Welcome back from an end of year respite and into the New Year. As you change gears from the goals of 2007 and reassess where to focus your efforts as Business Process & Applications professionals in 2008, our analysts are poised to provide the most relavant research and analyses to address the core competencies of your role.

In 2008, expect our analysts to weave the importance and impact of five key trends on Business Process & Applications professionals throughout our research and commentary. While numerous trends will affect how BP&A professionals approach their roles, these will center on next-generation applications and architectures and becoming a more business-process-oriented organization. These trends are: Dynamic Business Applications; Web 2.0 and tech populism; software-as-a-service (SaaS); business process centers of excellence (COEs); and the evolving business analyst role.

Additionally, Forrester will tailor all of our research not only to your role, but to your role's most important objectives -- what Forrester calls Success Imperatives (SIs). On January 12th, Success Imperatives will transform the forrester.com site experience. While all of Forrester's research will remain accessible, you will be able to tailor your primary site experience to the SI most critical to your success at any given time. The result? The most finely attuned offering of pertinent and up to date research, tools, teleconferences, and videos accessible all in one place.

Without further ado BP&A professionals' SIs:

1. Become a more business-process-oriented organization

2. Define a strategy and framework for governing all enterprise app decisions

3. Prepare for next-generation packaged applications and architectures

4. Continuously improve customer relationship management processes and technologies

5. Continuously improve supply chain processes and technologies

6. Continuously improve human capital management processes and technologies

We hope you will give us feedback throughout the year on our SI coverage.

Sharyn C. Leaver | Vice President, Research Director | Forrester Research