Heather Ashton

Research Manager

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Heather Ashton is Research Manager supporting IDC Manufacturing Insights and IDC Retail Insights. In this role, she is responsible for research and analysis of business and IT issues related to the supply chain and the four pillars – big data, cloud, mobile, and social business. Ms. Ashton also supports research in the asset- and brand-oriented value chains in manufacturing.

Ms. Ashton regularly contributes to the retail and manufacturing blogs on the IDC Manufacturing Insights Community (http://idc-insights-community.com/manufacturing and http://idc-insights-community.com/retail) and tweets (@HeatherAsh_IDC) about business and IT issues relevant to asset- and brand-oriented manufacturers, as well as social business, cloud, and more.

Prior to joining IDC Insights, Ms. Ashton spent more than 15 years in market research and the IT industry, most recently as Principal at AM Consulting Services, where she engaged in consulting projects with software vendors and market research firms on topics as diverse as cloud computing, business intelligence and analytics, social business, sustainability, and business process management. Prior to that, Ms. Ashton spent time as a Marketing Manager at start-up VPN service provider OpenReach, where she leveraged her analyst connections to build a solid library of customer references and case studies.

Ms. Ashton began her analyst career at Hurwitz Group, Inc. During her tenure at Hurwitz, as Director of E-Business Strategies, she helped launch and ran a research practice that focused on the emerging B2B and B2C enterprise software vendors.

Ms. Ashton graduated with high honors from Boston College where she earned a BA in English and was awarded the Scholar of the College distinction.

Research Authored by Heather Ashton

Perspective: Intralinks VIA Secures File Sharing for Collaboration Heather Ashton Jun 2013 - Doc # MI241644    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective offers a closer look at how one social business tool, Intralinks VIA, supports some of the essential capabilities of social collaboration in the enterprise. purchase document

Perspective: Ariba LIVE 2013 Heather Ashton,  Kimberly Knickle Jun 2013 - Doc # MI241442    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective recounts the main messages and key announcements revealed at the recently completed Ariba LIVE conference in Washington, D.C.Ariba, now an SAP company, directly addressed the topic of its acquisit... purchase document

The CIO-CXO Partnership: Enabling Social Business Eric Newmark,  Kimberly Knickle,  Christine Bardwell,  Mary Wardley,  Heather Ashton Apr 2013 - Doc # 240707    Customer Needs and Strategies This IDC study discusses the role of the chief information officer (CIO), which continues to evolve within the organization as new technologies like social, mobile, cloud, and big data and advanced analytics emerge and become instrumental t... purchase document

Business Strategy: A Framework for Mobile Transformation in Retail Leslie Hand,  Heather Ashton Mar 2013 - Doc # GRI240361    Business Strategy This IDC Retail Insights report introduces a framework for mobile transformation in retail. Mobility in retail is exploding, as retailers seek to leverage the growing ubiquity of mobile devices to enhance customer engagement, foster brand l... purchase document

Perspective: Will "Manufacturing Institutes" Drive Manufacturing Resurgence to the United States? Heather Ashton Mar 2013 - Doc # MI240452    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective discusses a topic included in the 2013 State of the Union address in February — a topic that is front of mind to the manufacturing industry: revitalizing onshore manufacturing for a beleaguered U.... purchase document

Methods and Practices: The Continuing Development of Mobile Applications in Manufacturing Heather Ashton,  Kimberly Knickle Mar 2013 - Doc # MI240271    Methods and Practices This IDC Manufacturing Insights report discusses the continuing development of mobility applications in manufacturing. It highlights the best use cases for mobility and offers a mobility maturity map for consideration by manufacturers in as... purchase document

Best Practices: The Rising Use of Mobility in Canada's Retail Market Leslie Hand,  Heather Ashton Mar 2013 - Doc # GRI239861    Best Practices This IDC Retail Insights report discusses the findings of a joint survey conducted by IDC Retail Insights and Retail Council of Canada (RCC) to explore the current state of mobility adoption and best practices among Canadian retailers. Lesl... purchase document

Perspective: Improving Supplier-Retailer Collaboration with Big Data, Mobile, and Social Leslie Hand,  Simon Ellis,  Kimberly Knickle,  Heather Ashton Feb 2013 - Doc # GRI239528    Perspective This IDC Retail Insights Perspective is a companion to two other Perspectives — Perspective: Improving Collaboration with Big Data, Mobile, and Social in the Brand-Oriented Value Chain (IDC Manufacturing Insights #, January 2013) and Perspe... purchase document

Perspective: Product Quality, Optimization of Sourcing, and Logistics Drive Collaboration for Retail Ecosystems Leslie Hand,  Simon Ellis,  Kimberly Knickle,  Heather Ashton Feb 2013 - Doc # GRI239584    Perspective This IDC Retail Insights Perspective is a companion to Perspective: Improving Collaboration with Big Data, Mobile, and Social in the Brand-Oriented Value Chain (IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI239210, January 2013) — which offers a look at co... purchase document

Vendor Assessment: Traceability and Regulatory Compliance in the Food and Beverage Manufacturing Industry Simon Ellis,  Heather Ashton,  Leslie Hand Feb 2013 - Doc # MI239393    Vendor Assessment This IDC Manufacturing Insights report discusses the growing importance of traceability, compliance, and product life-cycle management to food and beverage manufacturers.According to Simon Ellis, practice director, Supply Chain Strategies I... purchase document

Perspective: Improving Collaboration with Big Data, Mobile, and Social in the Brand-Oriented Value Chain Simon Ellis,  Leslie Hand,  Heather Ashton,  Kimberly Knickle Jan 2013 - Doc # MI239210    Perspective This IDC Manufacturing Insights Perspective is a companion to two other Perspectives — Perspective: The State of Collaboration in the Brand-Oriented Value Chain (IDC Manufacturing Insights #MI239086, January 2013) and Perspective: Product Q... purchase document

More Research authored by Heather Ashton