Download Implementing a Web Analytics Dashboard

Capstone Project
Implementing a Web Analytics Dashboard
Prepared for TeleCommuter Inc. by Web Capture
12/15/2010
Team 4: Alfonso Leon, James Miller, Chidananda Sulur, Claudia Hill
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary ...................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1. Client: TeleCommuter, Inc. ..................................................................................................................... 3
1.2. IT Supplier: Web Capture ....................................................................................................................... 3
1.3. Business Problems................................................................................................................................... 3
1.4. Technology Solution ............................................................................................................................... 3
1.5. Impact of Technology Implementation ................................................................................................... 3
1.6. IT Research, Competitive Analysis and Industry Sources Support Web Analytics ................................ 4
2. Business Requirements.................................................................................................................................................. 5
2.1. Current Challenge ................................................................................................................................... 5
2.2. “As-is” and “To-be” Business Process Descriptions............................................................................... 5
2.3. Functional Requirements......................................................................................................................... 7
2.4. Business Benefit Justification ................................................................................................................. 8
3. Technical Specifications and Prototype ...................................................................................................................... 10
3.1. Architectural Approach ......................................................................................................................... 10
3.2. Technical Solution to Functional Requirements ................................................................................... 11
3.3. Integration with Existing Applications.................................................................................................. 16
3.4. Data Design and Management .............................................................................................................. 17
3.5. Choice of Vendor .................................................................................................................................. 17
3.6. System Metrics: Service Level Agreement ........................................................................................... 18
4. Implementation Plan.................................................................................................................................................... 19
4.1. System Deployment: Timeline and Deliverables .................................................................................. 19
4.2. Operational Governance: Stakeholders, Resources, Dependencies and Risks ...................................... 20
4.3. User Enablement ................................................................................................................................... 22
4.4. Success Metrics ..................................................................................................................................... 23
References ....................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Appendix ......................................................................................................................................................................... 27
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1. Executive Summary
TeleCommuter Management currently has very limited knowledge of customer activity on the website. Knowledge
of customer activity is a valuable source of information that can be used to improve marketing and sales.
TeleCommuter has hired Web Capture, a consulting firm to implement a web analytics dashboard to solve this
problem, enhance decision making and maintain a competitive edge.
1.1. Client: TeleCommuter, Inc.
TeleCommuter, Inc. is a startup reseller and service integrator company that conducts business primarily over the
Internet. The company markets business office products, installation, and maintenance services to small office,
home office, and medium businesses. Among the products and services offered are: PCs and office electronics,
office furniture, telecommunication services, PC and network maintenance contracts, application installation and
support, and call center services.
1.2. IT Supplier: Web Capture
Web Capture is a consulting company specializing in web analytics including real-time metrics. Web Capture has
a proven track record of providing clients with “best-of-breed” web analytics solutions. They closely work with
the client to understand the areas in which metrics are needed and customize the solution to client’s needs.
1.3. Business Problems
Lack of information about website usage:
TeleCommuter currently does not have information readily available
about conversion rates and many other aspects such as website channels (pathway to TeleCommuter’s website)
and detailed geographic information on visitors.
Time consuming analysis and reporting: Marketing and Sales management would like readily accessible sales and
other useful information in graphical formats. Currently, it takes days to compile a report to answer questions
about specific trends.
1.4. Technology Solution
Implement a web-analytics dashboard, including real-time analytics, enabling TeleCommuter Senior, Marketing
and Sales management to make operational and strategic decisions.
1.5. Impact of Technology Implementation
Web Capture sees the following advantages by implementing the web analytics dashboard.

Website user data collection and analysis: Metrics gathered on website activity can be used by many divisions
within TeleCommuter. The information can be used to identify successful marketing and sales strategies.
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
Data presentation and reporting: Select employees will have access to user-friendly, transparent and
customizable reports. This information will be readily available and presented in various graphical formats
that will in turn save time and aid in effective decision making.

