Guess, it’s just a better marketing that gets the clients most of the time. Most of our clients don’t even seem to know why they need analytics in the first place and yet go ahead and buy the costliest products from the market!

Cheers,
Akshay

I was thinking to comment here for sometime now and I finally thought of writing a blog entry in my blog to follow up this great discussion. I have taken a mid way between Eric and Avinash.

You can find the entry at:
http://analyticsbhups.blogspot.com/2007/06/on-enterprise-web-analytics-tools.html

Cheers,
Bhupendra

Netminers should never be ruled out of consideration / usage because of an arbitrary definition of “enterprise class”. The only criteria to rule out a vendor is outline at the top of this post. After that buy Netminers because the feature set it offers is what you need and you can exploit to improve your web business.

For each company the feature set they need is different and unique because each company has a unique collection of skills, mindset, culture and technologies at their disposal.

Having spent all my life in companies as a Practitioner (and not a Vendor or Consultant or Guru or Author) my personal experience is that one should make a intelligent and informed choice on the tool you invest in. Most of the time tools get bought based on arbitrary definitions or pontifications of outsiders (me). My advice is: avoid that.

Here’s the process:

Step 1: Learn (educate yourself on web analytics, reports, analysis and reality).

Step 2: Document your own reality based on step one (flaws in your company, skills you are missing, what you really need that’s missing from what you have).

Step 3: Evaluate vendors based on the document in step two (and use the above mentioned criteria for initial cut: that they have been there, that they’ll be there with you, that they can help you if you need help).

Step 4: Buy Netminers ( :) or whatever turns out to be the right tool for you).

Lots of companies jump to step three having skipped step one and two. Others often do step one and two with very expensive solutions which means that they can’t do those steps well because they don’t’ have any money left over for smart people who could have done those steps intelligently.

Did I answer your comment? I might have beaten around the bush, but you can call me out on that! :)

Thanks so much,

Avinash.
PS: Welcome the the blogosphere, true joy and lots of hours reading the latest on Paris Hilton await you!

I’m new to your blog and to the rest of the WA blogosphere. It is wonderful to discover this wealth of information about a topic which has interested me for so long!!

I largely agree with your definition of “Enterprise Class Web Analytics”. Interestingly, however, your definition covers mostly enterprise vendors; not so much the software or technology they develop. In fact, it is only your second point, scalability, which touches upon the technology as such. This is perhaps not surprising given your 10/90 rule: at the end it’s all about people, not technology.

However, while this is all true in some sense, as a representative of a vendor, I feel urged to stress that technology is meant to enable smart people. No matter how experienced or clever the WA staff or consultants in an organization are, these people can never hope to obtain more insight than the technology allows for. For example, if the technology doesn’t track website visitors at the finest granular level, if it doesn’t allow the analyst to cross tabulate variables, filter reports, define custom KPIs or even integrate tracking data with online surveys (i.e. your interesting “Trinity” approach), then, of course, the organization will never be able to move beyond traditional web analytics.

It may be true that many large organizations rush into acquiring what they hope is an “Enterprise Class Web Analytics Solution” without being able to exploit it fully. But this, I think, is the fault of people (also, or perhaps primarily, on the vendor side), not the technology.

Thanks for an interesting post and a great blog! I look forward to come back!

It’s an education process with a client, but it definitely shows the possible effect of brand awareness on budgeting decisions. The decision to go with the less expensive web analytics software really came down to the last minute of the evaluation process.

The real success however, was that the cost savings in web analytics will allow us to invest that savings in additional web development efforts, designed to improve their overall online marketing strategy. 2 months into the process, I just received word from the client on how pleased they really are with the data and information that can be reported on.

In another interesting post on his blog, Avinash questions the conventional wisdom about “Enterprise Class” software, specifically web analytics software. The post made me smile because of Avinash’s hyper-cautious preamble about how he doesn’t set out to be contentious, but sometimes he just has to speak his mind, yada yada yada. I had a mental picture of him donning helmet, mitts, shin guards and chest protectors (not to mention the other thing) before …

I think with the question at the end of your question you were asking for my thoughts on GA for your two criteria. At the moment it is not as optimal to take data out of GA, it is possible but it needs to be improved a lot and will as the tool continues to evolve. On pan domain analysis, there are posts and guides to help you do that with GA (let me know if I can ask Justin to help find them, inside joke for my friend! :)).

Aaron:

Here’s a chicken-or-the-egg question, though: have you ever been in a situation where a more powerful tool may have generated enough enthusiasm or momentum for analytics to help an organization understand their need for analytics, invest in the people, and act

I have to honestly admit Aaron that I have never seen this. But I am not that old and I have not seen a lot! :)

I find that people can’t be shocked into quick massive progress (the kind you outline in your comment), they evolve. Over time. Sometimes painfully. And the bigger the organization the more this is true. It has to do with culture, it has to with a typical large company organizational structure.

So I think it is possible, what you outline. I am also sure, given the laws of probability, that it is happening around us. I am not trying to be glib, I am sure that the fact I have not run into it is a limitation of my own experience.

Judith :

“Pick one, any one, just allow us to do the hard work and it will pay off.”

This is most definitely the line of the month, as someone who has been a Analyst, a Manager of Analysts and a Director of Analysts and User Researchers, I completely and 100% relate to this.

You have to have lived in the real world in a real organization and have real Practitioner experience to appreciate this. Bravo ! (And my sympathies!!) :)

Dennis: I want to clarify that I am not asking anyone to change their “marketing definition” of “enterprise class”, I am encouraging people to be explicit about what it is (what are the criteria and how did you/they/us come up with it).

