Omniture SiteCatalyst 14 released

A few days ago I was ranting about web analytics being too marketing centric. Frankly, there's no reason to use Omniture for marketing optimization... you should use Omniture for optimizing your online business as a whole!

It has become a tradition for Omniture to release new versions during the Omniture Summit and this year is no exception! Those who logged to their SiteCatalyst account today were in for a little treat from Omniture: SiteCatalyst v14 is now available.

The interface

Nicer graphs don't make for better decisions, but usability and communicating just the right information in the right way makes a big difference. The Omniture SiteCatalyst v14 interface is radically different. There is a bunch of little features that makes this version very easy to use: quick navigation, reorganized menu, easier date selection, access to bookmarks, improved dashboards, a crisp reporting interface with more charting options, etc. (click on the picture at right for a larger view)

Extensibility

Custom variables, calculated metrics, custom reports and dashboards, amazingly limitless segmentation with Discover and of course, a powerful API with both SOAP and Excel compatibility are what put SiteCatalyst in a different category than your other free entry-level web analytics tool.

Omniture was amazingly fast at integrating some of the WebSideStory products. What used to be the search solution from WSS is now Omniture SiteSearch. The CMS is also rechristened as Omniture Publish. Offermatica and TouchClarity are now found under "Test & Target" and there a new integrated survey which is the result of their Instadia acquisition. And, by the way, SearchCenter is now at version 3!

Video or Flash?

v14 includes native support for Flash and Flex, as well as Media Player, QuickTime and RealPlayer video engagement reports and milestone tracking. It also support for Flex 2 and Flash 9 applications.

Web Analytics is not a one men (or women) show

There a bunch of additional consideration for teamwork and report distribution, from the new Distribution Manager to contextual help and community support built throughout the product.