Regional real-time data: The web analytics dashboard will collect visitors’ demographic data which includes
region, state and city, based on IP address and name. This will allow TeleCommuter to map visitor and
customer clickstream activity with the demographic data and can help create region specific marketing
strategies. TeleCommuter can also use this information to forge effective relationships with regional
distributors and suppliers.
1.6. IT Research, Competitive Analysis and Industry Sources Support Web Analytics
Forrester predicts that web analytics will reach $953 million in the US by 2014. They forecast that each year, it
will grow by 17%.
Incorporating real-time analytics into a company’s business intelligence is seen as a
competitive advantage.
Particularly for the marketing group within the company, web analytics hold great
promise.
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2. Business Requirements
2.1. Current Challenge
TeleCommuter senior management needs to analyze customer and visitor behavior on the website in order to make
strategic and operational decisions. In addition, TeleCommuter Marketing and Sales management are currently
faced with the challenge of time-consuming report generation for marketing and sales data in a timely manner.
Web Capture proposes a web-analytics dashboard as a solution to both the current difficult task of producing
reports for marketing and sales data as well as a tool for analyzing customer and visitor activity on the
TeleCommuter website.
2.2. “As-is” and “To-be” Business Process Descriptions
The first two diagrams illustrate the current process producing reports and the improved process after the
dashboard implementation. In Figure 1, Sales Management requests that the IT department query sales information
from the database. Next, the queried results are manually imported on a spreadsheet and sent to the sales
department. The data is then manually manipulated into the desired graphical format for presentation. This process
frequently takes days, involves multiple parties, and produces non-standard reports.
Figure 1: Current report generation process
Figure 2 represents the streamlined process once a web-analytics dashboard has been implemented. Sales
management accesses the dashboard, selects the data, and generates a presentation support.
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Figure 2: Report generation from future dashboard implementation
The next two diagrams illustrate the conceptual architecture of TeleCommuter’s website before and after the webanalytics dashboard implementation. The two red components, which represent enhancements that Web Capture is
planning to introduce as part of this initiative, are website activity data collection, and the analytics dashboard.
Figure 3: Website/Sales flow “As-Is”
Figure 4: Website/Sales flow “To-be”
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Telecommuter’s Management has identified three problems that will be solved by implementing an analytics
dashboard.
a. As-is: No readily available pre-defined reports exist of products and services which are in demand and which are
not selling (Figure 1). It takes time to compile the data and make informed decisions based on that data.
Problem: Management cannot easily make informed decisions about which products and services to promote
through increased marketing and which to discontinue in a timely fashion.
To-be: Solution is to mine existing sales data to determine gross income, net income, sales, taxes, shipping costs,
shipping taxes, number of orders, number of items, coupon discount, order discount, order status and produce
automated reports on the dashboard (Figure 2).
b. As-is: Minimal information is collected on the website activity (Figure 3). There is no information about
conversion rates, website channels, and other useful information. Additionally nothing is known about a particular
customer's activity outside of the purchases they make.
Problem: Management and sales force do not have information about website activity outside of sales.
To-be: Solution is to capture website activity, combine this with stored customer data and present the information
on the dashboard. This will help the sales force assist clients and website visitors with their requests. Additionally
the website metrics collected will serve as a decision support tool and provide great insight into future marketing
and sales strategies (Figure 4).
c. As-is: Customer geographic data is not readily available (Figure 3).
Problem: Management cannot easily determine the geographic location of visitors and registered users. As a
result they are unable to optimize shipping costs and services.
To-be: Solution is to mine the customer data from the website to obtain city, state, zip code and IP address to
establish customers’ geographic location (Figure 4).
2.3. Functional Requirements
This section describes the functional requirements for the proposed solution.
a. Data collection and storage
The proposed solution will gather information on website visitors and store it for future analysis. The visitor
information will include, the page visited, the source (taken from the HTTP header), IP address info, and the time
of visit. Any information entered into the website, such as a search, can also be stored.
b. Data analysis
Once the data is gathered, the software solution will then analyze the information. Below is a list of some of the
metrics that come from that data analysis:
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Metrics
Number of visits
Unique visitors
Returning visitors
Conversion rate
Page views
Number of purchases per product/service
Purchases by region
Visitors per source (each channel)
Length of visit
c. Reports and Presentation
One of the key features of the web-analytics dashboard is the ability to generate both predefined and ad hoc
reports. The user may select the data and customize the display. The dashboard contains a chart tool that allows for
a wide selection of data representation. The embedded reporting tool contains predefined reporting templates for
the following:

