Chris Gardner

VP, Research Director

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Microsoft Build 2026: Pushing The Frontier With A More Opinionated AI Playbook

Chris Gardner 10 hours ago
Microsoft didn’t fail to bring out the big guns at this year’s Build conference. From Satya Nadella conversing with Jensen Huang (remotely) on stage to in-depth sessions around managing and securing agentic workflows, Microsoft clearly learned from past events. Gone were fictional company demos and the indecisive advice of “We’ll figure out what developers should […]
Blog

Anthropic’s Proposed IPO Will Change The Economics Of Enterprise AI

Mike Gualtieri 14 hours ago
Anthropic has confidentially filed its S‑1 for a proposed IPO. On the surface, early investors, VCs, and late-stage backers are likely planning the biggest AI liquidity party of 2026. The company already has more money than it can spend after a fresh $65 billion Series H round at a $965 billion post-money valuation (nearly $1 […]

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Blog

Microsoft Ignite 2025: Living The Frontier Lifestyle

Chris Gardner November 21, 2025
At Microsoft Ignite 2025, Microsoft outlined a vision for the “frontier” organization: one dramatically transformed through AI and AI agents. Learn about some of the major announcements and our analysis here.
Blog

GitHub Universe 2025: Is Microsoft Eating GitHub, Or Is It The Other Way Around?

Andrew Cornwall November 3, 2025
Would GitHub’s formal transition from individual subsidiary to part of Microsoft’s CoreAI division change the vibe at this year's event? We found out.
Blog

​​Don’t Fire Your Developers! What AI-Enhanced Software Development Means For Technology Executives

Chris Gardner September 18, 2025
There is no doubt that the willingness to leverage AI for software development is high. Yet the reality is more complex than news sound bites might make it seem. Tech execs shouldn’t think about eliminating software development roles but rather reskilling their teams.
Blog

Predictions 2024: Software Development Adapts To TuringBots, Ajar Source, And Backstage

Chris Gardner October 30, 2023
In 2024, software developers will have to adapt to the rise of TuringBots, ajar source, and Backstage in the development cycle. Learn more in our 2024 predictions for software development.
Blog

Predictions 2023: Citizen Development And The Metaverse Stir Up Software Development

Chris Gardner November 17, 2022
The year ahead will be a tumultuous one for software developers. Read Forrester’s top three predictions for software development in 2023.
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Budget Pressure Forces Tech Leaders To Face The Legacy Of Technical Debt

Chris Gardner August 23, 2022
Increase, decrease, or experiment? Get tips on assessing your 2023 technology spending plans.
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Predictions 2022: Software Development Adapts To A New Normal

Chris Gardner November 18, 2021
New expectations call for new processes and tools. Learn how software development will adapt to the new normal in 2022.
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Three Trends Transforming The Video Game Market

William McKeon-White September 20, 2021
Over the past year and a half, we’ve been building out our coverage of the video game market, specifically on how enterprises can model their strategies to take advantage of innovation (see Level Up Your Cloud Strategy With Video Game Innovation and Lessons From Gaming: Lead With Cloud, Continuous Improvement, And Innovation). From this research, […]
Blog

The Impact Of Apple’s Sideloading Philosophy On Developers

Andrew Cornwall June 28, 2021
Security Through Control On Wednesday, June 23, Apple unleashed strong messaging to explain why users should only install Apple-approved apps through its App Store on iOS. This is an extension of the US District Court case between Apple and Epic, where Apple positioned “sideloading,” the practice of installing apps outside its App Store, as dangerous. […]
Blog

COVID Drives M&A Activity In DevOps And IT Management

Sandy Carielli December 4, 2020
Learn how the pandemic's increased uncertainty and volatility has produced some attractive M&A opportunities in DevOps and IT Management.
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NVIDIA Arms Itself To Terminate Intel’s Processor Dominance

Glenn O'Donnell September 16, 2020
NVIDIA just announced that it plans to acquire Arm Limited from SoftBank for $40 billion. The combination aims to conquer the enormous compute market that has long been dominated by the x86 architecture (and, thus, Intel and AMD). The x86 platform remains the leader in PCs and data centers, but the future growth prospects lie […]
Blog

Agile, DevOps, And COVID-19

Charles Betz March 23, 2020
Now is not the time to revert back to old industrial practices. The world is going even more digital because of the COVID-19 crisis, and old industrial era thinking needs to be abandoned once and for all.
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Mainframe Developers Get Boost From BMC Acquisition Of Compuware

Christopher Condo March 3, 2020
The move signals that DevOps has shifted from the broad adoption phase to the massive adoption phase.
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Predictions 2020: Automation Strike Teams And Services Rise To Fend Off A Paradox

Chris Gardner October 30, 2019
Read the top three predictions for the automation market from Forrester Research analyst Chris Gardner.
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Beware The Automation Paradox

Charles Betz October 6, 2019
Once the easy tasks have been automated, what will be left for people to do? The harder stuff.
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VMware Welcomes Estranged Sibling Pivotal Back Home

Dave Bartoletti August 23, 2019
On August 22, 2019, VMware announced that it will acquire sister company Pivotal Software, vendor of a widely used cloud development platform, Pivotal Cloud Foundry. The transaction is a reacquisition of software development assets that VMware spun out into a separate company in 2013 after struggling to integrate them into its primary data center management […]
Blog

Infrastructure Automation Platforms: Coopetition At Its Fiercest

Chris Gardner August 7, 2019
Why Infrastructure Automation? I used to kid around with my research director, Glenn O’Donnell, that my previous Forrester Wave™ evaluation on configuration management was the “Wave no vendor wanted to be in.” The term, while valid, is old. Further, configuration management is one part of a larger infrastructure automation story. This led to an interesting […]
Blog

Dear IBM And Red Hat Customers . . .

Chris Gardner November 27, 2018
Since IBM’s announced intention to purchase Red Hat for $34 billion, Forrester analysts have received a number of inquiries about the potential acquisition. Outside of our previously published thoughts, we find it unwise to speculate on IBM and Red Hat’s future plans. That said, Forrester has published five Forrester Wave™ evaluations that compare existing products […]
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