Altimeter Group

About R “Ray” Wang, Partner

R “Ray” Wang is a Partner with Altimeter Group and the author of the popular enterprise software blog “A Software Insider’s Point of View”. The blog focuses on enterprise apps strategy, vendor selection, software contract negotiations, and emerging business and technology trends.

As an enterprise strategist, Ray focuses on bridging the gap between today’s enterprise landscape with an emerging class of enterprise business solutions adopting the spirit of social technologies and Enterprise 2.0 concepts.  Research topic areas often include ERP, CRM, Project Based Solutions, Order Management, Master Data Management, and SaaS.

For software vendors, he provides strategic guidance in go to market strategies; reviews and designs software licensing, pricing, support, and maintenance policies; delivers competitive assessments; evaluates software partner ecosystems; and researches business processes such as the perfect order and continuous customer management for the enterprise and SMB markets.

Publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Fortune, Inc., The Associated Press, CIO Magazine, Information Week, ComputerWorld, Financial Times, eWeek, IDG News, ZDNet, and TechTarget frequently seek Ray’s point of view.  He has appeared on several video outlets, including CNBC.  In both 2008 and 2009, Ray was recognized by the prestigious Institute of Industry Analyst Relations (IIAR) as Analyst of the Year and in 2009 he was named as one of the most important analysts for Enteprise, SMB, and Software.

Experience

Ray brings enterprise software experience honed from two decades of product management, management consulting, and marketing roles. Prior to serving as a VP and Principal Analyst at Forrester, he headed up the customer relationship management (CRM) analyst relations program for PeopleSoft. At Oracle, Ray served senior product management roles for both the ERP and CRM product lines. While at Personify, Ray was the marketing chief for a Web analytics startup valued at $500 million.

Before working for packaged application vendors, Ray developed his management consulting and strategy experience at Capgemini Ernst & Young, Deloitte Consulting, Detroit Medical Center, and the Johns Hopkins Hospital. He specialized in SAP implementations, general strategy, program management, change management, mergers and acquisitions, and healthcare operations.

Education

Ray graduated from the Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in natural sciences and public health. His graduate training includes a master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University in health policy and management and health finance and management. He is also certified in SAP FI/CO modules, facilitation, and program management office.

Awards and Achievements

• Top Inquiry Award (Q1 2007 to Present)
• Top 5 Viewership (Q1 2007 to Present)
• Delivered the industry’s first end to end business process solution evaluation on Order Management Hubs
• Fathered the Enterprise Software Licensee’s Bill of Rights
• Pioneered research in Project Based Solutions (PBS)
• Evangelized the Master Data Management (MDM) and Customer Data Integration (CDI) market
• Created the solution centric ecosystem model for evaluating the Stack Wars and for software partnerships
• Designed a long term apps strategy framework and 10 part series
• Developed a partner solution evaluation framework for end users and partners
• Launched Forrester’s Mid-market ERP coverage
• Introduced the industry’s first policy evaluation in the Forrester Wave on Enterprise Software Licensing and Pricing

Ray’s “10 Essential Elements for Social Enterprise Apps”

More on Ray’s Blog: A Software Insider’s Point of View

Contact information:

Email: r (at) altimetergroup (dot) com

Phone: 650.918.6619

You can also find me on: