Archive for 'Web Analytics People'

If you are one of the thousands of people who have attended one of our Web Analytics Wednesday events over the past few years, well, thank you! Thank you for showing your support of the web analytics community, your local community, and the practice of web analytics in general. I had no idea that our execution of June’s idea would progress to near the point it has … touching so many people and providing a gateway to jobs, employees, and all kinds of new ideas.

That said, two challenges have emerged recently and I felt like a quick blog post that everyone could reference would be the best way to deal with each. In no particular order:

1. Web Analytics Wednesdays are designed to be a free event. It has come to my attention that some local chapters of WAW are charging people to attend events. In most (probably all actually) cases these fees are designed to offset the cost of food or drinks, but here’s the thing: we have tons of money for Web Analytics Wednesday and we can almost certainly get more if we need it! If you find yourself in the position of having to ask local members for $10 for an event … please please please email me directly and lets find you money! I am pretty creative, and the 2010 Global Sponsors have already donated very generously, so let me help you make a totally free event if at all possible, please!
2. Web Analytics Wednesdays need to be run thoughtfully when held in conjunction with Web Analytics Association events. This gets back to  the open-to-all atmosphere of Web Analytics Wednesday, but it has been brought to our attention that some WAA country hosts in Europe have been holding joint WAA + WAW events. This is excellent and wonderful, except if it happens at the expense of A) the global agreement between the WAA and Web Analytics Wednesday and B) the ability for anyone — WAA or not — to participate.

The second point merits additional explanation. Web Analytics Wednesday, as many of you are already aware, is an independent entity created by Web Analytics Demystified, not the Web Analytics Association. Because it is a “community event” many people mistakenly assume it is WAA but it is not and never has been. We maintain WAW as a private entity because A) we believe it needs to remain open to all, not just those folks able to justify and afford the Association’s $199 annual fees and B) honestly, it’s a lot easier to get financial support for these events as an independent entity.

To clarify this, a few years back June and I hammered out an agreement between the Association and WAW. Without boring you with the details, the agreement specifies that “Web Analytics Wednesday” is an independent brand, that all WAW registrations will occur on our web site and system, and that WAW will be open to all comers, not just WAA members. It’s an awesome agreement because it allows the Association access to WAW events around the globe without needing to have any infrastructure.

The agreement also totally, totally supports local WAA events that want to have a social function as well! If a WAA coordinator or country manager wants to have a “social event” after a sanctioned WAA event that requires registration they have two very simple options:

1. Call the event Web Analytics Wednesday, create the event on our platform, advertise the event for anyone and everyone who wants to attend, and ask people to sign up to participate at the official WAW web site;
2. Call the event anything other than “Web Analytics Wednesday”

Easy, huh?

All we are seeking to do is ensure that “Web Analytics Wednesday” continues to be known as a totally free event, open to all comers regardless of financial disposition and willingness to support any association, vendor, or technology. And to that end we are working as hard as possible to provide resources — financial and otherwise — to event planners across the globe, working with great organizations like the WAA, and working with the brilliant and wonderful WAW hosts who have made Web Analytics Wednesday the amazing event it is.

Personally I’m looking forward to getting to know the new WAA Executive Director and working to ensure bidirectional compliance with the long-standing agreement between WAA and WAW. I know the agreement has the board’s support, and we hope the spirit of the agreement continues to maintain the community’s support as well.

I welcome questions, comments, and concerns, and with the Association’s permission I am happy to provide or publish a copy of the agreement between WAA and WAW (but do need the Association’s permission as it is a valid legal document.)

Recently Google published the results of a Forrester Research study they had commissioned (PDF) to help the broader market understand the use and adoption of free web analytics solution.  Google should be applauded for commissioning Forrester to conduct this work, especially given the quality of the research and the level of insights provided.  Without a doubt, free solutions like Google Analytics and Yahoo Web Analytics are having an impact on our industry and driving change in ways few of us ever imagined.

I really did enjoy the Forrester report, primarily because the author (John Lovett) managed to surface totally new data.  When he first told me that over half of Enterprise businesses were using free solutions I have to admit I didn’t believe him.  In a way I still don’t, but perhaps that’s only because I work with a slightly different sample than he presents.  Regardless, John’s report paints a picture of an increasingly challenging market for companies selling web analytics and a new sophistication among end users.

