Back from vacation

Disconnect

I was away at my camp for a week, totally disconnected from modern society: no computer, no cell phone, not even a land line, no TV, water comes from a well and there is barely enough electricity to sustain the fridge and the oven. The camp is at the far end of a gravel road, surounded by 500 acres of wood and farm fields. 500 acres is enough to get lost, encounter dears, racoons, porcupine, maybe even moose and bears. Disconnected.

Introspect

As I shared a while back, every couple of months I take a pause pause to think about my career. I made the jump to become freelance last December, but the decision was really taken about a year ago. Lest look back at my 3 + 1:

1. Am I increasing my value in the market?
2. Am I bringing the right value to my employer clients?
3. Am I being rightly compensated for my value?

And an extra one proposed by Avinash Kaushik:

4. Am I happy?

The problem I'm facing is interesting: I can safely say a resounding "YES!" to all of those. So is there any problem? Read on.

Clean

Vacation is a good time for cleanup...

I had enough! I'm defaced, de-twitted and still alive! Some people say Facebook and Twitter are the next greatest thing in life, I simply have enough of it. I deactivated Facebook and deleted my Twitter account. I also cleaned up my RSS feeds and will now read my Hotmail and GMail only once a day, while I keep my immeria.net email account strictly for business. However, I still find value in LinkedIn and to some extent, Plaxo, so they both remain in my toolbox.

I also cleaned my cable-TV, internet, phone and cell services. It's amazing how much we end up paying if we don't review all the great "extras" that gets added over time.

Reallign

immeria's tagline is "an immersion in analytics". Web analytics is an emerging field and demand for experienced people is high. Consulting, developing WASP and education: I love the three aspects. The problem is I'm being pulled into many directions, sometimes too deeply. It's easy and tempting to do consulting work, but consulting is mostly a one-to-one knowledge transfer; it doesn't scale easily. However, this is also how I can "stay in touch" with the field and identify pain points and think about learning, processes and tools to make web analytics easier. So here are the results of my introspection:

1. Consulting: Keep a few consulting clients but refer to trusted partners whenever possible
2. Tools: Pursue WASP development, especially for quality assurance and market research, and delegate more sub-contracting work. WASP being the first of a serie of tools to make web analytics easier.
   
3. Education: Continue tutoring and teaching; actively work on educational content, especially the documentation of web analytics processes, toward a new full semester class on web analytics coming up this winter at Laval University (graduate level).

Summary

In short, what I want to do is this:

As a free spirited, independent consultant, I want to seize every opportunity to make web analytics easier by fostering education, processes and tools that are solution agnostic and largely applicable.

WASP: call for developers & designers

You like WASP? You have some extra time or want to earn some side money? Read on!

Sub-contracting

I will gradually sub-contract some work through the Elance service. I will post small bits & pieces of job that can be done easily as small projects ranging from junior developers to more advanced concepts using JavaScript and DHTML, Yahoo! UI Toolkit, XML, PHP programming, user interface design, branding and even copywriting.

Job #1: License check

The first item is a bit of a trial of the Elance service. Your mission, if you accept it, is to develop a client-side component in JavaScript that will call a web service developed in PHP. Given two values, you will look into a mySQL database for the corresponding match, check a few details and return the available feature set for this license. Get more info on Elance.

Job #2: Logo design & branding

The second item is the design of a corporate logos for immeria and WASP, along with proposed color palette, font style and general web page layout. The WASP logo is a bit tricky as it needs to scale from a normal web page logo down to 64x64 icon and 16x16 status bar active/inactive indicator. Get more on Elance.

Copyrights and more

Contrary to what some people believe, WASP is not open source and is not public domain. The fact that it is being distributed as an addon to an open source browser, namely Firefox, as nothing to do with the licensing model of WASP itself. It is a copyrighted material and the user agreement explicitly state the code can not be reverse engineered, altered, resold or otherwise modified.

That being said, the sub-contracted work will not be on the core component of WASP (the generic detection algorithm) so although some people have offered help in this area and it's appreciated, this won't happen.

[Job] Online Production Coordinator @ SickKidsFoundation.org

The SickKidsFoundation, one of my clients, is looking for an Online Production Coordinator.

Company: SickKids Foundation
Job Title: Online Production Coordinator
Location: Toronto, ON
Description: Reporting to the Director, Information Technology and New Media, the Online Production Coordinator works with fundraising and shared services teams to maintain all SickKids Foundation’s websites in a manner consistent with the Foundation’s mission, vision and organizational goals.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Delivers and deploys changes to websites as requested by Fundraising teams including web page creation, donor transactions and e-communications
• Maintains and updates all internet/intranet sites and develops web content and/or graphics as appropriate
• Creates and administers donor-facing events, campaigns and donation forms
• Produces HTML, Flash, CSS and/or .NET code as required
• Evaluates web activity by applying standard analytical techniques and reports results back to teams
• Performs other projects and/or tasks as required

Qualifications:

• A three-year college diploma and/or university degree in computer sciences, web design, multi-media or related filed
• A minimum of 3 years experience in website interface design/development
• A minimum of 3 years experience using HTML, Flash, CSS, etc.
• Strong understanding of best practices for web communication, usability and accessibility
• Strong organizational skills and ability to prioritize work
• Excellent communication skills and a demonstrated ability to constantly re-prioritize work in a fast-paced, service-oriented environment
• Self motivated; able to work independently and within a team effectively

About SickKids Foundation:

SickKids Foundation was established in 1972. Its mission is to inspire its communities to invest in health and scientific advances to improve the lives of children and their families in Canada and around the world. Its vision is “Healthier Children. A Better World.” In 2007, SickKids Foundation made the largest charitable investment in children’s health care in Canada. A total of $75.5 million was invested in The Hospital for Sick Children and national initiatives across the country. Since the establishment of SickKids Foundation 35 years ago, community support has generated $1 billion towards child health research, education and care.

Hours: 9 am to 5 pm Monday to Friday
Available to: Internal & External Candidates
Submit Resume to:
Human Resources Department
SickKids Foundation
525 University Avenue, 14th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5G 2L3
email: careers(at)sickkidsfoundation.com
Only those applicants selected for an interview will be contacted.
No phone calls please.

Job: Bell Web Solutions is looking for a web analyst

Relayed from Nicolas Aucher, from Bell Web Solution:

"Bell Web Solutions (Bell Canada) is looking for a Web Analytics and Optimization consultant. The selected candidate will be in charge of providing solutions to clients concerning performance tracking for web sites (e-commerce; media portal; financial services; etc.) and other online activities (interactive campaigns). Services offered span from key performance indicators definition, web analytics tool implementation (Omniture; Webtrends; Google Analytics; CoreMetrics etc.) to reporting and analysis of collected data. Contact nicolas.aucher(at)bell.ca for more information. Position if offered in Montreal (QC).

Company Information: Bell Web Solutions offers a wide range of innovative solutions customized to the needs of its clients which include Online Consulting Services, Web Development, Usability and Accessibility, Web Analytics and Optimization, Interactive Marketing and Promotion, and Electronic Delivery Services."

UC Irvine: Certificate in Web Intelligence

I first heard about this several months ago and found the idea very compelling. At a time when new people are flocking to web analytics like flies on a good sh*t pile (hmmm... maybe not a good example!), the best thing to ensure a descent level of quality is to get certified courses from renowned university degrees like the UBC and U of C.

From Jim Sterne's newsletter:

What do you get if you combine four WAA / University of British Columbia web analytics courses with four University of California, Irvine business intelligence courses? The Web Intelligence Certificate Program.

Of course, as a tutor of UBC's Intro to Business Process Analysis, Intro to Web Analytics and Web Analytics for Site Optimization, I might be a bit biased... But once I complete my eBusiness MBA, this is the next continuing education achievement I will undergo!

Career management for web analytics

I met June Dershewitz at the last S-F eMetrics during a very fun kite flying session with Jim Sterne, Joseph Carrabis and Andrea Hadley.

A few days before eMetrics D.C., June contacted me to ask for permission to use one of my posts in her presentation about Career Management Strategies for Web Analytics Professionals. I think June is a proponent of career stability and she said to be very happy with her current career. That's one of the message conveyed in her presentation: you don't have to hop around, you can also grow from within. At the same time, I told her I was going freelance and she wanted to know more about it. The aspect of freelancing is also in her presentation.

You should have a look at her presentation and do a quick introspection: this will help you make sure you are in control of your own career.

