Going Green: Managing an Analytics Program

I joined Omniture amidst the TouchClarity acquisition in early 2007, though not in time to get the t-shirt.  Since that time, I’ve been helping clients create measurement strategies to focus on their business objectives, analyzing and mining data to uncover optimization opportunities, and helping clients use Omniture tools to manage their analytics programs.  According to the  10,000 hour rule (Outliers is a fantastic book) that qualifies me to be pretty good at what I do.

Now I get to take all that experience and internalize it, because I’ve just moved into a new position at Omniture.  For the purposes of this blog, I’ve got two main responsibilities.

Going Green

First, I’ve inherited - and now own - the Omniture implementation inside of the Omniture Suite, measuring how our customers are actually using our applications (very much like an Omniture customer would measure how their users are interacting with the website).  The current design was created during a time when Omniture’s products were very web-based.  It’s been extended a bit and we’ve got more mileage out of it than was ever intended, but it’s time to rethink a few things in an Omniture world that’s expanding beyond the web.  In effect, I’ve moved from the consulting role into the practioner/analyst role.  Let it not be said that Omniture won’t eat its own dog food.

Just like any implementation that many of you have undergone (or are perhaps working on now), this one can be complex.  There are multiple applications to measure (ten at last count), some are similar some are very different.  Some are web-based, some are not.  Some are managed from Omniture HQ, others are scattered around the world.  Beyond the applications, a few of them have add-ons.  Some of them have APIs.  Some of them allow you to schedule deliveries that occur at all times of the night without any interaction on the part of a visitor.  We need to measure all these things before we can truly understand how our products are being used.

Behavioral Metrics

Second, Omniture is the largest technology company focused on CMOs and marketers.  We’ve made a business out of getting the important information to decision makers.  I’ll be working to define behavioral metrics and integrate them with the flow of information.  By analyzing the way that Omniture customers are actually using our products, we’ll be able to improve those products.  Perhaps more importantly, we can help those customers to improve their usage of the products, helping them realize more value from the investments they’ve already made.

What This Blog Is

Some of the challenges we face are common to everyone while some are fairly unique to us.  On this blog, I’ll share with you some of the challenges we’re facing with implementation, reporting, analysis, and distribution.  I’ll discuss how we approach them and the solutions that we come up with in the hopes that my experiences can help you run your own analytics program.  There are many SiteCatalyst veterans out there and I hope that you will contribute your experiences, opinions, and expertise to the discussions as well.

• Ben Robison
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