I, like probably all of you, was caught totally by surprise by the news this morning that Adobe has bought Omniture.  My reactions ranged from "WOW!", to "Wow!", to "wow" and pretty soon the emails started arriving from friends in the web analytics industry around the world and my colleagues on the WAA Board nearly all expressing the same level of surprise and incredulity.  I think June Dershewitz (a fellow WAA Board member) has so far said it best: "This is the news of the year."

I've been thinking about this for a while now, and as the day closes, here are my thoughts about this news:

1. First and foremost, huge congratulations to Josh James and the entire team at Omniture.  They've been working hard at building the company and clearly been executing flawlessly for some time.  The valuation of the acquisition drives home the point that they've built significant value (I'm sure Adobe had the best of the many idle minds at Wall St. working on this), which is no small feat and is certainly an accomplishment to take pride in.
2. Seeing our industry in the front page of the Wall Street Journal business section, USA Today, Yahoo News, etc. is a huge validation of the importance, scope and role for web analytics.  It's also mainstream recognition that web analytics is moving up the food chain in the corporate world, and a shot across the bow that you'll need to take this function seriously if you want to remain a top performing organization.
3. I said at one of the eMetrics events that we are still really in the infancy stage of this industry, and I still believe this to be the case.  But events like these underscore both how wide open the future of web analytics is, and yet how it is still somewhat of a "cottage" industry.  We've seen a lot of consolidation in the past few years, yet this sector is still much smaller than even the CRM industry!  There is still so much room for innovation and growth.

I'll close by saying that we - the WAA - look forward to Omniture's continued involvement with the Association as our field expands, matures and gains the recognition it well deserves.

Alex Langshur
President, WAA Board of Directors

Comments

[Andrea Hadley, eMetrics Canada]

Hi Alex,
I had my head buried for 24 hours when "the news of the year" broke, needless to say I was one of last to hear some 24 hours later. I've pondered the news since, and honestly with some concern.

I am thrilled for Omniture and their success, and I'm over the top curious as to how Adobe will proceed, however I also have some real concern, concern for their customers.

When we look back at acquisitions of the past often the customer does not benefit, at least not in the short term. However, if these two great organizations can manage to put the customer first (okay, at least near the top of the priority list) and avoid the pitfalls of acquisition distraction then maybe all will be well. My hope is that the people inside both Omniture and Adobe have learned from past acquisition experience how to overcome the pitfalls of an acquisition and will set new standards on how to do it right.