With the recent acquisition of Coremetrics by IBM, last year’s acquisition of Omniture by Adobe, and the upcoming acquisition of X by X, you have to ask yourself, where is the web analytics industry headed anyway?

Well, let me introduce you to the Republic of BI.

The Republic of BI (BI = business intelligence) metaphorically represents the vertical integration happening in our industry today. It’s the same phenomenon that occurred in the financial services industry ten years ago (and, in fact, in every industry that has ever existed). Banks buy insurance companies, insurance companies buy stock brokers, stock brokers buy insurance companies…and so goes the circle of life.

In the case of our industry, the business case is all about strengthening the bonds, and reducing the friction, in the code that holds the web supply chain together.

Adobe didn’t buy Omniture because they think that web analytics is the next big growth wave. No, they bought Omniture because they believe a web analytics company is the perfect complement to their other web platform offerings. That is, Adobe calculated that by adding a web analytics product to their mix it would increase the value of their whole, whereby furthering their position as a leader in the larger digital production industry.

On a more personal level, let me introduce you to my Republic of BI at Microsoft.

They are:

• Sally in advertising.
• Payal who manages our customer databases.
• Jared the web dev.
• Qiana the designer.
• Bob in IT.
• Sunny in marketing.
• And, lest I forget, Hans in finance.

All of us have our individual role, but none of us can do it well without the other.

The same is true for our industry. The same is true for our association.

That is why I am excited to announce the formation of the WAA Advisory Council. This Council will be headed up by former WAA Board President Alex Langshur. Alex will be drawing from a diverse group of leaders from various industries, academia, other associations, and government. This council will help extend the reach of the Association into other industry sectors and contribute towards enhancing the brand and stature of the WAA. I am excited to see Alex step up to this and help WAA grow stronger.

So, welcome to the Republic of BI. It’s a land you already occupy. A territory where we need to find peace and profitability with designers, IT’ers, marketers, and the like. It’s a land where we should fight to make the borders more porous, rebel against departmental sovereignty, and rise up to make the collective stronger.

Sure, we could wait for Sally in advertising or Bob in IT to do it; it’s hard work. But who better to organize the Republic? Who has all the data, the customer knowledge, and the clearest line of sight into the modern competitive landscape? Man, I wish I knew a few people that fell into that category. They just might be able to change our world.

It’s time to stand up, reach out, and be the optimization you wish to see.

Get involved today.

Peter

The Web Analytics Association (WAA) congratulates the entire team at Coremetrics on the acquisition by IBM. The commitment shown by IBM reflects Coremetrics’ accomplishments in marketing optimization and building a very successful company. Coremetrics is a tremendous supporter of the industry as a WAA corporate member and sponsor.

Another acquisition of a web analytics company by a leading technology company further emphasizes the importance, scope and role for web analytics. It is another step and mainstream recognition for web analytics in the corporate world.

For IBM, the acquisition further demonstrates its recognition of web analytics’ important role as it closely follows its October 2009 acquisition of SPSS Inc. The acquisition of the outstanding Coremetrics organization further strengthens IBM’s business analytics and optimization.

The WAA looks forward to Coremetrics’ and IBM’s continued involvement with the Association and support of the web analytics industry.

Mike Levin
Executive Director
Web Analytics Association

Press Release on Coremetrics
Press Release on IBM
Commentary on the acquisition by Stéphane Hamel, immeria.net
Commentary on the acquisition by Marketing Pilgrim
Commentary on the acquisition by Mike Moran, Biznology

My employer, Microsoft, is a company of 90,000 employees, $60 Billion in revenue, we have 3 of the Top 10 most trafficked web sites in the world, and yet, there is not an official career track, much less job title, of web analyst. I wish Microsoft was just an outlier, but it’s not. I’ve spoken to many analysts that report the same professional identity crises within their organizations.

I am a web analytics practitioner. Me and my team at Microsoft.com face the same challenges that the 20,000 other web practitioners worldwide face every day. Sites that launch without tags properly placed, execs that don’t know (or really care about) the difference between a visit and a visitor, career paths that require a machete to navigate.

If you are a practitioner, you know what I mean; this is not a job for the faint of heart!

So, in my first column as President, let me candidly expose my bias. This association needs to be first and foremost focused on the needs of the practitioner. The practitioner is our base, the practitioner is our boots on the ground, the practitioner is our roots in grass roots, our mass in mass market. I’m sure the rest of the WAA community – vendors, consultants, thought leaders – would agree; with a strong and empowered practitioner community we all win.

When I became President last month, it was quite natural for me to inspect the organization from the perspective of the practitioner. Does the WAA represent us? Are its programs focused on extending our knowledge and skills? Is it driven to get web analytics out of the cubicle and into the board room?