Website usage

Sales

Customer profile

Conversion Rate

Channel Summary (entry point for users to the site)
d. Automation
The software solution should have some automated features which utilize the stored and analyzed information at
the benefit of the company. This can be achieved a variety of ways, but a common example would be to send
customized emails to registered customers based on their viewing history and product purchases.
2.4. Business Benefit Justification
a. Business Goals and Expected Benefits
Below is a table of the business goals and expected benefits as a result of implementing the web analytics
dashboard solution.
Business goals
Increase customer and website activity
Expected benefits
i. Increased customer conversion rate
ii. Improved customer service by providing collected metrics to
Sales Representatives
iii. Enhanced marketing campaigns by using dashboard metrics for
promotional e-mails and automatic suggestions on the website.
iv. Improved marketing strategies based on detailed information of
traffic and revenue sources (channels)
Enhance data transparency and timely i. Improved access to data and assurance of data accuracy
reporting
ii. Saved time in analyzing and presenting data
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iii. Informed decision making through increased information and
standardized reporting
Improve access to regional data and i. Improved ability to target customers by region
statistics
ii. Enhanced relationships with regional distributors and suppliers
iii. Reduced shipping, handling and transportation costs due to local
sourcing of products and services
b. Cost-Benefit Analysis
The cost-benefit analysis measures the financial benefits including the Return-On-Investment (ROI) of the project.
Some assumptions made for calculating the financial benefits of undertaking this initiative follow:
Financial metric
Cost
Assumption
Prior year total revenue
$10 million
N/A
Projected increase in sales for
5%
N/A
Profit margin
9%
N/A
Cost of capital
9%
N/A
Software / support fee
$3k per month
Web Capture’s consulting fee
$100k
next year
Out of this cost, $50k is assumed to be a
capital
expense
that
can
be
amortized/depreciated
Training costs
$15k
Increased manager and end user
10%
For 10 managers and end-users
productivity
Snapshot of the calculated financial benefits are listed below (Source: Nucleus Research. (2010). ROI quick
reference guide).
Measure
Benefit
Annual Return On Investment (ROI)
70.00%
Payback period
1.5 years
Average annual benefit
$285,000
Average annual total cost of ownership
$191,000.00
Net Present Value
$101,070.00
Note: Sales revenue and ROI projections are forward-looking statements and can be influenced by economic
factors.
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3. Technical Specifications and Prototype
Web Capture will implement a web analytics dashboard on TeleCommuter’s website using IBM’s Coremetrics
Small and Medium Business (SMB) Software as a Service (SaaS). This software solution was chosen because of
its ability to meet all of TeleCommuter’s functional requirements (Part1). TeleCommuter’s website architecture is
discussed first, followed by the integration of Coremetrics SaaS solution with the website.
3.1. Architectural Approach
TeleCommuter’s website is built on three-tier architecture. It consists of the web presentation layer that talks with
the business services layer. The business layer links to the various databases comprising the data layer which
includes customers and order tables. Figure 5 is a high-level architectural representation of integrating Coremetrics
SaaS solution with TeleCommuter’s website.
Figure 5: High level architecture
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Coremetrics SaaS solution is integrated by incorporating JavaScript tags within TeleCommuter.com web pages.
Web Capture will add tags as part of the contract. When a user accesses TeleCommuter’s web pages, the user
activity data is sent to Coremetrics cloud solution. Coremetrics modules in the cloud make up the LIVE (Lifetime
Individual Visitor Experience) profile. LIVE is built around actionable data about customer behavior. It includes
real-time and historical data and encompasses every action that the visitor takes throughout a lifetime of
interacting with a web site. The historical data from TeleCommuter’s databases is imported to Coremetrics cloud
using the importation module. The technical solution is explained in detail below.
3.2. Technical Solution to Functional Requirements
The technical solution to TeleCommuter’s functional requirements is in the areas of data collection and storage,
data analysis, reporting and presentation and automation.
a. Data Collection and Storage
In a typical implementation such as the one displayed in Figure 6, data is collected at the end browser level using
JavaScript and third party cookies. Data is captured when a user requests a page within TeleCommuter website. As
the page is rendered on the user’s browser, JavaScript code embedded in the page executes and gathers relevant
visitor and behavior information and sends it to the analytics server (Step 2 and 3). Persistent and session cookies
are issued by Coremetrics to track visitor activities within a session as well as across multiple visits over time
(Step 4). The persistent cookie allows Coremetrics to relate multiple data collection visits into a single “LIVE
Profile” enabling behavioral analysis over time. TeleCommuter employees can access the dashboard by logging
into a secure website hosted by Coremetrics (Step 5 and 6).
Figure 6: Typical web analytics implementation in the cloud
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This type of architecture raises concerns in the area of privacy and security which could affect the usability of the
system as explained as follows:
Privacy Concern: A regular user does not know when he/she is being tracked and what kind of information is
being sent to the analytics server. Because of that, some users will disable third party cookies on their browsers
which will impede the solution from building up the LIVE profile. To address this concern, the proposed
architecture will not use third party cookies. Instead, a new TeleCommuter sub-domain (for example,
analytics.telecommuter.com) will be created and assigned to Coremetrics for the handling of the analytics solution.
Although the solution will be still hosted by Coremetrics in the cloud (Figure 3), the user will be presented with a
Telecommuter’s cookie (first party) which will allow for data gathering.
Web Capture will also assist TeleCommuter in following industry best practices in notifying website users of data
collection and use along with integrating “opt-out” functionality. Web Capture will guide TeleCommuter in:

