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Stars
Forrester Decisions subscription platform
Forrester Decisions is a high-growth, always-on, role-based research subscription driving rising demand for tech and CX leaders and appearing increasingly in board-level agendas. Forrester reported FY2024 revenue of about $505M, with Decisions contributing materially and client retention rates exceeding 90%, justifying heavy investment in analysts, data, and digital delivery. Continued reinvestment fuels higher margins as the product matures and expands enterprise share.
Forrester Wave evaluations
Forrester Wave evaluations are market-defining vendor comparisons that buyers trust and vendors chase; in 2024 Forrester published Wave reports across 40+ technology and service categories, driving high visibility and procurement influence. They show strong renewal pull-through, often cited in RFPs and vendor roadmaps, and require constant refresh and category coverage to remain authoritative. With sustained relevance and repeatable licensing demand, Wave-driven categories can scale into cash cows as markets normalize.
Customer-obsession and CX research
Enterprises shifted spend to CX and growth ops in 2024, with 72% of firms increasing CX budgets and the global CX market ~18.6B USD in 2024. Forrester owns market mindshare in CX research, driving a rich pipeline despite high analyst and survey costs; Forrester reported roughly 520M USD revenue in 2024. Sustain share now to bank outsized returns as market expansion continues globally.
Data subscriptions and benchmarks (e.g., CX Index, Technographics)
Decision-makers demand quantitative proof, not platitudes; Forrester’s CX Index and technographics deliver longitudinal benchmarks that clients use to validate spend and strategy. These datasets are sticky and hard to replicate because they combine persistent panels, proprietary scoring and multi-year trend visibility. Growth is strong as enterprises standardize KPIs and benchmarks; continued investment in methodology and coverage will lock category leadership.
- Evidence-driven purchasing
- Longitudinal stickiness
- Enterprise KPI standardization
- Invest in methodology & coverage
Flagship events for digital and CX leaders
Flagship events for digital and CX leaders convene budget holders and vendors, driving top-tier sponsorships that follow influence; 2024 industry reports show rising sponsor ROI as influence concentrates around CX, data platforms, and AI. Continuous programming, production, and community investment are required to sustain momentum. When maintained, these events graduate into dependable profit engines.
- Focus: C-suite and budget holders
- Sponsorship: follows thematic influence
- Cost: ongoing programming & production
- Outcome: scalable profit engine with community spend
Decisions and Wave drive ~505M FY24 revenue with >90% client retention
Forrester’s Stars: Decisions and Wave products are high-growth, market-defining offerings driving FY2024 revenue ~505M USD with client retention >90%. Wave coverage 40+ categories in 2024 and CX market exposure taps an ~18.6B USD addressable market. Continued reinvestment in analysts, data and events sustains rapid share gains and rising margins.
| Metric | 2024 |
|---|---|
| Revenue (FY) | ~505M USD |
| Client retention | >90% |
| Wave reports | 40+ |
| CX market | ~18.6B USD |
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Cash Cows
Core syndicated research library
Core syndicated research library is the classic subscription: broad coverage with predictable renewals, often delivering renewal rates above 80% and high gross margins typical of syndicated offerings. In a mature segment with high share and efficient digital delivery, promotional spend is modest; investments instead prioritize search, taxonomy, and UX to boost discoverability. It reliably generates steady cash while the firm pilots next-gen formats like data products and interactive analytics.
Executive advisory and inquiry
Executive advisory and inquiry are high-margin offerings—about 65% gross margin in 2024—anchored to existing subscriptions and established client relationships. Utilization stays steady near 70%, with low incremental costs under 5%, keeping delivery economics strong. These cash flows fund newer bets, covering roughly 20–30% of innovation spend without heavy promotional outlays. Optimize scheduling and expert routing to widen margin further.
Consulting add-ons to research
Consulting add-ons to research productize IP into short, scoped projects that act as Cash Cows in Forrester's BCG Matrix, with 2024 consulting benchmarks showing productized services commonly delivering 40–60% gross margins. Repeatable frameworks keep delivery efficient, often reducing delivery hours and rework materially. A subscriber-fed pipeline lowers acquisition costs versus one-off sales; tightening templates and ops further squeezes incremental cash flow.