The short answer is yes. And as you read through this newsletter, I hope you will come to understand why. If you disagree, please let me know why and what we should be doing different ( or twitter).

Truth is, our industry is still relatively new and it's ours to shape – but that won’t always be the case. In order to shape our industry now, we need a strong association representing it. To have a strong association, we need you to get involved, today.

Start by taking a look at one of our committees, or get involved in the Web Analytics Championship, Web Analytics Without Borders, or one of many other opportunities. I can guarantee what you invest in time, you’ll more then get back in network and professional growth.

As I said at the start, I am a web analytics practitioner. And just as I am frustrated by the challenges of our profession, I am enthused by the opportunities we have. If you have seen the transformation that well-lit diagnostics can bring to a group running a business in the dark, if you have debunked an asinine "standard business practice" utilizing the lever of data-driven insights, if you have served a customer better because you listened and correctly interpreted what their clicks were telling you…then you know what I mean.

As web practitioners we are in a position of power. We just need a little help from WAA to blaze trails that will help unlock that power. I’m hoping my stint as President can move us closer to that, and I want you to help make it happen.

Peter Sanborn
WAA President

My personal experience of the WAA Certification test, by Vicky Brock

Earlier this week I was among the first brave bunch of people to take the WAA Certified Web Analyst test, when it ran for the first time at eMetrics San Jose.

And yes, for the record, that involved me getting my credit card out and investing hundreds of dollars of my own money.

And no, I don’t regret a single cent of it.

I am a web analyst in my job, but these days I am also an employer.  By taking the certification I was able to experience for myself what a balanced and challenging test this was and what being a Certified Web Analyst means from both a practitioner and employer perspective. 

Most significantly, it is not a test of book learning, but of analytical thinking and skill. 

My immediate impression was that I want to employ people that achieve this Certification because for the first time I have a differentiator between people who can use a tool and people who can actually use data to make decisions and recommendations. 

If you can pass this test, specifically the case study section, I know I can trust you to get beyond noise and data and KPIs and get to the heart of delivering meaningful business analysis to our clients.  I know that you should be taken seriously as a candidate for a mid level analytics position and above.

My impressions as an employer

As an employer, the fact that the certification is built to ISO standards and is legally robust in the way I can integrate it into formal procurement process is the icing on the cake.  This is particularly relevant as I work for government and corporate clients who are part of quality assurance schemes themselves.  The QA standards behind this test is a useful differentiator to me, whereas I can’t really do anything with a test that someone could have taken online, with their browser open, using info they crammed on a website. 

So there is value for me that this is a secure test, which I know the person in question took.  Passing this proves you can take real world data, real world business contexts, goals and even political challenges and interpret that correctly.

This is not the analytics equivalent of a swimming certificate.  I’d compare it with my experience of taking the GMAT, often used for MBA entry.  Nor is this test like the Google Analytics IQ test or similar. And this is not a certificate from a private consultancy firm or an industry celebrity saying you did great.  There are plenty of these kinds of awards and no doubt with every passing month the bandwagon will keep rolling and there’ll be plenty more. And those certificates are terrific in their context; they demonstrate interest, enthusiasm and commitment.  But in my opinion they are not a formal professional certification delivered to robust procurement standards.

What I like about this as an employer is that it is formal certification that the industry body representing the analytics field endorses that you have specifically achieved the challenging analytics criteria it has defined and I can review.  An independent body is verifying and keeping a record of the factor that the people it endorses have formally obtained and maintained their skills.  Organisations that have no analytics experience themselves can now employ analysts with some of the risk removed, because this certification follows the same standards and quality processes that certification of marketers, accountants and other competencies follow.

The experience from an analyst’s perspective

As a web analyst taking the test, I found it challenges not just your breadth but depth of knowledge.  I definitely recommend reading the  Knowledge Required For Certification document in advance. It will help you assess if you’re ready and if there are gaps to brush up on. (I skipped the conversion party to swot up on email, for example).  The first half of the test is a series of multiple choice questions spanning a really wide range of topics.  Some of these were not my field of expertise and I know I guessed at a few answers.  

More interesting is the second half, as it really tests your ability to take complex case studies with a great deal of both relevant and irrelevant information and to make analytical decisions based on that.  Context and goals has to be applied to reach the right answer, because all the multiple choice options associated with the case studies are valid under certain circumstances – but there is only one right answer that exactly meets the complex specifics given.

My end feeling on completing the test was very Rumsfeldian. I know there was plenty of stuff I knew.  I know there were a few things I didn’t know.  But what I will be really interested in is all those unknown, unknowns!  Talking to someone afterwards, they commented how they really couldn’t choose between B and C for one question.... hmm, and there was I wrestling between A and D. 

