Tracking and identifying answers: Patience is required
When it is clear what data picture is desirable, the most efficient path to the result must be found, and that can be fun. Analytics work is about creating paths that are reliable and select and show data that can be trusted.
The next steps for analysts are mastering the technology to achieve their goals. It's also about forcing people around them to ask the right questions. Then analyses will help to reveal the right answers.
The case of website analytics
Many people don’t know what they want to know. They buy tools and they measure, but they didn’t do their homework. They aren't sure about who the audience of their website is.
An analyst isn't the right person to answer these kinds of questions. When it comes to web analytics, it isn’t an operational system that tells you the exact answers to everything. It's about directional guidance instead.
The author of an article on the business2community.com website claims that being an analyst for 15 years taught him that most companies spend 70 % of their time on implementation and only about 20 % on preparing data requirements. However, data requirements should be awarded much more attention.
-jk-