Revising their privacy policy statement informing visitors about setting cookies, collecting the data and its use.

Implement “opt-out” functionality should visitors decide they do not want data collected.
This opt-out checkbox in the policy page will allow visitors to decline data collection. By selecting the opt-out
option, data transfer and cookie updates are set to “Anonymous.” If a visitor does not have their browser
configured to accept first party cookies, an alert will display requesting that they set their browser to enable
cookies.
Security Concern: In today’s world, as security has become tight at the infrastructure level, hackers are now
employing social engineering techniques through users to get access to the systems. These types of attacks usually
make use of malicious JavaScript code that once it is executed by the user, it will allow the attackers to steal
credentials and get access to their targets. Some very concerned users may opt to disable JavaScript altogether in
their web browser. Although this type of user represents about 5% of all users (Source: W3Schools.com, 2008),
the statistic has been consistently decreasing over the years. Without JavaScript enabled, the web analytics
solution will fail to collect the user data and the website will not work properly. To address this problem, the
website user will get an alert message indicating that JavaScript is required in order to experience the content
presented by the website.
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Figure 7: TeleCommuter web analytics implemented in the cloud
Coremetrics captures TeleCommuter visitor data such as site referral, page and product browsing, shopping cart
actions, registration and order processing and stores the data within their server infrastructure.
The server
infrastructure is comprised of a cluster of Cubix servers with Foundry high-speed routers providing upward
scalability. Coremetrics Aster nCluster data warehouse stores large quantities of website analytical data. Aster
nCluster stores this data in a massively parallel database which has 100,000 tables per cluster. The database also
uses a powerful integrated analytics engine to analyze the data. Each server, running at 25 percent capacity, is able
to support an incoming data flow of nearly 50,000 page views per minute. The Data Storage and Back-Up module
stores captured user metrics on Sun servers with Solaris Operating Environment running the Oracle database.
Coremetrics employs EMC enterprise storage systems and back-up software as part of its redundancy solution.
b. Data analysis
Critical to this process is LIVE Profile. LIVE Profile is built around actionable data about customer behavior. It
includes both online and offline data. It encompasses every action that the visitor takes throughout a lifetime of
interacting with a website. The profile contains a broad range of information of visitor activity on a website
combined with customer ID, email address, transaction ID and order information. Other captured information
includes customer navigation path, link or banner ad clicks, and search words. Together, this information will
allow TeleCommuter to build a complete picture of the customer behavior.
Customer online behavior can be analyzed using LIVE Profile. Here is an example of clickstream activity
recorded in Coremetrics LIVE Profile for a single customer in four different sessions: The customer comes into
the TeleCommuter.com website through Yahoo AdBanner in session 1, Google AdWords search in session 2 and
directly to TeleCommuter.com website in session 3. In session 1, the user searched for product 1 but then aborted
the process. In session 2, the user searched for product 2 and then added this product to the shopping cart but then
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aborted the checkout process. In session 3, the user searched on product 2 and then contacted customer service
through a link in the page. In session 4, the user successfully purchased product 2 with the shopping cart. This
profile represents pre-conversion behavior that TeleCommuter can analyze and leverage for post-conversion
messages and interactions. The solution also shows the traffic sources of revenue. TeleCommuter can analyze this
data and make the following decisions based on the customer behavior.

