What is a Forrester Wave?

Making analyst research useful takes coordination across leadership, product, marketing, sales and customer teams. In a managed programme, Kea takes responsibility for that coordination: setting priorities, managing preparation and follow-through, and making sure everyone understands their role. Your team supplies the expertise, validates the evidence and owns the business decisions.

A Forrester Wave gives your team more to work with than a position on a graphic. Its criteria can sharpen a sales conversation, expose a proof gap or help leadership choose where to invest. The useful question is what you will do with that detail.

What is it?

The Forrester Wave compares selected technology or service providers through current offering and strategy. Criteria and weightings are tailored to the market.

The evaluation draws on questionnaire responses, strategy and product demonstrations, customer references and analyst expertise. Current reports use Leaders, Strong Performers and Contenders; the graphic also highlights superior customer feedback. Older editions use different conventions.

What is it not?

It is not an exhaustive market directory or a guarantee that the strongest overall position fits every buyer. A good overall result does not mean the highest score on every criterion.

It is also not interchangeable with a Magic Quadrant. Similar-looking graphics do not make the market definitions, criteria or scoring systems identical.

How relevant is it for a B2B technology vendor?

The Wave becomes useful when its market and criteria overlap with the decisions your customers make. Its detail can help you understand the questions buyers bring into a shortlist, demonstration or reference call.

Ask sales which criteria recur in real opportunities. If the same requirement appears in the Wave and repeatedly decides deals, it deserves attention. If your target segment values something different, explain that difference with customer evidence.

Who gets included, and why might you be absent?

Forrester’s analyst defines inclusion criteria around the research scope and client needs, with research director involvement. Forrester identifies and invites vendors; participation is not open simply because a company wants to be assessed.

Check the exact edition’s requirements before setting an inclusion target. Ask whether a revenue minimum applies, which business or offering it measures, and over what period. Verify other requirements in the same way. Do not borrow a threshold from another market or assume total company revenue is the relevant measure.

Keep selection and participation separate: Forrester can evaluate a vendor even if it does not participate. An invitation, the information a vendor provides and the eventual assessment are different parts of the process. A good relationship cannot substitute for meeting the applicable criteria.

How should a salesperson read it?

1. Check the market definition, date and inclusion criteria against the buyer’s actual problem.
2. Read the vendor profile and detailed criteria, including the weightings behind the overall result.
3. Identify the buyer’s priorities before discussing which scores matter. Clients can use Forrester’s interactive experience to explore different priorities.
4. Prepare a demonstration and customer evidence for the relevant strengths and weaknesses. Read the edition’s legend before interpreting its markers.

What should you focus on?

Focus on the criteria that overlap with customer needs and on consistency between written claims, product demonstrations and real customer experience.

For each important gap, decide whether you need to improve the offering, demonstrate it more clearly or explain a deliberate product choice. Assign an owner and a proof point. Start with customer evidence that goes beyond a logo.

What should you say, and what should you avoid?

Avoid: “Our overall position proves we win on everything.”
Say: “Let’s look at the criteria most important to your team and demonstrate those capabilities.”

Avoid: “The Wave proves we are the best fit for you.”
Say: “The evaluation gives us a useful starting point. Your requirements determine what we need to prove.”

Avoid: “We opted out, so Forrester cannot assess us.”
Say: “Participation and inclusion are separate. Let’s check what the report actually says.”

What should you do next in your role?

The same report supports different decisions. Start with the responsibility you own, then agree the action with the people who can make it happen.

VC or Portfolio Team

For an investor, a Wave offers visibility into a selected competitive set and more detail about how offerings and strategies compare. It can help you question the positioning of a portfolio company or a business you are considering, including against competitors you did not back.

Before the evaluation: Agree the market and target customer with management. Check the company’s eligibility position and the evidence behind claimed differentiation. Decide which competitive questions matter to the growth plan.

After publication: Look at individual criteria as well as the overall result. Ask management whether a weaker area constrains its chosen segment and what evidence would demonstrate progress. Use the answer to shape an operating review.

Who to involve: The CEO, operating partner, product leader and AR owner, with finance validating relevant company figures.

You are on track when: You have a clearer view of the competitive choices and an accountable management action. A research position is not being used as a valuation or a substitute for diligence.

CMO or Marketing Leader

For marketing, the Wave can create relevant exposure and help explain differentiation in terms buyers can inspect. Criterion-level detail is useful when a broad leadership claim would leave the audience asking what the company actually does well.

Before the evaluation: Map the likely research audience to your target accounts and buying roles. Align company claims with demonstrable capabilities. Prepare campaign options and a sales handover plan without presuming a particular outcome.

After publication: Select the findings that support the customer problem your campaign addresses. Explain the scope, connect the message to proof and make sure sellers can discuss weaker areas. Confirm external-use arrangements before distributing research assets.

Who to involve: AR, product marketing, demand generation, communications and sales enablement.

You are on track when: The campaign starts a relevant conversation and sales can sustain it. A favourable overall position has not become an unsupported claim to lead every criterion.

Product or Product Marketing Leader

For product and product marketing, the detailed criteria offer a disciplined way to inspect trade-offs. A score can identify a question worth investigating; the product decision still requires knowledge of your customers and priorities.

Before the evaluation: Connect questionnaire answers, demonstration scenarios and customer evidence. Label availability accurately so roadmap ambition is not presented as a capability a customer can already use.