Speaking of sophistication, there are a few points in the report that I question, and since I have pretty good luck getting feedback from readers on big picture stories I figured I’d bring them up here in the blog.  Before I do I want to emphasize that I am not questioning Forrester or John’s work—I am merely trying to explore some data that I find contrary to my own experience in this public forum.  To this end I pose a handful of questions that I would love to discuss either openly in comments or via email.

The first point I question is the observation in Figure 3 that 70% of companies report having a “well-defined analytics strategy.”  Two years ago my own research found that fewer than 10% of companies worldwide had a well-defined strategy for web analytics.  Last year Econsultancy reported that only 18% of the companies in their sample had a strategy for analytics.  To jump from these low numbers to the majority of Enterprises just doesn’t square with my general experience in the industry.

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Remember, the implication of this data point is that 70% of all companies having more than 1,000 employees have a “well-defined analytics strategy.”  According to a 2004 report from the U.S. Census Bureau there were just over 12,000 companies in the U.S. with more than 1,000 employees.  Without assuming any growth between 2004 and 2009, Forrester’s 70% figure would result in over 8,500 companies in the U.S. that have a “well-defined” strategy for web analytics. Does that sound right to you?

Consider that the combined customer count for Omniture, WebTrends, Coremetrics, and Unica combined in the U.S. doesn’t even add up to 8,500 companies.  Even if you use the more conservative 13% who “strongly agree” with Forrester’s statement you end up with over 1,500 U.S. companies.  I may suffer from sample bias, but personally I can barely think of 150 companies that I would identify as having any strategy for web analytics, much less a “well-defined” one.

Most companies I talk to have the beginnings of an over-arching strategy—they’ve realized the need for people and are beginning to reduce their general reliance on click-stream data alone.  But given that I think about this topic from time to time, I think a “well-defined” strategy for web analytics takes into account multiple integrated technologies, appropriate staffing, and well thought-out business and knowledge processes for putting their technology and staff to work.  What does the phrase “well-defined strategy” imply to you?

Similarly, if 60% of companies truly believed that “investments in Web analytics people are more valuable than investments in Web analytics technology” there would be THOUSANDS of practitioners employed in the U.S. alone.  But again, every conference, every meeting, every conference call, and every other data point suggests that the need for people in web analytics is still an emerging need.  Hell, Emetrics in San Jose earlier this year barely drew 200 actual practitioners by my count.  How many web analytics practitioners do you think there are in the United States?

Same problem with the rest of the responses to Figure 3 on web analytics as a “technology we cannot do without” (75%) and the significance of the role web analytics plays in driving decisions (71%).  Perhaps I’m talking to entirely the wrong people, perhaps I’m interpreting these data wrong, and perhaps I’ve gone flat-out crazy, but these responses just don’t match my personal understanding and experience in the web analytics industry.

This issue of data that simply does not make sense, while not universally manifest in the report, manifests elsewhere as well. For example, Figure 8 reports on the percentage of application used segmented by fee and free tools:

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When I look at these responses and see that 63 percent of respondents using fee-based tools and 50 percent of respondents using free tools claim to be effectively using more than half the available functionality, again I find myself scratching my head. As this data appears to speak to the general sophistication of use of analytics I went back and looked at Dennis Mortensen’s quantitative study of how IndexTools was being used around the world.

Dennis reports that fewer than 10% of his customers were using even the most basic “advanced” features in web analytics (report customization) and that fewer that 4% of his customers (on average) are making any “advanced” use of the IndexTools application. While this dataset is somewhat biased towards European companies who I believe, on average, to be somewhat behind their U.S. counterparts it does provide an objective view in how web analytics are used that seems to directly contradict the self-reported responses in Forrester’s figure 8.

Clearly there is a gap between the responses John collected and the current state of the web analytics market.  Since John is a very smart guy I know part of his rebuttal will include the observation that he surveyed people directly responsible for web analytics (see Forrester’s methodology) and that people in general have a tendency towards positivism. Trust me, my son is the most handsome little boy ever born and my daughter’s beauty is only matched by that of Aphrodite … same for your kids, right?

