dSLRs, Holgas, and Web Analytics (A Story of Multiplicity)

A few years back, I remember reading a blog post by Avinash Kaushik on the subject of Multiplicity. In theory, I completely agreed with the idea of multiplicity however in practice, I found myself being a laser beam for all things Omniture. I was the perfect case study for the “single source of truth” model. I found myself sitting in strategy meetings where analytics was being discussed and I found myself sitting on the outside, only to be brought in if there was an “Omniture issue” or a question we needed “Omniture to answer”.

It didn’t sink in, that the model I had deployed for myself was against everything I believed in, until I found myself in the mountains, shooting scenes of nature, with two cameras and several lenses. It was then that it hit me, I was doing myself and the company I worked for a disservice by being an “Omniture Shop” rather than a “Web Analytics Shop”. In photography, there is never a single camera or lens or aperture setting that is right for every situation and the same is true for web analytics. If I was going to be a successful analyst, I needed to move outside my Omniture comfort zone and I needed to incorporate more gear into my bag.

Today, I make use of several tools to complete a job. Sometimes, what is required is a high end tool like Omniture Discover, other times something like CrazyEgg will get the job done. And yet others will take a combination of Omniture Discover, Omniture Test & Target, and ProClarity to get the job done right.

It is a mistake, one that I have been guilty of, to think that your high priced analytics tool is the only tool you’ll ever need. If I had made that mistake in my photography, I would have never put down my dSLR and picked up a $12 toy camera from China.

Taken with a $12 Holga camera from China


Jason Thompson

Jason is the Sr. Director of Community Solutions at Keystone Solutions. If you are interested in partnering with Jason at Keystone, in need of analytics & optimization consulting, or looking for employment/internship possibilities, please feel free to email ‘jason [at] keystonesolutions [dot] com’

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3 Comments

  1. Posted January 11, 2010 at 3:35 pm | Permalink

    Nice analogy Jason.

    I grew up in the traditional DSS/BI world and I have come to believe this quest for “single source of truth” comes from there.

    The difference is that the questions we ask of our ERP / CRM etc systems are a lot more finite (even as they are supremely important, perhaps even more than WA). We, on the web, have to answer a lot more complicated questions every day as the same site does order fulfillment, tech support, social “whatever” : ), be the drive by mall, convince job applicants, sell someone else’s product etc etc etc.

    Then we need the approach you have so wonderfully covered in this post: How can I best answer the question on the table?

    It is hard to do, at least for me, but it is well worth it.

    Avinash.

  2. Posted January 12, 2010 at 8:23 pm | Permalink

    Jason,

    I could not agree more. That’s part of the reason I’ve been working with the Yahoo plugin and other tools. I do not want to get so entrenched in one tool that it becomes all I know how to do!

    -Rudi

  3. Posted January 12, 2010 at 9:29 pm | Permalink

    Thanks for stopping by Avinash. Just wanted to thank you for all the knowledge you so freely share, you have provided a wealth of great information for us in the analytics space to learn from.

    Rudi, absolutely. I have learned a lot from reading your blog. It’s helped me realize I need to branch out. Keep up the great work and keep cranking out awesome applications.

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