SlideShare src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/slideshare/logo_embd.png"> View Upload your own

Going freelance!

Although working for one of the best employer in Canada, despite the outstanding working environment and great projects (and the budget to do them), a good introspection led me to the conclusion I should go freelance.

What?

Then the first question is "what do I want to do?"

1. Web analytics services: work with clients to asses their needs for web analytics and help them achieve better results online. This might include introducing the concepts of web analytics, bringing the web analytics culture within the organization, coaching, planning, implementation, analysis, training, etc.
2. WASP: now that a "proof of concept" works, I want to extend the features of the Web Analytics Solution Profiler to levels that have never been achieved before!
3. Teaching and speaking: Speaking at eMetrics and now tutoring for the UBC Award of Achievement in Web Analytics and the UBC Certificate in Business Systems Analysis are activities I really enjoy and I look forward for other opportunities.
   
4. Higher education: complete my MBA and eventually pursue at the doctorate level

Contact me to discuss about engagement opportunities, sub-contracting or if you feel I can contribute to your outcomes!

Stéphane Hamel
Email: shamel@immeria.net



Get Skype and call me for free.

Job in Montreal: Research Data Analyst for Canoe.ca

Canadians, and especially Quebecers know about Canoe, one of the heavy weight of the media industry in the Canadian market. I've heard they are looking for a Research Data Analyst to work in the Marketing/Research team.

The rest of this post is a transcript from the job posting (in French). If you are interested in this job, send me a quick email and I'll give you the contact information.

Description de rôle

L’analyste en recherche Internet, de niveau intermédiaire, est relativement indépendant, mais fait affaire avec de nombreux clients à l’interne. Il doit avoir d’excellentes aptitudes de communication verbales et écrites et doit travailler pour le client, d’abord et avant tout. L’analyse de données fait partie intégrante de ses fonctions. Le candidat choisi doit être capable de répondre à plusieurs demandes de clients à la fois et de respecter de strictes échéances.

Responsabilités

• Fournir des analyses de données et seconder l’équipe des ventes dans la préparation de présentations dans un délai raisonnable.
• Créer des présentations exhaustives sur l’analyse et les catégories.
• Fournir des mises à jour à l’équipe des ventes pour souligner les éléments importants de Canoë.
• Créer des rapports réguliers/mensuels. Fournir des statistiques pour les bulletins de ventes mensuels.
• Fournir des rapports de statistiques pour le service de la comptabilité ou autres.
• Fournir les données nécessaires aux dirigeants (président, v.-p. exécutif, directeur financier, etc.) et aux autres services.
• Gérer les ressources de recherche pour les statistiques (où les présentations et les documents de ventes peuvent être accessibles facilement).
• Les sources de données comprennent : comScore MMX, PMB et Omniture.
• Optimiser les statistiques et le classement dans comScore Media Metrix. Envoyer les changements d’URL (ajouts de sites, changements de catégories) à comScore.
• Renouveler les noms de domaines de Canoë et de Quebecor.
• Personne clé pour le PMB pour le retour à l’échantillon.

Objectifs personnels

• Travailler passionnément pour le bien de nos clients et de nos employés
• Remettre en question le statu quo
• Démontrer de la confiance en soi et envers les autres
• Accepter ses responsabilités ouvertement
• Écouter de façon active et s’exprimer de façon claire et directe

Critères de rendement

• Production de rapports réguliers
• Niveau de satisfaction des clients à l’interne (représentants, gestionnaires)
• Gestion des URL de comScore Media Metrix (tous les sites)
• Production de rapports de catégories
• Remise des projets selon les échéanciers [> 85 %]

Formation, habiletés et expérience

• Diplôme collégial ou universitaire
• 3 ans d’expérience en analyse de données
• Expérience en analyse de résultats de recherche
• Connaissance du français très importante
• Aptitudes de communication orale et écrite éprouvées
• Expérience dans une entreprise du domaine des médias un atout

Should you change job?

There are a number of great blog posts on starting in the web analytics field, the job market is growing and we've seen a number of high profile people doing career shifts to go freelance or start their own businesses.

You can do a deep introspection, see a career advisor, be tempted by the greener grass at the company on the other side of the street... Or ask yourself those three simple questions:

1. Am I increasing my value in the market?
2. Am I bringing the right value to my employer?
3. Am I being rightly compensated for my value?

