“They go hand in hand. In one sense the analytics aspect of it needs to come first. You need a framework in place to know what you want to measure, what's your goal, what information or insight you want to get, because that will impact what you then actually will gather. I can gather a lot of data, but if very little of it is relevant to what I want to find out, then probably I'll gather data that isn't of use to me.”
“The two are coming together. Data gathering tells us what's happening, but it needs to be put in context, compared against the past and against competitive benchmarks—both industry and internal—to indicate whether we're doing better than before. We'll take a look at what it means for the business and what actions to take, whether they're campaigns, product announcements or other marketing activities that will help sustain the sales pipeline. We view that analysis function as critical. It's no longer just about delivering a report but rather understanding implications and what is needed to prepare and act in the marketplace.”