Profiles in Analytics - Does Web Governance Drive Digital Analytics?

I’ve just released this year’s Profile in Analytics research. Focusing on the relationship between Web governance and digital analytics, I drilled down on whether Web governance-oriented organizations really are “better” at analytics...Do they serve more stakeholders? Do they do higher value analytics work? Are they in alignment with senior leadership?

In doing the research, it was clear that analytics teams are now more common place and growing in size. Nearly 75 percent of those surveyed are part of an analytics team.  Teams of 5 and more now outnumber single person departments, 34 percent to nearly 27 percent. Most teams have between two to four people. Add to this that most digital analytics teams are working with between 1 to 3 third party agencies, and we can see that digital analytics is requiring management of many elements, as well as people who can carry out the tasks.

This raised a few questions:

• Is digital analytics growing in importance because it is recognized as having real benefits? Or is it simply viewed as a central location in the organization to manage ever increasing sources of digital data.
• Are those who work in digital analytics equipped with the management experience and leadership to promote the value of analytics at senior levels?
• Are analytics insights used within organizations?
• Are the analytics insights of high enough quality to be used?

One of my secondary agendas in looking at the influence of Web governance on analytics comes from my general skepticism whenever I hear an organization bill themselves as “data driven.” I’m always wondering: What does that really mean?   

I know it does not mean cranking out dozens of reports to dozens of people and not hearing a word back. I also know it does not mean preparing ad hoc analysis based on a senior manager’s request for a unique visitor report to present to the board of directors.

Does a Web governance structure ensure that analytics is part of the organization’s “mainstream” Web operations and therefore potentially used with more purpose, and therefore actually “data-driven”?

I invite you to draw your own conclusions after reading the findings:

• Research Analysis: Does Web Governance Drive Digital Analytics?
• Research Results:  Survey Response Summaries
• Profiles in Analytics: Collection of Individual Responses, Shared Wisdom and Experiences

All the papers are available at:

http://www.semphonic.com/content/white-papers/profiles-in-analytics.aspx