Trough my 20 years of experience in the field, I have come to the conclusion I only needed to answer those 3 questions to decide if it was time to move on. I usually do it twice a year, a quick check of my professional situation and of my personal values. If I can't say "yes" to any of those and come up with a satisfying answer, it means there is something I should do.

Everyone can interpret the words "value" and "compensation" their own way. It really depends on your own personal values. That's why I'm avoiding to give any more details. Just think about it for a couple of minutes and you will get your own answers.

Of course, one need to balance those professional aspects with the other aspects of life: family, social, personal, leisure, health, finance, etc. But from a professional perspective, it's very straightforward.

Thinking out of the box

One of the common skill mentioned in web analytics job postings is worded as "strong problem solving". Problem solving is a skill anyone can learn, but there are some ingredients that are essential: an innovative mindset is one of them.

One of the latest ChangeThis manifesto highlights the seven pitfalls to avoid in order to break the mold of traditional thinking:

1. Shortcutting: Avoid leaping to solutions; a "blink" solution often hide deeper causes. Although most problems don't require us to analyze them very deeply, when faced with more complex challenges we have a tendency to jump to conclusions.
2. Blindspots: Experience often leads the way and can make us blind to what we are less comfortable with. We have to force ourselves to break the mold and think differently.
3. Not invented here: Sometimes it's worth to consider and trust other's solutions.
4. Satisficing: When we satisfy from a solution that will suffice... we satisfice. We compromise, instead of going for the best solution, we go for the less negative one.
5. Downgrading: Lower the bar and it's a lot easier to achieve success! Avoid overselling the upsides and shuttering the downsides...
6. Complicating: Seeing things more complex than they really are is an easy justification to add cost and time and reassure us in our lack of comfort when confronted with the unknown.
7. Stifling: Dismissing altogether, or second guessing one's idea if favor of our own.

I've worked in environments where over half of those pitfalls where commonly seen without even realizing it was happening. Younger and less formal organizations often fall for the not invented here, shortcuting while older organization are more prone to satisfice and stifle. It's insidious, and it's often part of the corporate culture.

The web analyst is often an agent of change and an evangelist within the organization. Developing an innovative mindset and problem solving skills is rarely presented in formal training, but just being aware of the pitfalls is already a good start.

Web Analyst Task: Exploring strategies

This is the last installment on Web Analyst Tasks, after "reporting", "analysis" and "staying plugged", it's now time to look at what is probably the most challenging activity: exploring new strategies.

Which strategies?

You've looked at the numbers (reporting), you've put them into context and were able to build a good story around them (analysis) in order to educate, communicate and recommend appropriately to your colleagues and managers (staying plugged), now is time to put all of this knowledge into action and find out which solution would lead to the best results in your specific context. Experimenting often requires to let go preconceived ideas and be really open to new and different ways to move forward. Testing is obviously a key element here, but shouldn't be constraining. Looking at competitive intelligence, going beyond Web and into multi channel integration, doing usability labs and focus groups, surveys, are common ways of looking at new ways of doing things. But don't forget about readings about your business market, about the Web and about analytics. Look for other ways to increase your knowledge and widen your sources of inspirations: formal training trough the UBC Award of Achievement in Web Analytics, conferences such as the eMetrics Summit, workshops with the WAA BaseCamps, or local networking at Web Analytics Wednesdays events.

Detailed study results

Web analysts where asked to rate, on a scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree", their feeling about exploring new opportunities:

• I really concentrated on this, spending some real quality time on it.
• This was on my mind, but at a subconscious level; didn't really have to concentrate on it.
• I'm excited by it; it is something that makes me happy.
• I did not feel like I could avoid this; it was necessary or imperative.
• I chose to focus on this; it was voluntary.
  
• I might have suffered negative consequences if I didn't pay attention to this; it was not necessarily positive.

If a typical working day was 8 hours, a web analyst would spend about 1 hour and 45 minutes on this activity.

Note: Sample size of 34 web analysts surveyed from April 26th trough June 6th 2007.

