Analyst Perspectives

Forrester Research Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2007 Financial Results

Forrester Research, Inc. (NASDAQ: FORR) today announced its fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2007 financial results.

Fourth-Quarter Financial Performance

-- Total revenues were $58.4 million, compared with $48.9 million for the fourth quarter of last year.

-- On a GAAP-reported basis, Forrester reported net income of $5.6 million or $0.24 per diluted share, compared with net income of $6.2 million, or $0.26 per diluted share, for the same period last year.

-- On a pro forma basis, net income was $8.7 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2007, which excludes non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $2.6 million, amortization of $254,000 of acquisition-related intangible assets, net marketable and non-marketable investment gains of $671,000 and expenses related to the previously reported stock option investigation and restatement of the Company's historical financial statements of $954,000 and which reflects a pro forma effective tax rate of 39 percent. This compares with pro forma net income of $7.5 million, or $0.31 per diluted share, for the same period in 2006, which excludes non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $2.0 million, amortization of $462,000 of acquisition-related intangible assets, net non-marketable investment gains of $43,000 and expenses related to the stock option investigation and restatement of the Company's historical financial statements of $668,000 and which reflects a pro forma effective tax rate of 37 percent.

Year Ended December 31, 2007 Financial Performance

-- Total revenues were $212.1 million, compared with $181.5 million for the same period last year. Revenues related to the Ultimate Consumer Panel business, which was sold during the third quarter of 2006, are not included in revenues but are included as a component of income from discontinued operations for 2006.

-- On a GAAP-reported basis, Forrester reported net income of $18.9 million, or $0.80 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2007, compared with net income of $17.8 million, or $0.77 per diluted share, for the same period last year.

-- On a pro forma basis, net income was $27.6 million, or $1.16 per diluted share, for the year ended December 31, 2007, which excludes non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $8.3 million, amortization of $1.2 million of acquisition-related intangible assets, net marketable and non-marketable investment impairments of $1.0 million and expenses related to the stock option investigation and restatement of the Company's historical financial statements of $4.6 million and which reflects a pro forma effective tax rate of 39 percent. This compares with pro forma net income of $22.5 million, or $0.98 per diluted share, for the same period last year, which excludes non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $7.2 million, amortization of $2.1 million of acquisition-related intangible assets, a net gain from the sale of discontinued operations of $1.4 million, $300,000 of net income from discontinued operations, net non-marketable investment gains of $348,000 and expenses related to the stock option investigation and restatement of the Company's historical financial statements of $668,000 and which reflects a pro forma effective tax rate of 37 percent.

To read the entire financial release, use this link:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=60569&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1105003

Gartner Reports Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2007

Fourth Quarter 2007 Results

Contract value, a key leading indicator for Gartner's Research segment, increased 18% year-over-year to a record level of $752.5 million, reflecting the successful execution of the Company's strategy to accelerate research growth. Total revenue for fourth quarter 2007 grew 15% year-over-year to $348.4 million, driven by strong, double-digit growth in the Company's Research and Consulting businesses and modest growth in its Events business. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, research contract value and total revenue increased 14% and 10%, respectively.

For fourth quarter 2007, GAAP EPS increased 85% year-over-year to $0.37, net income increased 72% year-over-year to $38.8 million and Normalized EBITDA increased 53% year-over-year to $80.0 million.

Full Year 2007 Results

Total revenue for full year 2007 grew 12% to $1.189 billion, driven by growth in all three of Gartner's business segments. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, total revenue increased 9%.

Full year 2007 GAAP EPS increased 36% year-over-year to $0.68, net income increased 26% year-over-year to $73.6 million and Normalized EBITDA increased 25% year-over-year to $194.1 million. Net income and GAAP EPS include charges and non-operating items totaling ($7.2) million, pretax, or ($0.04) per share, net of tax, which were previously reported in the Company's second quarter 2007 financial results.

