Did you miss the eMetrics presentation and Whichtestwon webinar? You can still listen to their presentation here https://whichtestwon.com/top-10-testing-tips (Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with whichtestwon but you’ll need join as a premium member to be able to access the video)

Do you want to stay in touch with me and look for future opportunities working in our winning team? Look me up on Linkedin or Twitter (ed_wu)

Section 1 presentation by myself. Watch here

Section 2 presentation by Carol Gohl. Watch here

Section 3 presentation by Dave Nelson has yet to be published.

I think the key message we are trying to deliver is that our industry is far from maturity and the only way to move forward is to take a balanced approach toward people, process & technology. Most of the companies are still trying to figure out what’s the technology platform they should be using for web analytics and testing. Luckily at Dell, we have solved that issue in the last three years, at least for the most parts. Our focus right now is how to get more values out of those investments and the answer is people & process. Without enough talents, it limits the potentials of the value you can extract from the technology. Without process, smart people can become frustrated. You might be able to have one or two big wins but it will collapse eventually when the lead person leaves.

My passion at Dell is really to help the company create a sustainable, scalable and consistent analytics & testing program. But I have come to realize this is not a one-person’s game. This is so much bigger than myself. The only way to do so is to hire people much smarter than me and create processes which can help them become successful. I really think for any analytics managers/executives, the number one priority should be people and the number two should be process. Technology is important, but don’t let it get in your way and stop you from developing a better team and better process.

One thing I mentioned in the conference is there is a shortage of great web analytics talents. Nothing new here as everybody knows that. What I didn’t mention is there is a bigger shortage of great web analytics managers/executives. I think there are two possibilities to fill in that gap in the future. The first possibility is for our web analysts to grow up and become leaders in their companies who can influence the overall marketing analytics strategy, not just web analytics in silo. Adam Greco is a great example who grew from a web analytics consultant to an analytics executive. However if our web analysts fail to make that jump, then managers/executives with no web analytics background but great background in other analytics disciplines such as finance, pricing etc. might come over to take the lead. I have seen this is happening especially in large enterprise.

Two years ago, I was the only one attending eMetrics. This year, we had total 8 Dell team members in DC, making Dell the company with the most attendees. It is a small change but a great testimony how much focus Dell has given to online analytics & optimization.

My close remarks of the keynote is I don’t know where the future is taking us. Nor I know how long it will take us to become the best-in-class analytics & testing company. But I do know that with the right vision and strategy, we will get closer to the end goal, slowly but surely. Of course there will be blood and tears along the way, but hey, isn’t that making the whole thing so exciting?

Yes indeed. I came to this “web analytics” thing about two years ago and have attended every eMetrics Conference since then. In each conference, I learn a lot, get to know many fine people in our field and come back with a bunch of ideas that I can implement at Dell. Each conference also marks a step forward in my personal growth. I shall say, without eMetrics Summit, I won’t be where I am today.

Let me reflect the journey…

Oct. 2008 in Washington DC. My first eMetrics Experience. I was shocked, overwhelmed, impressed and inspired. As a result of this conference, I decided this is what I want to focus for the rest of my life, as long as I am working. Here are the thoughts I wrote down at that time. eMetrics Summit 2008 Impressions and Reflections (Day 1), eMetrics Summit 2008 Impressions and Reflections (Day 2), eMetrics Summit 2008 Impressions and Reflections (Day 3) and Key Takeaways from eMetrics Summit 2008 in DC

May. 2009 in San Jose. I probably wouldn’t go to this conference if I wasn’t elected to the Board of Director of Web Analytics Association. Swine Flu was scary at that time. See my little story Here I am San Jose!

Oct. 2009 in Washington DC. In this conference, instead of just participating, I co-presented with my former manager, Gautam Madiman, now Director at AutoDesk, a topic many audience found interesting “Dell’s Evolution – Leveraging Analytics Globally as a Key Strategic Business Driver” I was also brave enough to take the WAA Certification “test the test” and was the second in place among 50 also participants. In this conference, I started the tradition to bring a Dell Adamo laptop as a give away prize.

May. 2010 in San Jose. In this conference, I was invited to the “Global Enterprise Management Panel” and sit down with Keith Boswell from Kaiser Permanente and Kim Stegner from IBM. To some extents, this panel helped me decide to focus on managing analytics in a global company as my future career goal. I also received the “WAA 2009 Championship” award together with my friend, Joel Wright. Again in this conference, I became one of the first 10 “WAA Certified Web Analyst”

And now it is the time for DC conference again. This time, I will try to do something different. Instead of just me standing there, I will share the stage with two managers in my team, Dave Nelson and Carol Goh. I will first share Dell’s vision to become the best in class in online analytics and testing. Dave will then talk about a very interesting topic “what a good test looks like”, drawing from his experience as the Global Testing Manager, managing the global testing roadmap. Carol will then talk about how to improve process to scale the testing program globally. I think this will be a great topic and interests to executives, managers and web analysts alike.

If you are coming to DC, please join us and you might be lucky to win a Dell Adamo XPS!

If you haven’t decided, I hope my experience in the last two years will help you make the case to yourself and to your management. Believe me, it worths the money.

This is probably by far the shortest presentation I have delivered. But the message is simple and clear: as Dell is building our online analytics & testing capability and really focus on investing in people, process and technology, NOW is the best time to join Dell and really make a big impact.

Are you fired up by this? Let me know if you are.

When Daniel Waisberg, the WAA marketing chair told me about this, I simply couldn’t believe it. But here is the official announcement as the prove.

Special thanks for the volunteers who made this annual event possible:

•Judges: Jennifer Veesenmeyer, Judah Phillips, Stéphane Hamel and “Wandering” Dave Rhee.
•Logistic & Organization: Daniel Waisberg, June Dershewitz, Clare Madden, Shannon Taylor, Suzanne Carter-Jackson.

I want to make our paper available on my blog as well and welcome any of your inputs. Enjoy reading!