Webtrends - The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
June 03, 2014

Webtrends - The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Chaim (Daniel) Arnstein | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

9.2b, 8.7d, 7.5

Modules Used

  • The Basic Webtrends Reporting package

Overall Satisfaction with Webtrends Analytics

Webtrends is used on a department by department basis. In most cases, the requirement is simply to gauge the effectiveness of the web site by measuring the number of visitors visiting the web site, and comparing usage month over month. Some of the newer implementations use Smart Tags rather than log files, and drill down deeper into how the web site is being used.
  • In terms of simple web site usage, Webtrends is excellent at showing increasing or decreasing usage month over month.
  • Webtrends is very good at showing what pages of the web site are getting the most usage, what are the most successful downloads
  • Webtrends is also very good at showing the geographic location of the clients. It is pretty good at showing what organizations the clients belong to as well.
  • For Webtrends on Premises, Memory usage is a big problem. And even powerful servers with copious amounts of physical memory - does not help for Webtrends
  • There doesn't seem to be an upgrade path for Webtrends on Premises. It is stuck at version 9.2b, and there are currently no plans to upgrade. Companies that want the latest features must instead use the hosted version, Webtrends on Demand. Companies may save on salaries, but they will need to pay Webtrends lots of money, if they are big users of the software.
  • Webtrends for SharePoint requires a Professional Services contract to do properly - Webtrends does not share the documentation. Some of the other add-ons have the same, or similar, issue.
  • Increased Web Site effectiveness, for both internal employee websites, as well as external customer facing web sites.
Have not use Webtrends competitors
1. Existing investment
2. Our customer - the different businesses who use Webtrends reports - satisfaction.
Scenarios
1. If you want to use web server log files as input to your web analytics, then Webtrends will provides a good product, with great ease of implementation. Don't even think about being cheap on hardware, and make sure Webtrends runs on real servers, not in a VM environment.
2. If you want to use Data Tagging, similar to Google Analytics or Site Catalyst, Webtrends has a powerful product, just be prepared to pay.
3. If you are new to Web Analytics, but it is the strategic direction, start with Webtrends on Premises.
Questions to Ask
1. What are you trying to accomplish?
2. Can you place a dollar value on the benefit that you expect/need from Webtrends?
3.Can you live with Webtrends running SaaS?

Webtrends Analytics Support

The Webtrends Support Engineers are expert at what they do, and we get to speak to someone on the support team quickly. They provide great solutions when available, and when there is no solution, which can happen, they describe work-arounds.
ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
No - Webtrends has trouble competing within the corporation for resources, and the company did not feel that Webtrends is important enough to pay for 7 X 24 coverage.
When we migrated from Webtrends 7.5 to Webtrends 8.7d, we were able to do it ourselves because the Support Team provided us with the information that we needed in order to make the necessary changes to the SQL Server Database. Without that, we would have had to use their Professional Services team.

Using Webtrends Analytics

Memory issues. Lack of upgrade path for necessary functionality in the Webtrends on Premises production.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Creating a new Data Source
  • Creating a new Report Profile
  • Creating a new Smart Data Tag Data Source
  • Assigning custom roles / permissions to Webtrends resources
  • Drilling down to see what a particular visitor has done.