Given the difficulty associated with gathering truly objective data regarding the use of web analytics, this type of self-reported data is usually what we have to go on.  While Omniture, WebTrends, Coremetrics, and Unica all have the fundamental capability to report data similar to that provided by Mr. Mortensen, it may not be in their best interests to expose underwhelming adoption and unsophisticated use (if that is what the analysis uncovered.)  Ultimately we’re forced to accept these self-reported responses and  then reconcile them against our own views, which is why I’m asking my readers what they think about the data Forrester is reporting!

Regarding these self-reported attitudinal responses on how web analytics is used strategically, perhaps the truth is found in the companies who “strongly agree” with John’s statements.  If we apply this lens, as opposed to the more optimistic view, we get the following:

• 17% of companies recognize that web analytics is a technology they cannot live without;
• Web analytics plays a significant role in driving decisions at 12% of companies;
• 13% of companies have a well-defined web analytics strategy;
• 9% of companies recognize that investments in people are more valuable than investments in technology

These numbers start to make a lot more sense to me.  Likely the truth, as with so much in our industry, lies somewhere in between, but I would love to hear what you think about these adjusted numbers.  Do the lower numbers make more sense to you, or do you agree with John’s more optimistic assessment?

Unfortunately if the lower numbers are correct the implication is that despite the incredibly hard work that companies, consultants, and industry thought-leaders around the world have done for years we still have an incredibly long way to go before web analytics is recognized as the valuable business practice that you all know it can be!

Regardless I want to state that I do not disagree at all with the fundamental thesis in this report, that “free” is creating a whole new level of interest in web analytics and that, given proper consideration, free is an excellent alternative to paid solutions.  Lacking clear strategy and resources, too many companies have wasted too much money on paid solutions for free to not be compelling.  Thanks to the dedication of the Google and Yahoo teams, the world now has access to great applications that are in some regards more compelling than fee-based alternatives.

While I may not have said this a few years ago, today I honestly do believe that “free” is a viable and appropriate alternative to fee-based solutions. While not appropriate in every situation, it is irresponsible to suggest that any company not willing to fully engage in web analytics should pay for ongoing services and support. Given advances from Google and the availability of Yahoo Web Analytics, any motivated company large or small now has access to a wealth of data that can be translated into information, insights, and recommendations.

Conversely I agree with John (and Jim, and almost ever thought leader I respect) who states that you need to “prioritize your business needs and culture for analytics first and then evaluate the tools.”  This goes back to the fundamental value proposition at Web Analytics Demystified: It’s not the tools you use but how you use them. If you’re not invested in developing and executing a clearly defined strategy for digital measurement, you may as well be grepping your log files.

I would love your feedback on this post, either directly in comments or via email. Thanks again to the folks at Google for making this awesome research freely available and to John Lovett for shedding light on this incredibly important aspect of our sector.  Remember: we are analysts—our jobs are to ask hard questions and then ask even harder ones!

Following up my interview with Bill Gassman a few weeks ago I realized that I would be remiss if I didn’t build on Forrester’s recent Web Analytics Wave report with an interview with John Lovett. John, like Bill, totally, totally understands the web analytics industry, and in that understanding is able to clarify the marketplace in a way few others can. Don’t believe me? Check out his response to possibly the worst article about web analytics, ever. Measured, polite, even complimentary … that’s John.

I am personally honored that John accepted my invitation to return to the X Change this year and both lead the huddle on “Industry Standards (or a lack thereof)” and co-lead a huddle on technology with Bill Gassman. If you haven’t met John personally, and if you are able to join us at the X Change, I strongly recommend you make a point of introducing yourself to him.

Finally, before my questions and John’s answers, I wanted to point out how incredibly deft Mr. Lovett really is: in response to a high-and-hard fastball question about “which vendor is really the best,” John knocked the ball clear out of the park with his answer: none of them. I’ll let you read the rest for yourself …

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Your recent Wave report really emphasized a lot of conventional wisdom about the web analytics vendors but had some surprises for folks.  What surprised YOU the most about the Wave results?

Well Eric, I like to say that surprises are for birthdays and not for business. So in terms of actual surprises, there weren’t any big bombshells for me. I was however pleased that the vendors demonstrated innovation in a number of areas (like social media measurement) and that despite my attempts to develop extremely challenging criteria, the vendors continue to improve year over year.

One comment people have made to me is that they question the validity of comparing fee and free solutions in a single matrix due to the fundamental differences in their business model.  How would (or do) you respond to that challenge?

