WebTrends announced plans to acquire OpenSoft
Communications in a stock-for-stock deal valued at roughly $1.7
million. Under terms of the deal, UK-based OpenSoft will change its name to
WebTrends UK Limited, while the company’s 14 staffers will stay put in London.
OpenSoft has been a WebTrends
product reseller for nearly half a decade, providing sales and aftermarket
support on the start-up’s flagship WebTrends Professional Suite. The
popular software tracks everything from page views to Web surfers’
astrological signs, and spits out attractive, customizable reports for any
Webmaster’s viewing pleasure.
Although pricey, WebTrends software is hands down one of the best in the
business for tracking and analyzing eyeballs on any number of levels.
Because of the sticker shock, the company sells its products mainly to ISPs
and deep-pocketed corporations.
While a tremendous value with aesthetics to boot, much of WebTrends
software could use a little support. That goes double for corporate
big-wigs who often can’t find the ON switch to their PCs. Installing and
configuring a WebTrends package onto your local Mom-and-Pop Web host
provider takes at least a cursory knowledge of working with servers.
This week, WebTrends unveiled the newest release of its original
CommerceTrends brainchild, with version 3.0. The software collects
clickstream data for Web site traffic analysis. Which is a fancy way of
saying it compiles user activity within a site – where you came from, where
you went once you got there, and how long you stuck around – that sort of
thing.
The gist is to help e-commerce Web properties turn browsers into buyers by
providing customizable tracking tools. Companies can find out things like
which day of the week and what hours in the day get the most virtual foot
traffic. WebTrends’ analytical software spends most of its time compiling
enormous log files not typically seen by the average user, and parlaying
them into flashy usage reports.
The package starts at a steep $25,000 a pop, which is unfortunately more
than most sites make in a month with their e-commerce initiatives.
One of the company’s more intriguing nascent revenue streams is as an
application-service-provider. WebTrends Live was launched earlier this
year, and it allows customers to pay an a la carte subscription fee to use
all of the company’s popular Web site analysis tools, without the hefty
price tag or the hassles of installing the software themselves.
Any questions or comments, love letters or hate mail? As always, feel free
to forward them to kblack@internet.com.
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A Growing Trend