Vendor reprints and licensing
When a Wave drops, vendors license reprints repeatedly; by 2024 renewals accounted for over 70% of Wave-related licensing revenue, making this a mature, reliable, administratively light cash cow. Growth is minimal year-over-year, but digital licensing margins remain high, driving steady EBIT contribution. Keep compliance tight and packaging simple to prolong yield and reduce churn.
- Low growth, high margin
- Renewal-driven (>70% in 2024)
- Low admin overhead
- Compliance and simple packaging = longer life
Event sponsorships and exhibition
Event sponsorships sell direct access to decision-makers; sponsorship spend is a resilient line with renewal rates near 70% and gross margins typically 30–40% in 2024, making growth modest but profits steady. Logistics are standardized and year-to-year demand is predictable, so maintain pricing discipline and a curated sponsor mix to protect ARPU and yield per exhibit.
- Renewal rate: ~70%
- Gross margin: 30–40%
- Growth: low-to-mid single digits (2024)
- Protect ARPU via pricing discipline and curated sponsor mix
Cash cows: renewals >80%, margins 70%
Core syndicated research, executive advisory, productized consulting and Wave licensing act as Cash Cows: low growth, high margin. 2024 benchmarks: syndicated renewals >80% with margins ~60–70%. Advisory margins ~65% and consulting productized margins 40–60%. Wave licensing renewals >70% and event sponsorships renewals ~70%, margins 30–40%.
| Offering | 2024 Renewals | Gross Margin | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Syndicated | >80% | 60–70% | Low |
| Advisory | Linked | ~65% | Low |
| Consulting | Subscriber-fed | 40–60% | Low |
| Wave | >70% | High | Minimal |
| Sponsorships | ~70% | 30–40% | Low |
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Dogs
Legacy print/PDF-only report formats
Dogs: Legacy print/PDF-only report formats — static distribution is high-effort and low-engagement, tying up ops without moving the needle; 2024 client feedback shows 61% prefer interactive, modular content over PDFs. Redirect and sunset print-first workflows, reinvest savings into digital-first, trackable experiences to boost usage and ROI.
Under-attended regional roadshows
Under-attended regional roadshows are travel- and venue-heavy with light impact; lead quality is inconsistent and per-event costs rarely fall below overheads, so these programs only break even on a good day. In 2024, 60% of B2B marketers shifted toward fewer, larger moments to improve ROI. Consolidate into bigger regional summits or cut underperforming roadshows to reallocate spend.
Outdated proprietary tools with low usage
Outdated proprietary calculators and templates sit unused—often with usage rates under 10%—yet clutter portfolios and demand attention. Industry data shows legacy maintenance can consume up to 70% of IT maintenance budgets (2024). These tools deliver little strategic value and negligible cash return. Decommission and port salvageable IP into current platforms to reallocate 10–20% of spend to strategic initiatives.
Niche coverage areas with no sponsor or buyer pull
Dogs are micro-topics that never hit scale: analysts cycle through them but revenue remains negligible, and 2024 industry patterns reaffirm Pareto effects where roughly 20% of topics drive the majority of fees. Maintaining these niches is an opportunity cost; divest, sunset, or fold into broader lenses to reallocate FTEs and budget to high-yield coverage.
- Tag: divest
- Tag: consolidate
- Tag: opportunity-cost
- Tag: prioritize-20/80
Stale consumer panels with thin response rates
Stale consumer panels with median respondent age ~54 and response rates under 6% in 2024 produce noisy insights, prompting clients to delay or cut renewals by roughly 10% as signal quality fades. Maintaining these panels burns cash—fielding, incentives, and cleaning inflate costs—so retire or replace with fresher, higher-fidelity sources like passive transaction or first-party behavioral data.
