Web Analytics is Personal

We all are professionals so we tend to be very professional in what we do. However today I learned that web analytics can be personal.

Well, to be more accurate, I learned that long time ago when I watched how Avinash Kaushik, Jim Sterne, Eric Peterson or Bryan Eisenberg presenting in eMetrics Summit or anywhere they go. They are passionate, energetic, and they are personal.

Today I experienced that too.

Today we hit a really great milestone in web analytics within Dell. Several months after implementing SiteCatalyst globally, we presented a global executive dashboard which enables our executives to get a weekly snapshot of the site performance across our global regions.  It gives them a great benchmark, drive standardization of the site, promote best pracitice sharing. More importantly, it drives them to prioritize their web analysts’ time to work on big opportunities, instead of tons of ad hoc requests or routine reporting.

When a senior manager told me, “Oh my this is a thing of beauty! Tear in eye….” and when my director said, “we need turn web analytics from a tool to THE weapon”, I know that we are on something here. Tomorrow is going to be a little different. We might start to see a transformation and a new culture might emerge.

So that’s my thought of today. Web analytics can be personal, can be exciting, can be something you really love. It doesn’t have to be dull at all. Let’s get out of our cubes, start to be like a champion or evangelist within our organization.

It’s your time to shine now, seriously.

Dell Implemented Omniture SiteCatalyst

Dell is no stranger to the web analytics. Since the inception of dell.com in 1996, we have been collecting and analyzing dell.com Web traffic data. And since 2003, we’ve used a global internal IT system to  continuously improve the user experience and drive online sales.

But yesterday marked an important milestone in our web analytics history and probably my career as well. We finally implemented Omniture Sitecatalyst across business segments and units. This is significant for several reasons:

1. Democratization of online data – By getting more information about what’s happening on our site into the hands of more talented Dell marketers, we will generate more awareness, discussion and insight about what’s working and what’s not working on the site.
2. Increase in number of testing ideas – Testing is one of the most powerful tools we have for tuning the site based on customer behavior. With easier access to information about what customers are doing on the site, we expect more testing hypotheses to be generated that will flow into the MVT testing roadmaps in various segments around the world.
3. Global Metrics Standardization – Over the years, different segments around the world have created their own reporting silo’s and metrics, making it almost impossible to compare performance around the world. With the release of Omniture SiteCatalyst, we are standardizing web metrics globally for Dell. Being able to compare apples to apples around the world will help us extend best practices around the world and measure impact of changes globally.

So personally I am excited. But I am also aware that Sitecatalyst is no panacea no matter how good it is. I am a firm believer of Avinash’s trinity strategy and I think we are far away from integrating clickstream, outcomes and experiences data together to drive holistic, insightful and actionable recommendations. But I feel that we are on the right direction and I am proud to be a member of this movement in the company.