their list of priorities into 2014. According to Forrester's Q3 2013 Hardware survey, 77% deem server, storage and network virtualization and consolidation a high or citical priority—followed by 68% who prioritize the automating the management of […]
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Six Steps Enterprise IT Should Take To Proactively Prepare For Windows 8

Doug Washburn May 28, 2013
Two days ago I had an interview with the Head of End User and Desktop Services of a global pharmaceutical company. He mentioned that he's working through Windows 8, VDI, BYO and other key initiatives facing IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) professionals.  As a quick thank you, I sent him Dave Johnson's recent report on Windows 8. This report is part of Forrester's Workforce Enable […]
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Forrester In Your News: Happy Workers = Happy Customers, Windows 8, Software-Defined Data Centers, BYOT China, Mobile Shoppers

Doug Washburn May 17, 2013
What do the top 3% of IT leaders know about workforce computing that you don’t? When will (or won’t) Windows 8 hit critical mass in enterprises? What about software-defined data centers and networks? How can IT support the mobile shopper? If you’re an IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) professional looking for answers, read below. While […]
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Q&A With Charles Araujo, Author Of “The Quantum Age of IT”

Doug Washburn April 30, 2013
Transformation: The topic of many, many conversations Forrester Analysts have with business and technology leaders everyday. But the definition and scope of transformation seems to vary widely depending role, title, industry, sphere of influence, and other factors. For example, here's a sampling of recent inquiry questions from Forrester clients to Analysts focused on transformation:   "How can […]
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Forrester In Your News: Browser Wars, BYOD (again!), x86 Servers, Disaster Recovery, Mobile Engagement . . .

Doug Washburn April 26, 2013
If IBM is thinking about exiting the server business, why should you in enterprise IT stay in it? If BYOD accelerates browser diversity, how will you develop and support corporate apps differently? And how will the globalization of eCommerce impact your business? These are just a few of the questions you might be asking yourself based […]
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Forrester In Your News: Microsoft Takes Aim At Amazon’s Cloud, Windows 8 Start Button, BYOD > BYOT, Digital Disruption . . .

Doug Washburn April 19, 2013
I write this week's "Forrester In Your News" from my apartment in Boston. Forrester's Cambridge office just across the Charles River from me is closed today, like many in the area, as events continue to develop from Monday's tragedy at the Boston Marathon. For those of us in the U.S., and especially Boston, it's hard to think […]
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Forrester In Your News: BYOD, Tablets, Microsoft, Death of the PC (Not), Amazon, Customers . . .

Doug Washburn April 12, 2013
Do you remember your “Current Events” class? It was the one where there was always a pop quiz on what’s happening in the news. Think if you were in that class today and there was a segment on business and technology: Where would you turn?  While we like to believe that www.Forrester.com and this blog […]
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Despite An Affair With My iPad, I Just Can’t Give Up My Laptop. . . Yet

Doug Washburn March 12, 2013
A year and a half ago I broke up with Blackberry and started dating iPhone. It was a clean but cruel breakup: AT&T cancelled my T-Mobile contract on my behalf, the equivalent of getting dumped by your girlfriend’s new boyfriend. This year I’ve been cheating on my laptop with my iPad. But it’s an on-again, […]
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No “Leaders” Of Data Center Networking And Hosted Private Cloud Solutions

Doug Washburn February 8, 2013
  Okay, I know it sounds a little dramatic… but it’s true. Over the last four months, Forrester Analysts Andre Kindness (@AndreKindness) and Lauren Nelson (@Lauren_E_Nelson) evaluated providers of data center networking and hosted private cloud solutions. Andre got dirty in the plumbing (uhh, I mean networking), and Lauren had her head in the clouds. […]
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Rethinking Your IT Infrastructure And Operations: Q&A With Christophe Guillard, CTO Office, Sanofi

Doug Washburn June 11, 2012
If you’re interested in how to rethink your approach to IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) to help your business better compete, I encourage you to read on . . . As I prepared for Forrester’s Infrastructure & Operations Forum EMEA 2012 in Paris next week (June 19-20), I had the opportunity to connect with one […]
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To Better Compete Into 2012, Infrastructure And Operations Leaders Must Do Things Differently

Doug Washburn April 3, 2012
As the saying goes, “If you’re not different from your competition, by definition you can’t be better.” IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders should take this to heart. In 2012, we enter the "the age of the customer" where increased global competition combined with technology-led disruption erodes traditional competitive barriers across all industries. At the […]
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What Is Your IT Strategy To Win In The Age Of The Customer?

