Contribution to Forrester: "The business case for Web analysts"

A few weeks ago Megan Burns, from Forrester, posted a request on the Web Analytics discussion forum for panelists in the Web Analytics Peer Research Panel. I submited my profile and was invited, along with other vendors, consulants and practitioners, to participate in a survey about the role and responsabilities of web analysts within the organization.

The results of this exercice are now available from Forrester and contains valuable information. Here's the abstract:

Companies need a way to see what customers do on their Web sites and how those activities contribute to business performance. Because Web analytics is the only practical way to do that, most managers aren't asked to justify their initial investment in commercial Web analytics tools. But when they want increased funding — most often to bring on dedicated analysts who can make the most of the tools and data — they have a hard time making the case. To help companies decide whether or not to invest in full-time Web analytics experts, Forrester developed a model of the economic impact that these people have on an organization. Our research shows that hiring full-time Web analytics staff brings in enough incremental value to cover the extra costs several times over.