Are you serious, Webtrends?

09/02/2010 // Posted in thoughts (Tags: ) |  3 Comments

With the recent ramp-up and now release of the v9 upgrade for self-managed Webtrends deployments, I’ve got to wonder: what is up with all the name changes. Just since I started with Webtrends back in ’05 there have been three names (ergo, two name changes) to the product. Why? Aside from jostling up part-time users for kicks, I don’t get the point.

It starts with ‘Webtrends Enterprise Edition’. This is what I demo’d for my company as version 7; and what I will always argue was the regenisis of the Webtrends we know and :$sudo love today). It carried until some time unbeknownst to me when people started calling it ‘Webtrends Software Version’ or just ‘Webtrends Software’. I never got a memo, let alone an email notification or even a brand/logo patch! Nonetheless, ‘Software’ it is. I’m guessing it picked up sometime between v8.0a and v8.5. I think this was the silliest of the names, since, as far as I can recon, the On-Demand version is also software being executed in another place…

Now with the release of v9, we have a shiny new name. ‘Webtrends On Premises’, which I suppose is an accurate description, but is arguably (at least I’m arguing..) much more of a mouthful than ‘Enterprise’. If you want to change names around, be my guest. After all, if they own the intellectual property, they should be allowed to name their Webtrends software whatever they want; right?

I just can’t help but wonder how these kinds of decisions are made, and how much time and money went into the re-branding. At this level of operations, I don’t think gimmicky names is what’s going to tip the scales in the Webtrends vs. Omniture battle.

Thoughts on the WAA certification exam

04/22/2010 // Posted in Web Analytics (Tags: , , ) |  7 Comments

I have recently wrote a practice exam for the WAA certification, administered as the last eMetrics conference here in Toronto. This ‘Test the Test’ event is a terrific idea which I was very happy to participate in, but the experience did leave me a little deflated in my excitement.

In general, I found the exam covered the topics of organization and administration adequately, but the there was much where little or no attention was given. In particular, the topics I was most surprised to be particularly light and/or under-served were:

  • Initial implementation techniques/best practices.
  • Deep analytical understanding (e.g. identification of outliers in data, pattern recognition, value proposition of metrics, etc.).
  • Strategic planning & action as direct results of analysis (i.e. follow-up & response to analytical results).

Overall, I thought the test was a great start, but not as near completion as I had hoped. When asking around in my own circle of contacts about who was planning to take the exam to become certified an overwhelming majority of people said no. Though polled independently, the explanation of why came back unanimous: they all felt that the WAA certification will set the bar too low and water-down the value of those who hold certification. Looking back on teh exam I wrote, I think I can say with a fair degree of confidence that this will probably be the case.

Case in point: I have taken exams for MySQL and Omniture certifications; the first being very technical, the second being less technical overall, but still requiring a working knowledge of JavaScript. The MySQL exam was 70 multiple choice questions and 90 minutes long. Passing score is 60%. The Omniture Implementation exam was 75 multiple choice, 15 short answer, and was 3 hours in lenght. The passing score for certification is 80%.

In contrast, the WAA exam was 60 minutes and 50 multiple choice questions. I don’t remember what the passing grade is. Either way, I think it is only natural (and fair) to compare the WAA certification with my past certification experience; and the the bottom line is that there is still a long way to go for this exam to measure up to a standard that can be respected as an association certification.

For all my doom and gloom I do still think that this is a very important project. I just think that the value of it (and maybe the purpose) is a bit detached from it’s execution. In general, certifications are supposed to provide a sense of competence and reliability for our clients. If my clients can pass the WAA as part-time analysts just as easily as I can as a full-time analyst, what value does holding this cert add to my offerings as a consultant? Also, if the exam has a 70%,80% or 90% passing rate, what level of confidence does that instill for our clients who see an large number of certified WAA members with such a wide spectrum of qualifications/knowledge?

Hopefully, the WAA continues to pursue the development of the exam and work towards a test that will challenge us as professionals and help distinguish us from the fly-by-night consultants just trying to tap an industry while they coast through their career.

I’m Omniture Certified Now

04/12/2010 // Posted in Web Analytics (Tags: , , ) |  3 Comments

So, I’ve passed my Omniture Certified Professional exam for Implementation. This was a lot harder than you’d expect for two reasons:

  1. You need a minimum score of 80% to pass.
  2. I only had the training manual and my past experience to work from. My company hadn’t been granted access to SiteCatalyst yet, so I couldn’t get access to the reference library and the very needed Implementation Manual..

Now that I’m Omniture certified (I really only care about implementation at this point) and have over five years of advanced Webtrends implementation experience under my belt, it’s time to look to the next challenge. There’s a very high probably that I’ll tackle the Google Analytics certification next.

Of course, I could look at what official Webtrends certs I can go for; but that would just be extra flavor. I think I’ve got enough down on Webtrends implementation that I really don’t need a cert to justify my capabilities….

Anyways, a word to the wise: don’t underestimate the OCP: Implementation exam. Take it seriously and give yourself time to study. If you’re new to analytics, a weekend won’t cut it [in my opinion].