Rather than giving customers FUD we provide specifics, they, customers, decide what they need. Win - Win.

With regards to the last part of your comment, it is rare that we disagree Dennis, but on this one I do. It is of no use to a Customer that the only distinction between a product is that it is “paid for” or “free”.

Here is my free unsolicited and perhaps unwelcome advice for your marketing department:

IndexTools Marketing Message:

We are a Enterprise Class Vendor because we meet all three criteria laid out by the Avinash Kaushik the Author of Web Analytics: An Hour A Day. We have been around for seven years, we can process up to six billion page views per day (one for each human on the planet) and we provide free phone and inexpensive on-site support in 25 countries.

We also provide world class features such as infinitely customizable reporting via a world class AJAX interface and the ability to segment your data and drill up or down or through your data with ease to quickly find actionable insights so that you can get on with solving business and customer problems.

Buy our software because we are not just another “paid-for” web analytics vendor.

It is real, it is substantiative, it is specific, it has not FUD.

Ok so it is a tad bit pompous to have my name in that (I was just trying to make a point so you can take it out), but what do you think? (Dibs on royalties!)

I sent this last night but it hasn’t appeared in your comments for some reason. I wanted to say I agree with much of what you said in this post but not your definition of “Enterprise Class”. However, like you, I write too much so please feel free to have a look at my response at:

http://blog.webanalyticsdemystified.com/weblog/2007/05/avinash-on-the-definition-of-enterprise-class-analytics.html

I especially agree with your cynical friend Steve when he says “Nobody was ever fired for buying Enterprise-class software …”

But big companies don’t need “enterprise class” all the time. Classic case is GoogleAnalytics and 37 Signals with Backpack and Campfire.

I know that it will be utterly difficult for me to respond to your post, working with Vendor. On the grand scale I agree with you on the fact that some companies overdo it - and I am a strong believer in the fact that in the end, it is all about the people. So we are definitely on the same page there!

However; I just do not see the need to declare that: “Enterprise Class need to be defined” – Why?

I really do not think it matters to much whether some people say GA is or is not enterprise or whether some say VS is the only enterprise tool out there. And why would we want to change the “marketing definition” and what would we achieve by doing so?

If you ask me; the market is defined by GA as a free tool (and a great tool if you ask me) - and then we have all the paid-for tools (let’s say 10 decent ones). We (the paid-for vendors) might all call ourselves Enterprise. But does is matter what we call it? Personally I think our marketing department should continue to use enterprise instead of “Paid-for” … it is just a tad more sexy, is it not? :-)

Dennis

Dennis R. Mortensen, COO at IndexTools
My Web Analytics Blog

For some corporations it not their needs or how their organization works that drives their decisions. I think some decision makers believe…”The tool with all the bells and whistles will answer all my questions when I’m eventually ready to ask them.”

Or “I want the tool that once installed, I’m done.” It’s almost like there’s a subconscious thought that the tool is like the compass in “Pirates of the Caribbean” (sorry, I cannot help it) and it will point you to what you want the most at a specific moment.

But at the same time these “Enterprises” continue to not want to do the hard work which is to invest in good people and develop a WA process.

As noted by previous comments, most good analyst will say, “One size does not fit all.” Okay, agreed. But sometimes, just sometimes…I want to shout….”Pick one, any one, just allow us to do the hard work and it will pay off.”

Your notes on what makes an analytics-driven organization bears repeating here: 1) they need deep analysis 2) they have the massive brain power required to actually use the tool and 3) they can take action fast.

It’s the analyst(s) and the organization that makes analytics successful, not the tool.

Here’s a chicken-or-the-egg question, though: have you ever been in a situation where a more powerful tool may have generated enough enthusiasm or momentum for analytics to help an organization understand their need for analytics, invest in the people, and act on the decisions? Even though it’s rare, I have seen occasions where a tool, combined with motivated and quick-learning analysts, was able to do just that.

Another great post. I agree with you on the comments. Every organization is different, users are different, their mindsets are different, and the goals are different. As I have reminded myself and said this on quite a few occasions - “One Size Fit All” and “I want to do it, since the other guy is doing it” does not take you anywhere. People of course, and more importantly talented resources matter a lot. Tools are just enablers, but not problem solvers for greater insights.

Every tool out there, including in-house stuff has it’s advantages and disadvantages. At the end of the day, you got to decide how hungry you are and what taste buds you have before ordering your food.

Keep sharing your great ideas….

-Rahul

Hmmm. I did a review of 2 enterprise and 2 non-enterprise analytics solutions earlier this year and surprise surprise, a non-enterprise one performed just as well as its larger competitor and emerged as a clear winner for my clients’ specific needs.

IM(very)HO, in the long run, I don’t see the enterprise players being able to justify such fees (even if it is an impressive HMS Pinafore). Stonetemple have done a comparison of 7 analytical solutions and will be publishing it later this summer - but the goals of the study appear to be (relatively) simplistic ie which data is more accurate, comparing visitor data and using 3rd party then 1st party cookies. Interesting to see the variances in visitor data recorded though(30% in some cases) and that someone is actually doing it. I still want to find out more about how effectively different solutions link to BI/datawarehouse (or not), how do they deal (scalably) with multiple domain/site models (or not). No GA bashing I promise - I’m British :)

Any thoughts?

Ciao for now,

Marianina

The use of such catch phrases as “enterprise” often disguises muddy thinking. It’s become so amorphous it no longer supports precise communication. Mostly it’s used by marketing flaks to create sound and fury, signifying nothing.

And Avinash, I do read every word you write, even if you do consult for Google.