Attribute the source of revenue to all 3 traffic sources (Yahoo, Google and TeleCommuter.com) and the
acquisition credit to Yahoo.

Offer product 2 as an alternative to all customers who aborted buying product 1.

Suggest the customer service feature on session 1 when needed.

Offer a promotion that would entice the customer to buy the product in session 3.
c. Reports and Presentation
TeleCommuter’s employees can access the dashboard themselves and analyze complete user behavior without
relying on the IT department to produce reports. Coremetrics offers TeleCommuter a wide range of operational
and performance pre-programmed and ad hoc reports. The Coremetrics dashboard can present the data in tables or
formats such as bar, pie, and bubble graphs. Dashboard operational reports reveal how well TeleCommuter’s
business is doing on a day-to-day basis. The majority of TeleCommuter’s web analytic reports are operational
reports which use data captured from the website combined with historic customer order and profile data. These
are the reports that Marketing and Sales management would use in their daily work. Performance reports show the
state of TeleCommuter’s accounts and measure the success of online marketing over time. Senior management
would be most interested in performance reports to assist with strategic decision making.
Examples of operational reports are conversion rate reports which demonstrate popularity of pages on the website.
Geographic reports (Figure 8) are another form of operational reports. TeleCommuter can compare how the
company is doing on its website versus other businesses in the same industry using Coremetrics benchmark
reports, yet another form of operational reports. Benchmark reports compare page views/session, average time on
site, average items/order, average order value, and shopping cart conversion rates across websites.
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Figure 8: Dashboard geographic report
Coremetrics can compare TeleCommuter’s web clickstream data (first-click, last-click, average number of clicks
per visitor), channels or points of website entry, and time windows (same session, 7 days, 14 days, 21 days, etc) in
each performance report. These methods combined with metrics of sales, conversion rates, page views and unique
visitors in reports assist with analysis of advertisement performance. They also help TeleCommuter determine the
success of their marketing endeavors. The channel report below is an example of a performance report to assist
with marketing initiatives by showing the sources of the traffic that eventually led to revenues (Figure 9).
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Figure 9: Dashboard channel summary report: Point of website entry/conversion rate
d. Automation
Coremetrics offers several automated features. Aside from e-mail alerts on 404 errors and notable metrics
thresholds, there are many other potentially useful functions. Coremetrics can collaborate with most email service
providers to send targeted emails to their customers. Additionally, Coremetrics has a built-in feature that gives
personal product recommendations to the clients automatically on the website using information stored on the
customer. This would involve adding snippets of code supplied by Coremetrics to the desired locations on
TeleCommuter’s website in which they want those recommendations. Coremetrics provides one other feature that
is worth considering which is advertisement targeting. Coremetrics is fully integrated with a number of leading
advertisement software products. If TeleCommuter wishes to use the provided marketing metrics in the future,
they can identify appropriate advertisements and advertising channels for their client base.
3.3. Integration with Existing Applications
Figure 10 below shows TeleCommuter’s physical architecture and its integration with that of Coremetrics.
TeleCommuter’s website is built on a Java J2EE platform with an Oracle back-end database storage system.
TeleCommuter’s web site application layer features a home page with submenu content pages. There is a firewall
in front of the web presentation layer. TeleCommuter’s physical architecture will not change as a result of the
Coremetrics SaaS implementation.
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Figure 10: Integration with current architecture
3.4. Data Design and Management
The laborious task of data management will be handled by Coremetrics as this is software as a service. This data
design and management process has been described previously.