That’s preposterous! I respond by saying that it’s negligent not to compare free vs. fee based solutions. In today’s economic environment if you’re not watching expenses by understanding the cost to benefit ratio of your Web analytics solution, you are acting irresponsibly. Free tools have merit for many organizations as both primary and secondary tools, while fee based solutions are more appropriate for others based on their capabilities. Organizations must do their diligence to understand what they need in a Web analytics solution to decide what’s right for them, which is really the insight the Wave attempts to provide.

I asked Bill Gassman from Gartner a variation on this question recently, but do you now or see in the near future a situation where you as a Forrester analyst are advising your clients to actively consider these free solutions in addition to “traditional” web analytics solutions from Omniture, Coremetrics, and Unica?  As a follow-up, how do you see free tools impacting the market in the next 12 to 24 months?

I advocate that a single system for measurement is always the best way to go, yet recognize that this isn’t always feasible. Duality of Web analytics tools is a reality for myriad reasons. Thus, company’s need to manage their data dissemination practices to ensure comprehension and mitigate doubt. This is tricky, but certainly possible. I often help clients determine which solution is best suited to meet their needs and financial implications are always a part of that discussion.

With regard to how free tools will impact the market: we are just witnessing the beginning of the incoming tide on this one. By this I mean that “free” will continue to disrupt the market by placing pressure for improvement on all vendors. Just look at the recent Webtrends product upgrade announcement – the majority of press around it cited a “look out Google Analytics” slant. Why the comparison…they’re worried! Fee-based vendors have even more to fear now that Yahoo! Web Analytics opened up its partner program.

Another comment I hear about the Wave results, and forgive me this, is that they’re lame because they do nothing to differentiate the “market leaders” who appear as a tight cluster.  The evidence cited is that all four vendors issued press releases declaring their “market leadership” which appears technically correct based on the Wave but as the Highlander said, “There can be only one.”  First, how do you respond to this and second, who is the real market leader in web analytics?

Here’s the dirty little secret – the real market leader is the wildly talented Web analytics practitioner. It’s not the tools that differentiate it’s the craftsman. Any company that believes the Web analytic technology alone will make them incredibly successful is delusional or just plain out of touch. There is no get rich quick scheme here. Each of the leading vendors on the Wave offers a highly customized solution that can be tricked-out to meet nearly anyone’s individual needs. But this takes a great deal of work. For those organizations that are looking for the far-and-away winner in this technology category, guess what: the tools will only get you so far – you need talented people to really make it happen.

Rumors are that Omniture has a bunch of “800 lb gorillas” hanging in their offices right now.  Clearly they’re proud of their position, but last quarters results highlighted that there are clear risks to their business that are beginning to manifest.  What do you think are the greatest risks to Omniture’s business over the next 18 months?

Well, I don’t buy into rumors and sure don’t know where I left my crystal ball. But things are tough all over. As I stated earlier, free solutions are threatening all fee-based vendors and forcing them to work harder. I can tell you that measurement technologies are an imperative for executing on digital marketing endeavors. Solutions like Omniture’s, Webtrends’, Coremetrics’, Unica’s and everyone else’s will continue to play an important role in the evolution of organizations conducting business online. I believe that Web analytics is increasingly becoming an integrated service and expect to see things evolve to easier access to data through new and alternative means. The leading vendors, including Omniture, will play a role in this evolution.

What’s your taken on the current hype cycle around “open”?  Omniture bangs the Genesis drum, Coremetrics connects, and now WebTrends appears to have decided that “open” will be the foundation of their future success (or lack thereof) … but some people think that “open” is a check-box requirement, not a competitive differentiator.  What do you think?

Open is not a feature, it’s a philosophy. The ability to get data into and out of a Web analytics solution is the crux of the issue and leading vendors facilitate this through bi-directional API’s, other import and export functions and data dissemination capabilities. Webtrends is currently doing this as well as anyone, but “open” also means talking to your customers about development plans, listening to criticism and demonstrating a willingness to change. These qualities aren’t unique to Webtrends, they’re characteristics that all vendors should exhibit. Webtrends is just marketing around them and if that’s causing people to want open, then it appears to be working.

As a previous attendee to the X Change what do you like best about the conference and what would you like to see us change this year or next?