Skills for exploring new strategies

• Familiarity and comfort with Internet marketing principles and best practices
• Exposure to Web information design, architecture and user-centered design
• Turning data into knowledge, and into actionable plans
• Think strategically, tying together customer needs, organizational constraints, Web and application design, and data analysis.
• Leadership and ability to work with a multidisciplinary team
• Problem solving and decision making skills

So this concludes my analysis of the web analyst tasks. You are invited to comment and share your opinion about this evaluation. It's based on quantitative data and analysis of job offerings, is it out of track? Can you relate to it and did it help you evaluate what are your strengths and weaknesses in your job?

Web Analyst Task: Staying Plugged

In the previous two installments of this series we covered "reporting" and "analysis". This time we'll start to look at aspects that are getting more strategic than tactical: staying plugged into the business context.

Why stay plugged?

Web analytics can't exist in a vacuum. That is, web analytics has to go beyond Web measurement and be put in the business context. Collaboration and relationships needs to be nurtured with marketing & communication, but also with sales & services groups, even R&D, human resources, finance have a stake on the Web. In a way, the web analyst needs to do some kind of a SWOT of each of the stakeholder in order to put his/her analysis in the right context and come up with recommendations that will "speak" to the business.

Detailed study results

Web analysts where asked to rate, on a scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree", their feeling about staying plugged into the business context:

• I really concentrated on this, spending some real quality time on it.
• This was on my mind, but at a subconscious level; didn't really have to concentrate on it.
• I'm excited by it; it is something that makes me happy.
• I did not feel like I could avoid this; it was necessary or imperative.
• I chose to focus on this; it was voluntary.
  
• I might have suffered negative consequences if I didn't pay attention to this; it was not necessarily positive.

If a typical working day was 8 hours, a web analyst would spend about 1 hour and 30 minutes on this activity.

Note: Sample size of 34 web analysts surveyed from April 26th trough June 6th 2007.

Skills for staying plugged into the business context

• Expertise in the specific field addressed by the business
• Leadership and ability to work with a multidisciplinary team
• Business analysis skills and ability to utilize information for actionable recommendations
  
• Solid presentation and communication skills
  
• Problem solving and decision making skills

The last task that will be presented is "Exploring new strategic options".

Web Analyst Task: Analysis

Last week we reviewed the first task of the web analyst job: reporting. This week we will take a look at the "analysis" aspect.

What is Analysis?

While reporting focused on extracting the data and making it usable, acquisition analysis is much harder and requires a different set of skills. The challenge is to make sense out of the various metrics, put them in context, build a meaningful "story" and convey the message to people who will be able to take action based on your analysis and insights.

Detailed study results

Below are the detailed results from my study of the web analyst role. Acquisition analysis (first sparkline) focus primarily on the strategies that brings traffic to the site. Another aspect of analysis (second sparkine) looks at the user's onsite experience trough analysis of ClickStream and qualitative data. Web analysts where asked to rate, on a scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree", their feeling about Analysis is:

• I really concentrated on this, spending some real quality time on it.
• This was on my mind, but at a subconscious level; didn't really have to concentrate on it.
• I'm excited by it; it is something that makes me happy.
• I did not feel like I could avoid this; it was necessary or imperative.
• I chose to focus on this; it was voluntary.
  
• I might have suffered negative consequences if I didn't pay attention to this; it was not necessarily positive.

If a typical working day was 8 hours, a web analyst would spend about 3 hours doing Analysis.

Note: Sample size of 34 web analysts surveyed from April 26th trough June 6th 2007.

Skills for analysis

• Experience with data mining tools such as SPSS or SAS
• Background in statistics, marketing, web production or a related field
  
• Ability to cultivate metrics and identify meaningful trends
• Strong organizational, verbal and written communication and presentation skills
• Working knowledge of website standards

The next task that will be presented is "Connecting" (staying plugged into the corporate context).

Web Analyst Task: Reporting

Update: Anil Batra, Online Advertising Consultant for ZAAZ is also very much interested in the web analyst role. See his post about "Web Analytics Salary and Skills survey" and others for interesting information about the job market.

In my study of the web analyst role and the resulting article I wrote about "The human metric of web analytics" I highlighted three key elements of a web analyst profile:

1. Experience,
2. Multi-disciplinary background or training,
3. Attention to details and ability to focus

As promised, I will go a bit deeper into each of the 5 typical activities of the web analyst, the first one being "Reporting".

What is Reporting?

