A respected analyst firm with a published Wave methodology, but it sells the same vendors it ranks research licenses and reprints, and critics note the Wave doesn't disclose which ranked vendors pay.
What it's really for A subscription analyst firm; the Wave ranks tech vendors via questionnaires, demos, and references.
What our grade covers The grade on this page is about its 'Forrester Wave' vendor evaluations, not everything the site does.
High Scoring Confidence Checked against primary sources. We are confident in the facts and the grade here.
Both enterprise buyers (subscriptions, consulting) and the ranked vendors themselves pay Forrester; vendors license reprints and member access to market favorable results, and a critic alleged a top-rated vendor's studies/webinars generated an estimated $500,000 for Forrester. Forrester's policy states it treats vendors equally regardless of commercial relationship and that account managers and C-suite stay out of the Wave process, but the report does not publicly flag which ranked vendors pay.
Source →- Operating since
- 1983 (43 years) · source
- What it costs you
- Free to read The reviews are free to read.
- How they make money
- A subscription analyst firm whose "Forrester Wave" ranks technology vendors via questionnaires, analyst-led demos, and vendor-supplied reference customers, scored against published weighted criteria.
- What they do
- Forrester evaluates enterprise technology vendors in "Wave" reports using a three-phase process of vendor questionnaires, executive briefings/demos, and interviews with reference customers the vendor provides.
- What to watch for
- The catch: ranked vendors can pay Forrester $75K+ for member licenses plus tens of thousands for reprint rights to market the report, and by critics' account the Wave itself carries no disclosure of which ranked vendors are paying clients.
- Composite score
- 2.80 / 5.00 → grade C+
How the grade was reached
Does the site take money from the very entities it ranks? Pay-for-placement, vendor-funded data, and affiliate commissions all pull this down. The less the ranking can be bought, the higher the score.
What is the ranking actually built on? Hands-on testing scores highest, then verified first-hand reviews, then opinion or popularity surveys and self-reported figures, then pay-to-rank, which scores lowest.
Is the methodology published, specific, and reproducible? Can a reader see how a given rank was reached, or is it a black box?
Are commercial relationships, sponsorships, and affiliate arrangements disclosed clearly and near the rankings themselves, rather than buried?
How hard is it to game? Controls against fake reviews, solicited reviews, and vendor gaming raise this; an open box anyone can stuff lowers it.
Evidence
- Forrester's Wave methodology uses a three-phase data collection approach: vendor questionnaires, executive briefings and demos where 'vendors follow the criteria laid out in the questionnaire and, potentially, scenarios developed by Forrester to demonstrate the functionality,' and interviews with 'reference customers provided by the vendor' — not independent hands-on testing by Forrester. Evaluations represent 'our analysis and opinion.' Source: Forrester Wave Methodology (official) →
- Forrester's vendor review policy states it 'strives to treat all vendors equally during the Wave process, regardless of a vendor's commercial relationship with Forrester,' and that 'C-level executives, account managers, and other employees will refrain from becoming involved in the overall Wave process.' Participating vendors get a courtesy scorecard preview but escalations are not allowed once research is complete. Source: Forrester Wave Vendor Review Policy (official) →
- A critique by Collective[i] CEO Stephen Messer alleges vendors must buy member licenses 'starting at $75,000' plus '$30,000-$45,000 for the rights to share' a Wave report, that a top-rated vendor's studies and webinars generated 'an estimated $500,000' for Forrester, and that 'we could find no disclosure in the Wave report... that the company receives payments from participating vendors.' Source: The Forrester Wave: You get what you pay for (Stephen Messer, LinkedIn) →