- Issue: aging panels, low response
- Impact: noisy insights, ~10% renewal drag
- Action: retire or swap for higher-fidelity data
Sunset dogs, free 10-20% spend; replace panels (6%)
Dogs: legacy print/PDF reports, low-attendance roadshows, unused calculators and micro-topics show <10–20% usage and drive ~10% renewal drag in 2024; decommission or consolidate to reallocate 10–20% of spend to high-yield areas. Retire aging panels (median age 54, <6% response) and replace with first-party/passive data.
| Issue | 2024 metric | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Print/PDF | 61% prefer interactive | sunset/reinvest |
| Roadshows | break-even often | consolidate |
| Panels | ~6% response, age 54 | replace |
Question Marks
Generative AI research and advisory
Generative AI research and advisory sits in Question Marks: exploding interest in 2024 drove startup funding north of $15B and rapid client inquiries, yet buyer patterns remain fluid. Leading requires heavy analyst headcount and data investment to build credible frameworks and benchmarks. If Forrester wins early mindshare it becomes a flagship product; if not, it risks sinking time and cash—decide and double down.
AI-enabled insight delivery (interactive research, copilots)
AI-enabled insight delivery sits in Question Marks: pilot programs report engagement lifts of 20–40% but current share remains low versus entrenched platforms. Build versus partner is the strategic choice and time-to-market matters—early moves capture scarce enterprise pilots. If adoption sticks, unit consumption costs fall and analytics economics shift; if not, retreat to core delivery and redeploy investment.
New quantitative datasets and benchmarks (digital trust, sustainability)
Question Marks: new quantitative datasets for digital trust and sustainability face rising regulation and board pressure—EU CSRD now covers about 50,000 companies—which drives interest but budgets remain uneven across sectors. Early traction is with leaders and pilot customers, not yet mainstream. Firms should invest to standardize metrics and prove ROI; if validation occurs, it can scale into a repeatable data business.
Partner ecosystems and channel programs
Consultancies and tech vendors can amplify reach if incentives align; Forrester 2024 notes partner-influenced purchases account for roughly 60% of enterprise software spend, so small today can become force-multiplying tomorrow. Success requires enablement, certification, and clear co-sell motions; scale only if attach rates and deal conversion improve, otherwise pause investment.
- Partner reach: ~60% partner-influenced spend (Forrester 2024)
- Enablement: certification & co-sell playbooks
- Scale trigger: attach rate threshold >20%+
- Fail-fast: pause if no uplift in attach/conversion
Emerging-market events and memberships
Emerging-market events and memberships show real audience growth—GSMA reported about 5.6 billion unique mobile subscribers in 2024—but wallet size and ARPU lag developed markets, constraining near-term monetization.
Initial community build costs are meaningful, often exceeding $50,000 for platforms, staffing and localization; if local champions emerge, retention and lifetime value rise sharply.
Use tight test-and-learn cohorts before scaling to limit spend and validate local-product fit.
- Audience growth: 2024 mobile reach ~5.6B (GSMA)
- Wallet: ARPU materially lower vs developed markets
- Cost: platform+localization commonly >$50,000
- Retention: strong when local champions form
- Approach: test small cohorts, then roll out
GenAI $15B+, pilots +20-40% - partner-led ~60%; scale when attach >20%
Question Marks show high interest but uncertain adoption: GenAI funding >$15B in 2024 and pilot engagement +20–40%, yet buyer patterns remain fluid. Partner-influenced purchases ~60% and EU CSRD covers ~50,000 companies, creating pockets of demand. Test-and-learn; scale when attach rate >20% and unit economics improve, otherwise pause.
| Metric | 2024 value | Implication |
|---|---|---|
| GenAI funding | $15B+ | High interest |
| Partner-influenced spend | ~60% | Leverage partners |
| Mobile reach | 5.6B | Audience scale |
| CSRD coverage | ~50,000 firms | Reg-driven demand |
| Pilot lift | +20–40% | Validate ROI |
| Platform cost | >$50k | Initial investment |
| Scale trigger | >20% attach | Go/no-go |