Reporting is about providing results from various metrics to find out about the "what and how much". Most of the reporting job is about information-gathering and is distinct from the analysis activity, the later being more about presenting recommendations. To make an easy distinction between reporting and analysis, think of a news reporter: their task is to report the facts in an unbiased way, without providing their own opinion (contrary to editorialist's job which is actually to comment the news).

"Reporting = providing data.
Analysis = providing insight."
Web Analytics guru Avinash Kaushik

Detailed study results

Web analysts where asked to rate, on a scale ranging from "Strongly Disagree" to "Strongly Agree", their feeling about Reporting is:

• I really concentrated on this, spending some real quality time on it.
• This was on my mind, but at a subconscious level; didn't really have to concentrate on it.
• I'm excited by it; it is something that makes me happy.
• I did not feel like I could avoid this; it was necessary or imperative.
• I chose to focus on this; it was voluntary.
  
• I might have suffered negative consequences if I didn't pay attention to this; it was not necessarily positive.

If a typical working day was 8 hours, a web analyst would spend about 2 of them doing Reporting.

Note: Sample size of 34 web analysts surveyed from April 26th trough June 6th 2007.

Skills for reporting

• Background in statistics
• Professional use of Microsoft Excel
• Knowledge of database concepts and the SQL language
• Knowledge of the specific product being used for web analytics such as Omniture, Google Analytics, Coremetrics, VisualSciences, WebTrends, etc.
  

The next task that will be presented is "Analysis".

The Human Metric of Web Analytics

This article was recently featured on iMediaConnection. It is reproduced here and slightly enhanced.

Integrated marketing guru Don E. Schultz coined the phrase "marketing is static, but the consumer is dynamic" nearly two years ago. Businesses must rely on the expertise of their web analysts to tap into the invaluable data collected through their websites.

If anyone still has doubt about a career in web analytics, the recent eMetrics Summit revealed just how hot the job market is. Attendees and exhibitors looking to hire wore a green dot on their badges, a simple and effective method that clearly demonstrated the huge demand for web analysts.

"As an experiment, it was too successful," says eMetrics Summit producer Jim Sterne. "We don't want to scare away managers who are worried their employees will be poached at the next one in October, so this was one time only."

Furthermore, results of a study by WebAnalyticsDemystified revealed that nearly 50 percent of those already in the web analytics field are considering looking for a new position. The Web Analytics Association job board lists dozens of available positions and Indeed.com, a job hunting aggregator, shows a 400 percent increase over the last two years for jobs containing the term "web analytics."

What should companies seeking web analysts be looking for?

1. Experience: web analytics is not an entry-level position
2. Multi-disciplinary background or training
3. Attention to detail and ability to focus

Experience

Despite being in web analytics for fewer than five years (77 percent), and most of them fewer than 3 years (52 percent), nearly 60 percent of web analytics professionals consider their job to be "difficult." It appears that most web analysts didn't land in their current job on their first assignment; most of them have grown from other related fields.

Paul Holstein, project manager at CSC Financial, reviews the situation: "We searched for an analytics analyst for more than six months and finally gave up looking for an experienced person. We hired a bright and motivated analyst who we could train in web analytics. We benchmarked what attributes we were looking for and began our search for a curious, intelligent, driven sort of person."

Surprisingly, fewer than 30 percent of companies have a dedicated resource for managing web analytics and more than 40 percent recognize they are not maximizing the potential of their current web analytics solution (source: Aberdeen Group).

Multi-Disciplinary Background or Training

Web analyst expertise is multi-dimensional. Knowledge of interactive marketing and web design/usability, statistics, web technologies and internet concepts, as well as acute analysis and communication skills are just some of the competencies of the perfect web analyst. While most web analysts struggle to satisfy very diversified expectations, those who have the chance to be part of a multi-disciplinary team with the maturity of an analytical process and culture will benefit the most.

But what are web analysts really doing? What makes this job so difficult? A few months ago, web analytics guru Avinash Kaushik proposed that web analysts should spend their time on five major activities:

1. Reporting, providing results from various metrics to find out about the "what and how much";
2. Analyzing acquisition strategies and basically everything that brings traffic to the site;
3. Understanding the onsite customer experience and if the "persuasion scenarios" are working as expected;
4. Plugging into the business context, keeping up with the operational and strategic changes that might affect the web;
5. Exploring new strategic options, experimenting and improving the site, keeping up with the web and analytics evolution.