To read the entire financial release, use this link:

http://investor.gartner.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99568&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1105491

To listen to a recording of Gartner’s earnings call, use this link:

http://investor.gartner.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99568&p=irol-irhome

To view Gartner’s latest investor presentation, use this link:

http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/99/995/99568/items/260657/February_2008_Investor_Presentation.pdf

Analyst Event – January 16th - Best-in-Class Strategies and Applications that Leverage Learning to Align Workforce with Business Objectives

SkillSoft, the parent company of Books24x7, is hosting a webinar on January 16th with Aberdeen Group’s Research Director, Kevin Martin, on Best-in-Class Strategies and Applications that Leverage Learning to Align Workforce with Business Objectives. Kevin will share the findings of Aberdeen’s latest study on the topic. The event will explore issues such as competitive assessment, the necessary shift toward learning and development, organizational capabilities, and technology enablers. It will further outline step-by-step guidance for companies in all stages of learning and development, from laggard to industry average to best-in-class, for how to spur necessary performance improvements

Kevin Martin is the Research Director and practice leader of Aberdeen Group’s Human Capital Management (HCM) research practice. Aberdeen’s HCM practice surveys and interviews hundreds of organizations each month and produces the industry’s most comprehensive end-user driven research. In 2008, the practice will publish 12 - 15 benchmark studies as well as 70 – 80 derivative pieces; all dedicated to the HCM space.

To learn more or to register for the free event, use the following link:

http://www.regform.com/skillsoft/event_details.php?webinar=23297

To view several free research reports by Kevin Martin, use this link:

http://www.aberdeen.com/channel/hr.asp

The 2008 Predictions Rush Is On!

First of all, I’d like to wish all the readers of the Analyst Perspectives blog a happy, healthy and prosperous new year! And I would like to offer special thanks to all of our readers that took the time to participate in the blog in 2007!

This is one of my favorite times of the year – the time when the analyst firms are practically tripping over each other in their rush to get their predictions for 2008 out to the world. Here at Books24x7, it’s a particularly busy time as we try to collect all the various predictions so we can produce our annual “Spending Predictions Roundup” Consensus Report. Our 2008 edition should be out around the end of February and we’ll post links to it in this blog as soon as it is available.

Although many of the predictions we collect do go “out on a limb”, there are always a few predictions that I like to label as “no brainers”. These “no brainers” are so obvious that I wonder why an analyst would even bother to label it as a “prediction”. Here’s where I’d like your help…

I would like to produce a “No Brainer Predictions For 2008” report and I would like to receive your entries for the document. Simply send me the “No Brainer Prediction” along with a complete citation (name of document/report, analyst firm, analyst, publication date, URL to the original document if available). I will acknowledge all submissions that are used in the report in a section called “Special Thanks”. (Please let me know when you send in your submission if you do not want your name included in the “Special Thanks” section.)

You can submit your entries by replying to this post or you may send your entries via email to jzimmermann@books24x7.com

“Greening Of IT” Teleconference Downloads Now Available

For those of you who were unable to attend the December 12th analyst teleconference on “Greening of IT”, the downloads are now available. You can download and listen to a recording of the sessions and the participating analysts have made a number of research reports available for downloading. To access the session and the reports, use the following link (note that you will need to fill out a registration form on the SkillSoft site):

http://www.skillsoft.com/online/skillsoft/confirmation.asp?docnm=The%20Greening%20of%20IT%20-%20APTeleconference#URL=http://www.skillsoft.com/online/APteleconference/default.asp

New AR Firm Launched – SageCircle

Carter Lusher and Dave Eckert are re-launching a firm that provides AR training and advisory services. The re-launched firm is called SageCircle™ and is located in Bay Area. The following is from an email I received from Carter that he asked me to pass on to Analyst Perspective readers. We look forward to following SageCircle’s progress and we encourage you to take a look to see what they are up to.

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SageCircle will ruthlessly focus on business outcomes versus activities (e.g., looking at using analysts to drive revenues and build brand value). We will help clients, from startups to global enterprises, rapidly identify and resolve critical business issues concerning the IT analysts, while providing a foundation for continuous improvement. Our services will include training (public seminars, webinars and in-house), advisory (annual retainer and blocks of two or five hours), and consulting.

There is going to be a SageCircle: Hot Topics evening event on Monday, January 28th at 6:30 pm at the Cupertino Inn just off 280 at the De Anza Boulevard exit. The AR best practices portion will be a “Case Study on Corporate AR and PR Collaboration.” The case study will focus on a sensitive announcement and how analysts were key advisors to the preparation. Noted independent analyst Rob Enderle and former HP AR manager Dave Eckert will discuss how the analysts provided valuable insights to executives as well as the PR and AR teams. The panel will discuss the use of non-disclosure to gain analyst insight, issues dealing with internal groups such as legal, the timing of press and analyst briefings, and the lessons learned. Wine, beer and appetizers will be provided. Tickets are $10 and attendees must register in advance on the SageCircle: Hot Topics Check back soon to hear about our other upcoming events.