After publication: Compare important findings with customer demand and competitive deal evidence. Decide whether the response is product investment, better demonstration or a clearer boundary around your target segment.

Who to involve: Product management, product marketing, demo owners, customer success and AR.

You are on track when: The team can show what it claims and explain deliberate trade-offs. It does not chase every possible score at the expense of the customers it intends to serve.

Founder or CEO

For a founder or CEO, the Wave can test the consistency of the company’s current offering and strategic ambition. It also makes the cost of preparation visible: leaders must provide decisions and expertise, not merely request a better result.

Before the evaluation: Confirm why this market matters, review applicable inclusion requirements and appoint a sponsor. Agree the company story and make the right executives available for the strategy discussion.

After publication: Review the findings with product and GTM leadership. Distinguish an execution problem from a positioning issue and decide which changes deserve resources. Explain the rationale to the board where relevant.

Who to involve: The executive team, the AR programme owner and leaders accountable for the evidence.

You are on track when: The evaluation effort has a business purpose, clear ownership and a realistic view of eligibility. The company can explain its next decision regardless of category.

AR or Communications Leader

For AR and communications, the work is coordinating an accurate, timely response across contributors. Consistency matters because a questionnaire, demonstration and customer experience can reveal different versions of the same claim.

Before the evaluation: Track the actual instructions, deadlines and availability cutoff. Confirm contributors, reviewers and reference readiness. Use the designated process contacts; same-market client engagements with the evaluating analyst are restricted from kickoff to publication.

After publication: Brief internal teams on the profile and scores, capture decisions and maintain the evidence record. Document what changed after the assessment so later company updates remain distinguishable from the published view.

Who to involve: Forrester’s project manager for process questions, the designated research contacts and your internal subject experts.

You are on track when: Submissions are traceable, review windows are planned and customers speak independently. Gaps are surfaced early enough for the business to act.

Sales or GTM Leader

For sales and GTM leaders, the detail can make enterprise discovery and demonstrations more effective. The opportunity is to connect buyer priorities to specific findings and evidence instead of sending a graphic and expecting it to close the discussion.

Before the evaluation: Collect recurring competitive questions and identify the demonstration or customer proof needed to answer them. Teach sellers what current offering, strategy and the edition’s markers mean.

After publication: Build a card around the buyer’s top priorities, with relevant criteria, honest limitations, demo steps and a next action. Rehearse a conversation in which the buyer cares most about an area where you are weaker.

Who to involve: Sales enablement, product marketing, solution consultants, AR and account leaders.

You are on track when: Sellers explain why a criterion matters to this customer and can respond beyond the overall result. Feedback from live use leads to revisions of the card.

What should you do before the evaluation?

1. Confirm scope and selection requirements. Document the market, edition, criteria and any outstanding eligibility questions. Verify requirements with the relevant research contacts rather than relying on a competitor’s recollection.
2. Make the inputs consistent. Connect written answers to what the demonstration can show and what customers have experienced. Validate availability, scope and company figures with their owners.
3. Prepare people and references. Give executives a focused strategy story and demonstration owners a clear plan. Confirm customers’ willingness and relevant experience without scripting their opinions.
4. Work to the actual timetable. Allocate submission and review responsibilities. Follow the designated communication routes during the evaluation and prepare the internal handover before publication.

Use an evaluation evidence register to make preparation repeatable. The register is your working method; map it to the actual research instructions when they are available.

What should you do after publication?

1. Inspect the detail. Read the profile, criteria and weightings before turning an overall position into a company-wide conclusion.
2. Choose the response. For material findings, decide whether the business needs to improve a capability, demonstrate it better or explain a deliberate trade-off. Assign owners and review dates.
3. Enable sales around buyer priorities. Train sellers to connect criteria to a customer’s needs and show evidence. Record which materials are suitable for internal guidance and which are cleared for external sharing.
4. Review actual use. Ask which criteria buyers raised, which proof was missing and what the team changed. Feed that learning into the evidence register and future product discussions.

Put the guidance into a sales card people will actually use. Then ask buyers where analysts made a difference so the team can distinguish observed influence from an assumption.

Who should you involve, and where does Kea fit?

Start with the analysts covering the market and the designated Wave project manager once a process is underway. Route scheduling and process questions appropriately, and observe the evaluation’s engagement restrictions. Internally, connect the strategy lead, demonstration owner, evidence validators and customer-reference coordinator so they work from the same account of the offering.

Kea maps the relevant research and people, agrees ownership with your team, coordinates preparation and brings the findings back into business decisions. The output should be a plan people can use: priorities, evidence gaps, accountable owners, a working timetable and clear follow-up. The research firm retains control of its assessment.

If you need the whole programme managed, use AR-as-a-Service. If an internal owner needs experienced help with an evaluation or a specific gap, use AR Support. If leadership, product and GTM need to agree the story and responsibilities first, start with an AR Workshop.

Four myths to put to rest

Myth 1: Any vendor can enter a Wave.

Forrester determines the scope and inclusion criteria. Wanting to participate does not establish eligibility.

Myth 2: Every Wave has the same revenue requirement.

Check the requirements for the particular market and edition. Never apply a number from another study without verification.

Myth 3: Nonparticipation prevents an assessment.

Forrester reserves the right to evaluate vendors regardless of participation. Declining inputs does not guarantee removal.

Myth 4: The strongest overall result settles the purchase.

Priorities and weightings matter. Use the detailed findings to test suitability for the buyer’s requirements.

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