Attention to Detail and Ability to Focus

Taking for granted "attention", the cognitive process of selectively concentrating on one aspect of work, is the scarcest resource of all, each task was evaluated by mapping the attention type required to accomplish it. According to the AttentionScape methodology developed by Davenport & Beck in "The Attention Economy", the most effective attention will go to items that are shown near the center of the chart. The detailed survey of 36 web analytics practitioners mapped each task under three different dimensions:

1. Front-of-mind vs. back-of-mind: The attention type of the music you listen to while working is back-of-mind, in that it doesn't involve a focused attention. Front-of-mind attention is conscious, focused and explicit.
2. Voluntary vs. captive: There are some activities you can't avoid, and some others you deliberately choose to do because you want to learn or because you enjoy doing them.
3. Attractive or aversive: Some tasks bring positive experiences, while we have to do others to avoid negative consequences.

The study revealed that all web analytics activities require a relatively high level of front-of-mind attention: concentration and focus is required. However, too many front-of-mind activities can lead to anxiety, stress and a feeling of being overwhelmed. Speaking with some analysts revealed that this is a common feeling among practitioners.

Where to go from here?

Some people might say the results of the study are not surprising, but in a way it is comforting to see that between the goal and the current state of affairs, web analysts live with similar challenges and struggle with the same hurdles. There is still a lot to do in order to bring the most valuable strategic insights to organizations deploying web analytics. The tools themselves are already providing a lot more functionality and information than anyone can handle, but as more educational resources become available and businesses come to realize the value of web analytics, the role of web analyst is likely to become critical not only to a successful internet presence, but maybe even to the success of entire organizations.

The role of web analyst is critical to a successful internet presence and maybe even the success of entire organizations.

As Davenport, Cohen & Jacobson say in "Competing on Analytics", "Employees hired for their expertise with numbers or trained to recognize their importance are armed with the best evidence and the best quantitative tools. As a result, they make the best decisions. In companies that compete on analytics, senior executives make it clear -- from the top down -- that analytics is central to strategy. Such organizations launch multiple initiatives involving complex data and statistical analysis, and quantitative activity is managed at the enterprise (not departmental) level."

Summary

One of the best ways to find web analysts with the three most important key elements is to attend a local Web Analytics Wednesday meeting. These are held every month in most major cities worldwide (including Montreal and Quebec city). The WAA also has a job board where companies can post their interest.

Another option, one followed by CSC Financial, is to grow your own. Companies following this route will want to make sure their candidate takes part in the WAA's UBC Award of Achievement in Web Analaytics trainings, reads the WAA message board and related blogs as they’re a ripe source of relevant information for people with experience and those just entering the field.

What should eBusiness Architect do?

Whenever I think of something interesting, I create a draft entry in my blog and get back to it later. I started writing this entry about a week ago, and this morning while swifting trough 100+ Google Reader entries, I noticed the post from Holly Buchanan: "If Architects Had to Work Like Web Designers".

There was also that interesting discussion thread on the Web Analytics group about "Does a web analyst have to know how an I.P. address is constructed?". Although useful, I don't think it's essential and you can read my opinion and those of others in the discussion thread.

A thing leading to another, I got an email that sparkled some interesting discussion about the role of an ebusiness architect. I also realized some of my co-workers don't know/understand what is my role as a "senior ebusiness architect".

So? What's an architect?

Let's borrow from Wikipedia: "an architect is a person who translates the user's needs into physical, built solution. An architect must thoroughly understand the building and operational codes under which his or her design must conform. That degree of knowledge is necessary so that he or she is not apt to omit any necessary requirements, or produce improper, conflicting, ambiguous, or confusing requirements. Architects must understand the various methods available to the builder for building the client's structure, so that he or she can negotiate with the client to produce a best possible compromise of the results desired within explicit cost and time boundaries."

As we read this definition, it's obvious it perfectly applies to Information Systems/Information Technology and more specifically, to ebusiness and Web initiatives.

Some caveats (and a legal disclaimer)

In some countries, like Canada, job titles such as "engineer" or "architect" are regulated professions. So officially, I'm not a "senior ebusiness architect", I'm a "senior ebusiness advisor". Just like a few years ago, I tried to explain that I was not a "software engineer" simply because I couldn't use that title.