I look forward to getting my report breaking down the scores for the different sections and when I look from an employer perspective at candidates who’ve taken this test I’ll be particularly interested in seeing strong scores on the case study side.

This first test was paper based (whereas the roll out will be computer based at test centres) so I don’t know yet if I passed.  I hope I have, of course, but it’ll all come down to those unknown unknowns.  But even if I haven’t it has been extremely valuable to do as an employer of analysts.  Because if I haven’t passed myself, then I sure as heck want people who have!

The test will be running at eMetrics London next week (19^th May). If you’re thinking of taking the test or have any questions at all (beyond what are the answers, as I sure as heck don’t know those!) then please feel free to drop me a line or tweet @brockvicky

And as one employer to another I’d say this really is a differentiator - you really want the people that ace this Certification working for you!

Dear WAA Members and Potential Certified Web Analysts™

Social media means we all get to have our say and express our opinions. That's great but it is important for everyone to know the facts. So, on behalf of the WAA Board of Directors, here's the real inside info on the Web Analytics Association Certification test to help clear up the confusion.

• You do not need to be a WAA member to take the test (but you get a discount if you are).
• You do not need to take any workshops or courses to pass the test.
• You do not need to be proficient with any particular tool.
• It is not offered online for security and verification purposes.
• It's not cheap because it represents an enormous amount of work and an in-person proctoring methodology is costly.

That's the summary and here are the details:

Although the WAA certification exam is being launched at eMetrics in San Jose and London, an international proctored computer-based testing network will be available in August 2010. In order to ensure the security and integrity of the certification program, the exam will only offered at proctored exam locations.

The reason we are not offering online testing is that there is no way to ensure the actual candidate took the test or that others did not assist the candidate with answering questions. In addition, there is no way to ensure that other individuals in the room are not reading the test along with the candidate, giving them unauthorized access to the exam.

At this point, we have over 170 proctored centers in the U.S. and approximately 60 proctored international centers identified where individuals will be able to take the exam. This network will continue to expand so that we are able to adequately meet the needs of our members located across the globe.

Please note that individuals do not need to register for eMetrics in order to take the exam. We do not expect individuals to travel to San Jose or London to take the certification exam if they hadn’t planned on being in the area anyway. Instead we have designed these two sites as the location where the exams will be launched and our international network will open up in August.

The WAA Certification Program follows established best practices for the certification industry. In order to ensure the certified individuals remain current on what is going on in the industry, WAA requires individuals to participate in professional development activities, such as conferences and training activities. In order to keep up with the rapid pace of technological change in the industry, we believe it is important that individuals participate in professional development activities to retain their certification.

WAA has expended significant resources, including hiring a Certification Director with over 15 years of experience operating and managing international certification programs, to ensure that our program follows best practices that have been established by the certification industry. In addition to the fees paid to consultants over the past two years, we have spent resources on certification examination software, computer-based testing infrastructure, proctor set-up and legal fees. In addition, we have allocated resources to run several “Test the Test” sessions to ensure the quality of the exam.

In addition to the money spent to ensure a high-quality certification program that meets the needs of the industry, a tremendous amount of volunteer effort has gone into the development of this certification program. About 50 WAA members from all over the world have participated in the development of this program so far. We would not have been able to launch this certification program without the dedicated volunteers who have participated.

The WAA certification program was designed in response to requests made by our membership. Because of this, we offer 1 or 2 (depending on membership dues) complimentary certifications per year for our corporate members. Although the certification is offered to both members and non-members, in order to get the $635 member pricing on exams individuals who are not members of WAA can join for $199. All proctoring fees are included in the certification exam fee. These individuals not only get the member-pricing for exams but also can take advantage of the other benefits that are available to our membership.

For more details about the Certification exam and the whole process, please read Jim Novo's FAQ on it called Inside WAA Certification: Any Questions?

I hope that clears things up a bit. To the more than 50 people who have worked on this project for over two years, the WAA Board of Directors thanks you. To those who have provided feedback directly to the WAA, we thank you and encourage others to do the same.

Jim Sterne, Target Marketing, Chairman
on Behalf of the Board of Directors, Web Analytics Association:
Alex Langshur, PublicInsite, President
Vicky Brock, Highland Business Research, Secretary
Stéphane Hamel, Immeria Consulting Services, Treasurer
Anil Batra, POP, Director
June Dershewitz, Semphonic, Director
Matthew Langie, Omniture, Director
Dennis Mortensen, Yahoo!, Director
Peter Sanborn, Microsoft Corporation, Director
Rachel Scotto, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Director
Ed Wu, Dell, Director
Alex Yoder, WebTrends, Director