Doug Washburn August 12, 2011
Consider the following scenario: It’s a hot summer day and a prospective customer walks into your store to buy an air conditioner. He evaluates several models and then buys one — but not from you. It turns out your competitor located two miles away is offering the same model at a 20% discount. How did […]
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Apply A “Startup” Mentality To Your IT Infrastructure And Operations

Doug Washburn December 20, 2010
Cash-starved. Fast-paced. Understaffed. Late nights. T-shirts. Jeans. These descriptors are just as relevant to emerging tech startups as they are to the typical enterprise IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) department. And to improve customer focus and develop new skills, I&O professionals should apply a “startup” mentality. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend time […]
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Are You Attending Interop New York 2010? If So, Forrester Will See You There

Doug Washburn September 1, 2010
Despite its networking roots, today’s Interop events have evolved to address an expansive range of IT roles, responsibilities and topics. While networking managers will still feel at home in the networking track, Interop addresses a variety of themes very relevant to the broader interests of IT Infrastructure & Operations (I&O) professionals, like cloud computing, virtualization, storage, wireless […]
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Is Disposing Of, Reselling, Or Recycling End-Of-Life IT Equipment Really Strategic To You?

Doug Washburn August 27, 2010
Yesterday, I participated in one of the regular content planning sessions for us analysts on Forrester’s IT Infrastructure & Operation’s Research team. Similar to investment managers and their portfolio of stocks or bonds, we spent time making buy/hold/sell decisions on what we will research more, continue to research, or stop researching. Among the many criteria […]
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How GlaxoSmithKline Empowered IT Staff To Save ~$1 Million In PC Energy Costs

Doug Washburn August 13, 2010
I recently recorded a podcast with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the global pharmaceutical company, and their success story of implementing a PC power management initiative that is expected to cut energy costs by ~$1 million per year. While these savings alone should impress any IT executive – especially IT infrastructure and operations professionals who manage PCs – […]
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Is Google Powering Its Data Centers With Wind? No, And 2010 Won’t Be The Breakthrough Year For Clean Energy In The DC Either

Doug Washburn August 12, 2010
As green IT plans persist through 2010, I'm starting to receive questions from IT infrastructure and operations professionals — particularly data center managers — about the use of cleaner energy sources (e.g. wind, solar, fuel cells, hydro) to power their data center facilities. So when Google recently announced its purchase of 114 megawatts of wind power capacity […]
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What BigFix Adds To IBM’s Portfolio Of Green IT Products And Services

Doug Washburn July 1, 2010
Today, IBM announced its acquisition of BigFix, an established client and security management suite vendor. Beyond gaining BigFix’s core competencies in securing and managing client devices and servers, the acquisition adds PC power management* to IBM’s already broad portfolio of green IT products and services. So why is PC power management important to IBM customers? […]
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Does Your CEO Care About Green IT? Not If You’re Stuck In The Data Center

Doug Washburn June 30, 2010
To quote Forrester’s CEO and Founder, George Colony, during his keynote at Forrester’s IT Forum EMEA event: “CEOs only care about two things: revenue growth and profitability.” How should we interpret this? CEOs do care about green if it is able to drive revenues, reduce costs and mitigate risks — all of which are essential […]
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The Evolution Of Green IT: A Forrester Video Series, Part 2

Doug Washburn June 7, 2010
[Scroll down to view Forrester’s "The Evolution Of Green IT" video… don’t worry, it’s only ~6 minutes.] As a quick recap, part one of this video series walked through how corporations and governments are using green strategies to achieve their financial and political ends. From there, I gave a handful of examples around how green […]
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