An architect for every soup

There's often confusion around the job titles. Put any of those words in front of "architect" and you've got a new field of expertise and a new career: software, technical, organic, functional... ebusiness, enterprise...

What should an ebusiness architect do?

Simply put, my role is exactly that of an architect: take the business requirements and plan for the solution. A bit too simplistic, let's look more closely at that phrase:

• take: this implies a lot of listening, communicating and explaining the process that will lead to the solution
  
• business: have the right interlocutor and that he/she is empowered to take decision/action
  
• requirements: one of the biggest challenge is the fact that "requirements" are often (almost always!) expressed in terms of "solution". From the requirements, we must strive to understand the initial objective. To take the home analogy, the client knows he/she wants a "3-section with side-panels triple-glass wooden-frame 6 feet by 4 feet window" on that wall, but probably doesn't know how the wall will need to be reinforced to support the 2nd floor. The objective would be something like "The dining room as a view on our garden and we can see really beautiful sunsets. I want the largest window possible as long as it doesn't increase the overall cost of the house more than X$". It's the architect responsibility to read between the lines and translate those requirements into realistic objectives.
  
• plan: It's also the architect responsibility to work within the constraints of time, budget and quality. This implies a vast understanding of the subject and the collaboration of field experts to gather the elements of the solution and mutually challenge the solution to come up with something as efficient and as realistic as possible.
  
• solution: Solutions are mutually accepted compromises. That last point is critical: sometimes it's the role of the architect to go back to the client and explain why the requirement can't be met, or why another approach might be better or at least, satisfy a fair percentage of the goal without necessarily constraining future enhancements.
  

Key skills of an ebusiness architect

Just like the construction architect, the ebusiness architect doesn't actually "build" the solution, but he/she has to take responsibility for it's conception and overlook the work so the job is done according to plans. Strong knowledge of the various work expertise, supporting technologies and best practices, trends and evolution of the ebusiness field, strong analytical skills and be solution driven, as well as acute communication skills are all essential ingredients of a good architect.

The feet strongly grounded in IT, the brain on the business side

One of the most interesting challenge of the ebusiness architect is to "translate" the business lingua into more technical terms, and vice-versa. We often see this latent tension between "IT" and "business", "us" and "them". Sometimes, the ebusiness architect is merely a communication gear between two quite different worlds. Being strongly grounded in IT while at the same time being able to walk the talk of the business is probably the most important role of the ebusiness architect.

Study results: 3 key skills of web analysts

I'm really proud to announce the publication of "3 key skills of web analysts" on iMediaConnection.

The role of web analyst is critical to a successful internet presence and maybe even the success of entire organizations.

This article provides the results of my study of web analysts and answers two primary objectives:

1. Quantify how web analysts spend their time on various tasks, and more importantly, what type of cognitive process they engage in while doing those activities.
2. Help web analysts understand their own job characteristics and explain it to their managers and fellow workers

Conducting such a study was an interesting endeavor and a very good learning experience! Thanks to Avinash for sparkling the idea with his post about "How should web analysts spend their day". I also got great support from John Beck, co-author of "The Attention Economy" and visionary at The Attention Co. Thanks to Jim Sterne, Avinash Kaushik, Eric T. Peterson, Jacques Warren, Anil Batra and my boss Bernard Cinq-Mars who reviewed and commented an early draft of the article. I specially want to acknowledge the great help I got from my friend Joseph Carrabis, who coached me into writing this article and offered his great wisdom to help me out. And lastly, Brad Berens, editor in chief of iMediaConnection, who's giving me the chance to reach beyond my little blog!

Of course, a special thanks goes to the web analysts who spared a little bit of their attention and took the time to fill out the survey. I look forward to comments, suggestions and even critics!

Stay tuned! In the coming days I will publish additional details about various aspects of the study.

Local company profile: NVI

Guillaume Bouchard, CEO of NVI Solutions is looking for a web analytics expert.

The company is a fairly new Web 2.0/Internet Marketing agency in Montreal who currently employs 20 people and can't stop from growing. They have a dedicated team for web development and design, and another doing SEO/SEM/SMO/Internet marketing. If you are crazy about data & metrics and have a great sense of entrepreneurship, it might be a good opportunity!

The team from NVI also blogs about Web 2.0, search, marketing and SEO on an interesting site called Go-Referencement.org (French).