3.5. Choice of Vendor
Coremetrics was selected for several reasons. Web Capture has worked with Coremetrics in the past and had great
success. As one of the “best-of-breed”, they meet all of TeleCommuter’s requirements and offer more in the way
of integration with other products. Additionally their small and medium business solutions are priced very
reasonably and are based on the volume of traffic being serviced. Finally, in an independent study published in
July 2009, Forester rated Coremetrics as the second strongest company in the web analytics field. The study,
which considered both the product being offered and the company’s strategy, placed Coremetrics second in each of
those categories behind Omniture. However, Omniture is much more expensive and was rated much lower in the
cost category. Additionally, Coremetrics was given the highest mark in product integration. According to the
report, “Coremetrics clients expressed satisfaction levels higher than any other company evaluated, with perfect
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marks in services, responsiveness, and support among others.” It is because of their reasonable pricing, product
integration capabilities, ranking customer satisfaction, and their position as a leader in the industry that Web
Capture has chosen Coremetrics as the web analytics vendor for Telecommuter.
3.6. System Metrics: Service Level Agreement
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Coremetrics (provider) and TeleCommuter (client) is essential to
maintaining trust between the provider and the client, and ensure quality of service. Web Capture (consultants)
will assist TeleCommuter with establishing an agreement in the client’s best interest with terms such as the ones
below.
Service: TeleCommuter agrees to a monthly service fee for access to Coremetrics cloud-based, analytics
dashboard, service management platform and operations.
Service Level Objectives: Coremetrics’ customer service and technical teams support a Service Level Agreement
(SLA) which covers six main areas: data processing availability, reporting availability, average page performance,
implementation support, post-implementation incident and problem tracking response and, escalation resolution.
Coremetrics guarantees that data processing is available 99% of the time on a monthly basis. Availability of
reports is 97% of the time which does not include routine system maintenance or circumstances beyond which
Coremetrics has reasonable control. Schedule maintenance windows are once a month between 1am and 3am,
central time (US).
Parameters: Coremetrics agrees to collect raw data from TeleCommuter’s web site and from TeleCommuter’s
database then present this data in a meaningful format on a dashboard using appropriate algorithms. Coremetrics
will collect resource metrics, those metrics which are presented as they are collected. They will also collect
metrics which need to be calculated and combined with other metrics.
TeleCommuter will receive credits for the existing month for any failure to meet availability or criteria specified in
Coremetrics SLA. Coremetrics has a customer centric culture based on ITIL practices and this typical SLA
guarantees that clients receive high quality of service and performance.
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4. Implementation Plan
4.1. System Deployment: Timeline and Deliverables
The implementation of Telecommuter’s web analytics dashboard will take 10 business weeks and it will be
divided into four phases as described below:
Phase I: Analysis and Design
In this phase, the scope is fine-tuned by discussing and adjusting the solution to Telecommuter’s web analytics
requirements. The exact tags to be implemented and acceptance terms are defined and documented. The timeline
and milestones for the project are adjusted accordingly.
Duration: 2 weeks
Deliverables: Integration Plan document containing the list of tags to be implemented, the project timeline, project
risks and acceptance terms.
Prerequisites: Contract sign-off
Phase II: Development
In this phase, Telecommuter’s website is modified to include the required JavaScript code. Web Capture’s
implementation engineer implements tags on web pages as defined in the integration plan. The “opt-out” webpage
is also developed as part of this phase. Telecommuter’s network administrator configures a sub-domain for
managing the first party cookies and points the DNS to Coremetrics Load Balancers.
Duration: 4 weeks
Deliverables:

Properly tagged web pages

“opt-out” page

Category Definition file (A file mapping the Coremetrics tags to a category hierarchy)

Data Integrity Process file (A file used for validating the Coremetrics tags)

Integration with ad systems, email automation, and product suggestion automation

Data importation from TeleCommuter to Coremetrics
Testing: Unit test of the tag implementation and importation
Prerequisites: Integration Plan sign-off
Phase III: Validation
In this phase Web Capture’s implementation engineer performs connectivity tests with Coremetrics Analytics
servers and points the solution to Coremetrics’ test environment. The implementation engineer performs validation
tests on the various tags and reports on this environment using the Coremetrics TagBar plug-in, the
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implementation test tool, and test reports. Then the web pages are moved to the production environment for
permanent storage of Telecommuter’s metrics.
Duration: 2 week
Deliverables: Recording and storage of Telecommuter’s web site metrics
Testing: Integration testing will be conducted during the validation phase via the Coremetrics implementation test
tool, TagBar plug-in and test reports. The data importation process will be tested during the validation phase as
well.
Prerequisites: Phase II completed
Phase IV: Acceptance:
In this phase, Web Capture will work with the TeleCommuter Marketing/Sales Management to customize the
default dashboard reports provided by Coremetrics. Web Capture will work with the TeleCommuter Business Lead
and selected Marketing/Sales Managers to identify the various custom reports and the fields/attributes that go into
those reports. Some of the custom reports include current visitors, returning visitors, conversion rate, and number
of purchases by product/service and by region. Web Capture will also assist TeleCommuter in identifying who
should have access to the different dashboard components. Web Capture will train TeleCommuter’s selected pilot
employees on how to access and use the web analytics dashboard. The project is marked complete when
Telecommuter accepts the implemented solution. Please refer to Appendix 1 for a snapshot of the project plan in
Microsoft Project format.
Duration: 2 weeks
Deliverables: Project completed and accepted by TeleCommuter
Testing: Acceptance tests will be performed for data validation and will include a stress test by having a large
number of users try to access the dashboard during peak work hours.
Prerequisites: Phase III completed
4.2. Operational Governance: Stakeholders, Resources, Dependencies and Risks
a. Stakeholders
Stakeholder
Role
TeleCommuter
Senior Management is the project sponsor and is a primary stakeholder in the
Senior Management
project.
TeleCommuter
This department within TeleCommuter will be using the dashboard for Sales
Marketing and Sales
and conversion rates.
Web Capture
Web Capture is the consulting firm assisting TeleCommuter with the
Coremetrics web analytics implementation.
Coremetrics
Coremetrics is the web analytics vendor. Coremetrics is involved in setting
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up the sub-domain for TeleCommuter web analytics solution, providing
access to TeleCommuter employees for accessing the dashboard and for
ongoing support using the Service Desk.
b. Resources
Since the dashboard implementation is being done using cloud infrastructure, the hardware will be hosted in the
Coremetrics hosting environment. The various human resources involved in the project implementation are:i. TeleCommuter

Web IT Technical Lead

Business Lead/Analyst

Web Support and Maintenance Engineer for post-implementation maintenance

Network Administrator for setting up the sub-domain

Legal/Finance contact for signing the contracts with Web Capture and Coremetrics
ii. Web Capture

Project Manager

Implementation Engineer

Account Executive and Legal contact for signing the contracts with TeleCommuter
iii. Coremetrics

Networking contact for administering the TeleCommuter sub-domain

Account Executive and Legal contact for signing the contract with TeleCommuter and also for ongoing
support and maintenance

Service Support team for ongoing support
c. Dependencies

Legal contracts being in place between TeleCommuter and Web Capture, TeleCommuter and Coremetrics.
This will include Service Level Agreements (SLAs) that were defined in part 2. ITIL Service Level
Management processes will be used for negotiating the SLAs and ensuring that they are met.

TeleCommuter contacts being available during various project phases as defined in the project implementation
plan

TeleCommuter user access setup for accessing the Coremetrics dashboard.

TeleCommuter user training to effectively use the Coremetrics dashboard.
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d. Risks
Following ITIL guidelines, the table below lists some of the potential risk factors and some strategies for
mitigating those risks.
Risk factors
Risk mitigation plan
Incorrect tag selection and hierarchy
Web Capture will closely work with TeleCommuter to
identify the proper tags and tag hierarchy that need to be
incorporated within the web pages
Users unable to use dashboard
Web
Capture
has
identified
a
training
plan
for
TeleCommuter users to be properly trained in using the
dashboard
Unavailability of TeleCommuter and
Web Capture plans to create appropriate technical
Web Capture personnel
documentation and also identify backup to cover for any
technical personnel risks.
Web Capture will work with TeleCommuter to identify
proper escalation procedures in case of TeleCommuter
personnel being unavailable.
Lack of communication between
Web Capture Project Management will setup appropriate
three different organizations
project communication and escalation channels to address
project risks
4.3. User Enablement
a. Pilot and Phased Roll-Out
During Phase IV, the analytics dashboard will be rolled-out to a pilot group of management employees in
Marketing, Sales, and IT for one week. The pilot will then be followed by a phased roll-out for more senior
management over the next week. Marketing, Sales and IT management employees will monitor the dashboard
numerous times a day while senior management in those departments will review reports less often. Post-project
review and ongoing auditing will be conducted by the same groups.
b. Dashboard Authentication and Authorization
Web Capture will assist in setting up employees with a username and password to access the dashboard on
Coremetrics website. The employee’s authentication credentials are linked to their assigned role which authorizes
them to access specific reports. For example, Marketing and Sales department employees are authorized to view
conversion rate reports while IT employees will have access to TeleCommuter’s website monitoring reports.
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c. Training
Web Capture will provide training on using the dashboard including interpreting standard best practice web
analytics reports and creation of ad hoc reports. Training modules (as indicated in Figure 11 below) are based on
different aspects of the dashboard which includes:
1. Selection of standard reports or creation of ad hoc ones and interpretation of the reports
2. Analysis of flat list rows of data against key metrics or filter on the data
3. Selection of time periods for comparison and analysis of customer behavior during multiple sessions or channels
4. Selection of bar, pie, graph, bubble or table formats for report
5. How to perform analytics on mobile user data and registration data such as geographic location, gender, and age
to understand users at the granular level
Figure 11: Dashboard training modules
4.4. Success Metrics
The success of the project implementation will be evaluated at the completion of the project by the following
criteria:
i. Implementation meets the timeline specified within the project plan.

