Certifiability: Web Analytics Comes of Age

Posted by Jim Sterne on March 12, 2007

3 comments | 3210 reads

Web analytics is growing up. Omniture - one of the 800 pound gorillas of the web analytics industry, has added certification to its offerings at the Omniture University.

An Omniture Certified Professional comes in three flavors according to the Omniture Certified Professional Program

Omniture Certified Professional: Sales™ . This certification validates your ability to effectively sell Omniture’s award-winning suite of online marketing solutions. Partners Only

Omniture Certified Professional: Implementation™ . This certification demonstrates your ability to successfully plan and implement Omniture solutions. Partners Only

Omniture Certified Professional: Support™ . This certification offers a best practices approach for supporting your customers’ Omniture solutions. Partners Only

The Web Analytics Association is also working on certification programs for Web analytics professionals. While the WAA is going to ensure proper strategic and business acumen, Omniture is going to certify their users for technical skills. Watch for WAA announcements by the end of the year.

Jim Sterne

A consultant and speaker, Jim Sterne focuses on measuring the value of the web to create and strengthen customer relationships. Sterne's seven books include Social Media Metrics. Sterne produces the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit and is the founding president of the Web Analytics Association.

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Bob Thompson

March 13, 2007

A sign of the times

You're right, Jim. This shows that web analytics is maturing, becoming part of the mainstream.

Now, the next phase will be (I hope) web analytics becoming better integrated with Customer Analytics.

Bob Thompson

Graham Hill

March 14, 2007

Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes

Jim

The problem with self-certification is neatly described by the Roman poet Juvenal thus; 'Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?' - who watches over the watchmen?.

Who certifies the certification offered by the Web Analytics Association?

Self-certification all too often turns out to be industry self-serving rather than serving the market at large.

Graham Hill

Jim Sterne

May 1, 2007

Time Will Tell

Good point Graham and the watcher in this case is time.

The WAA is a non-profit, membership organization. That means we're run by volunteers. So is the WAA certification going to be self-serving? Yes! It will serve the web analytics practitioners, the web analytics consultants and the web analytics vendors.

If, after a year or two, the practitioners come back to the Education Committee and say: "I hired a certified web analyst and they didn't know squat about X!" then X will be added to the curriculum.

Until then, we (the industry) are the only ones who have a clue about what education and certification in this field should look like. We'll count on the market at large to provide feedback so we can make corrections along the way.

Jim Sterne

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