The SageCircle blog has been launched with content that will be of interest to many constituencies that interact with the analysts - from AR to market intelligence to vendor sales to PR to others. The blog replaces the e-mail “IT Analyst Updates” I have been sending out since leaving HP. There will be frequent postings so I suggest adding this blog to your RSS feed.

We also want to let you know that we have a training seminar scheduled. The SageCircle AR Effectiveness Seminar will be held from 12 - 5 pm Monday, January 28th continuing 8-12 pm Tuesday, January 29th. The seminar is a great choice for new AR staff needing a solid skills foundation and for experienced AR pros wanting a refresher. The instructors are sages with decades of experience in the analyst game. Tickets are $995 and include the evening event with case study presentation and networking. Visit the seminar page to see the complete agenda and to register.

Research request. As part of my work to expand the boundaries of AR best practices and tools I am experimenting with several Web 2.0 technologies such as social networks and microblogging (see my signature block below for the various addresses). I encourage you to connect with me via LinkedIn and Facebook. I especially want to encourage you to sign up for Twitter and become a “follower” of my microblogging. Starting on Thursday the 13th, I will be microblogging observations on the analysts as well as asking questions of the AR community so I would appreciate your feedback on the the convenience, content and usefulness of Twitter. A favor – please forward this information far and wide, inside and outside your companies. One of the goals of SageCircle is to build a community of people who interact with the analysts -- whether as AR, market intelligence, spokespeople, IT managers, investors, reporters or others – to share experiences and commentary about the analysts and their research.

Please give me or Dave (831-430-9051) a call with any questions about SageCircle or the events. Thanks for taking the time to read this e-mail. 

Cheers and Happy Holidays, -carter j

carter@sagecircle.com

Outsell Reports That IDC Is Growing Vertically Through Insights Product Line

IDC is the second largest IT research company in the world. Its Insights product line is growing fast, covering six vertical sectors (Energy, Financial Services, Government, Health, Manufacturing, and Retail) as well as the horizontal IT Management Service. Launched over time since 2005, these services are designed to provide information about the space where IT meets business, for CIOs and IT professionals. IDC has invested around $40 million into this product line.

To learn more about Outsell’s Report on IDC (priced at $495), use this link:

http://www.outsellinc.com/store/products/535

Outsell’s Information Industry Outlook 2008

In this report, Outsell forecasts steady and moderate growth for the information industry from 2007 to 2010, with performance varying among segments, and predicts that successful companies will be agile and adaptive solutions providers. The report summarizes metrics and trends for 11 vertical information industry segments and key customer groups that fuel the $362 billion information industry.

To learn more about this report (priced at $895), use this link:

http://www.outsellinc.com/store/products/527

Free Teleconference - The "Greening of IT" – Views and Advice from Leading Analyst Firms

According to a recent article, “Green IT” is becoming the “Y2K of this decade”. It seems that every IT vendor and large enterprise is rushing to position itself to take advantage of this trend. AnalystPerspectives has assembled leading analysts from several firms to discuss their views on Green IT. The analysts will have the opportunity to present their views on the topic and to debate with each other, and they will field questions from participants.

Event Date: December 12, 2007 at 12 noon EST

Registration: http://www.regform.com/skillsoft/event_reg.php?webinar=50002

Confirmed Presenters:

• Chris Mines, SR. VP, Forrester Research
• Bob Tarzey, Service Director, Quocirca Ltd
• David Tebbutt, Programme Director, Freeform Dynamics Ltd
• Jerald Murphy, SVP, Director of Research, Robert Frances Group
• John Madden, Research Director, Enterprise and Professional Services, Ovum Inc
• Aaron Hay, Research Consultant, Info-Tech Research

To learn more about this event or to register, use this link:

http://www.regform.com/skillsoft/event_details.php?webinar=50002

Free Download - AnalystPerspectives "Greening of IT" Report

Analysts now report there is a significant profit motive for going green. The latest SkillSoft report raises awareness of the environmental effects of IT and how careful selection of PCs and proper utilization of power can significantly address global cooling and power consumption challenges. Featuring input from 22 leading analyst firms, this informative report focuses on minimizing the environmental impact of IT operations.

To download a complimentary copy of the report, use this link:

http://www.skillsoft.com/online/Greening_of_IT/