The project will be implemented within a 10 week period.
ii. Implementation is completed using only the planned allocated resources and according to budget.

The personnel resources will be used according to the resource allocation defined in the Resource section of
the implementation plan above

The project will adhere to the allocated budget defined in the financial justification section 2.4b
iii. Implementation meets the functional requirements defined in section 2.3.
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The success of the web analytics dashboard will be measured after one year of the implementation and based on
the following expected business benefits:

Reduce the time for gathering and analyzing reports by 80%. The dashboard’s tool can be used to make better
informed and timely decisions.

Contribute towards increased customer conversion rate by 20% that can lead to increased sales revenue and
higher profitability.
24
References
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Aster Data Systems. (May 5, 2009). Press Release: Coremetrics Chooses Aster Data Systems’ nCluster. In
Aster Data. Retrieved from http://www.asterdata.com/news/090505-Aster-Coremetrics.php.

Blue Falcon Marketing. (June 18, 2009). 40 Web Analytics Benefits. In Blue Falcon Marketing Online Blog.
Retrieved from http://www.bluefalconmarketing.com/blog/web-analytics/40-web-analytics-benefits.

Coremetrics. An IBM Company. (March 22, 2010). Coremetrics 2010. In Team of Review. Retrieved from
http://teamoreview.com/coremetrics-2010.html.

Coremetrics.
An
IBM
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Coremetrics. An IBM Company. (July, 13, 2009). Exhibit 3: Service Level Agreement.
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Coremetrics. An IBM Company. (2009). White paper: Increasing Relevancy, Loyalty and Conversions Online
with LIVE profiles.
In Coremetrics.
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profiles-increasing-relevancy-loyalty-conversions.pdf.

Coremetrics. An IBM Company. (November, 20, 2008). Coremetrics Implementation Guide.
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Coremetrics. An IBM Company. (May 9, 2000). Press Release: Coremetrics™ Invests Nearly $8 Million in
Technology Infrastructure to Deliver Highly Scalable eMarketing Intelligence Service.
In Coremetrics.
Retrieved from http://www.coremetrics.com/company/2000/pr00_05_04_8million.php.
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Dykes, Brent. (October 19, 2010). Reporting versus Analysis: What’s the difference? In Omniture Industry
Insights. Retrieved from http://blogs.omniture.com/2010/10/19/reporting-vs-analysis-what%E2%80%99s-thedifference/.
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Karpinksi, Rich. (September 10, 2007). Coremetrics Tool Targets Smaller Marketers. In BtoB Magazine.
Retrieved from
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
Lovett, John. (July 23, 2009).
The Forrester Wave:
Web Analytics Q3 2009. Forrester. id: #53639.
Retrieved from http://www.coremetrics.com/downloads/wp-forrester-wave-web-analytics-q3-2009.pdf.

Lovett, John. (May 27, 2009). US Web Analytics Forecast, 2008-2014 (excerpt). In Forrester. Retrieved
from http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/us_web_analytics_forecast%2C_2008_to_2014/q/id/53629/t/2.
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Nucleus Research. (2010). ROI quick reference guide.
In Nucleus Research.
Retrieved from
http://www.nucleusresearch.com/library.html.
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Top Ten Reviews.
2011 Web Analytics Review Product Comparison. In Web Analytics Review 2011.
Retrieved from http://web-analytics-review.toptenreviews.com/.
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TOPSEOs. (December 2010). Best Web Analytics Software & Tools – December 2010. In Rankings of best
web
analytics
software,
tool,
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companies,
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from
http://www.topseos.com/rankings-of-best-web-analytics-software.
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Appendix
1. Project Plan in Microsoft Project format
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