I appreciate the intimate conversational format of X Change. The huddles really facilitate deep thought, controversial leeway and provocative discussion. As someone who attends a number of conferences, it is refreshing to engage in dialogue with individuals who are passionate about what they do and to initiate a true collaborative thinking environment. As far as change goes, I really hope to be able to guide the huddles that I’m leading toward resolution. Within our industry, all too often we surface problems and issues without identifying solutions. I’ve taken your challenge to heart and hope to walk away with some tangible results from my huddles.

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John will be joining Bill Gassman, Gary Angel, June Dershewitz, and over 100 expert users, consultants, and vendors at the 2009 X Change conference in San Francisco on September 9, 10, and 11. Registration is currently underway and we’d love to have you join us! For more information please visit:

http://www.xchangeconference.com

One of the biggest problems we face in web analytics today is our industry’s lack of standards and common definitions. And while a great number of incredibly bright folks have put a ton of energy into solving these problems, in my humble opinion we are more or less where we started years ago — agreeing politely to disagree. Those of you who have been reading my blog for awhile know that I’m not shy about disagreement — perhaps more than anything my analyst’s mind loves a spirited debate — but I also am somewhat anxious about creating tangible outcomes.

To this end I am incredibly excited about two huddles at X Change 2009, one that was just added! The first is Forrester’s John Lovett’s “Web Analytics Standards (or a Lack Thereof)” in which John will be leading us through the current state of industry standards, proposed definitions and our collective understanding of analytics terminology. The second, and one just added to the X Change, is Jim Hassert’s “When is a Visitor Not a Real Person?” huddle in which Jim will take John’s huddle one step further and drill-down into the often irreconcilable differences found in the seemingly harmless “visitor” metric and dimension.

Last year I was forced to miss a lot of good huddles. This year a team of wild horses couldn’t keep me from missing these two.

While I have little doubt that both of these huddles will live up to the spirit of the X Change my hope is that they will go one step further. I would love to see both produce some kind of actionable outcome, something that we can carry forth into our careers and the wider conversation about our industry. Given that some serious talent is already signed up for the X Change — including some of the brightest minds in the practitioner and vendor community — I have little doubt that we have the brain power … now all we need is the resolve to do something and not just push words around on paper.

If you’re a reader of this blog and want to join us at the X Change I’m happy to help you out.  If you act before July 31st I am offering a 15% discount on the registration (a $300 savings!)

Come to the X Change. Agree to do more than “politely disagree” — take a stand, defend your ideas, and help shape tangible and positive outcomes.

When I quit my job at Visual Sciences back in May 2007 to form Web Analytics Demystified I did so because I had a vision of a new type of web analytics consulting group. I very much wanted to build a small practice made up of very senior people capable of solving the really hard problems most companies have after they’ve made the investment in web analytic technology. I wanted to establish a firm that would compliment the highly tactical firms that I respected so much — companies like Semphonic, Stratigent, and Europe’s OX2.

After two years I am very proud of the work I’ve done and the clients I’ve worked with. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best brands, the best companies, and the most visionary management teams who are actively wokring to do more than simply “run reports” and instead want to actively compete on web analytics. That said, I have come to the realization that there is no way I could satisfy the global need on my own … so I did what every good business owner should do: I went out and got someone smarter, more eloquent, and better looking to be my business partner!

At Emetrics last week in San Jose I was incredibly excited to announce that Aurélie Pols, Europe’s most widely known and well respected web analytics consultant, has joined Web Analytics Demystified as a Principal Consultant.  Aurélie brings depth and experience in web analytics that is rare anywhere in the world and exceedingly rare in Europe, she was the first consultant to break the “one vendor” stranglehold in Europe that forced firms to work exclusively with a single technology, and she brings a brilliance to the explanation and use of these tools that amazes even me.

Now Aurelie and I will be working together in Europe to “demystify web analytics” and help companies make significantly better use of their technology investment. Between the two of us and our contacts across Europe Web Analytics Demystified will now be providing a far greater level of service than was previously possible.

I highly recommend that you read Aurélie’s “Hello, World” blog post and start following her at aurelie.webanalyticsdemystified.com. If you have any questions about Aurélie’s practice or how Web Analytics Demystified can help you regardless of where you’re located, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly.

I hope you will welcome me in welcoming Aurélie to the Web Analytics Demystified team.