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Category: Digital Analytics

Google Analytics Premium – The Service Level Agreement

October 17, 2011

Service Level Agreement: A Google First.

There is no doubt that the ease of use and the new features of Google Analytics Premium can make any data enthusiast start to drool.

But what if you’re not the one using web analysis tools on a daily basis? What makes GA Premium so special? Well, there is one thing that will resonate well with any enterprise organization decision maker; the availability of a Service Level Agreement.

Enterprise level organizations need Guarantees. No matter how great the features have become in Google Analytics; it wasn’t a true enterprise level analytics solution until GA Premium was announced. GA Premium provides the guarantees, implementation services and support that enterprises expect.

Get Your Data. Guaranteed.

  • Data Collection: 99.9% of data collected,
  • Reporting: 99% report availability, and
  • Fresh Data: within 4 hours, 98% of the time.

Google Analytics has been an incredibly reliable tool for years, with up-time performance that most companies envy. However, many enterprises (and their legal team) require that web analytics tools include the more tangible guarantee of a Service Level Agreement (SLA). GA Premium is the first web analytics tool developed by Google that carries such a guarantee.

Overview of Google Analytics Premium SLA

The Service Level Agreement is not only an incredible compliment to the new Google Analytics Premium features, or vice versa depending on who you are, it is a Google first. Upon acquiring a license, you enter a contractual relationship with Google covering 3 main areas of service: data collection, reporting, and data processing.

Data Collection

Under the GA Premium Service Level Agree, Google will make “commercially reasonable efforts” to maintain a 99.9% up-time rate for collecting data. What does that mean, exactly? It means that if you wait for data collection for more than 45 minutes in any month, your fees will be reduced for that month (quite generously). And, the longer you have to wait, the deeper Google’s pockets will get. But be assured that Google fully expects to exceed their SLA guarantees and they don’t plan to pay anyone. Google will make sure you have your complete data whenever you need it.

Reporting

The Service Level Agreement covers your reports, as well. Within the interface, your data reports are guaranteed to be available 99% of the time. For those of you familiar with Google Analytics, this is really nothing new, as reporting up-time has exceeded 99% for many years.

However, enterprises can finally have it in writing.

Data Processing

This is where the real power is flexed. Your data is guaranteed fresh 98% of the time. How does Google define “fresh?” You will be served up a hot batch of site activity and performance data that is less than 4 hours old; which, beats out most fast food joints. From our own experience with Google Analytics Premium, data processing has typical processing times of around 2 hours or less.

More than an SLA

These are great reasons for enterprises to choose Google Analytics Premium. And, there is much more. GA Premium also includes a wealth of services such as;

  • a thorough implementation review
  • a detailed implementation guide
  • custom training
  • dedicated 24/7 support from Blast Advanced Media
  • data integration for data warehouses and custom dashboards (available as an additional service from Blast)
  • and ongoing consulting to adapt your installation to your growing business and changing needs.

Still Curious? No Problem.
To learn more about the Google Analytics Premium Service Level Agreement, or anything else related to Google Analytics;

Charles Davis
About the Author

Charles is the Vice President of Solutions and a Partner at Blast Analytics. He is an entrepreneur at heart and thrives on working with clients to understand the most important details of their business. He is also a member of the Digital Analytics Association and serves on the Awards Gala Organizing Committee and as co-chair of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter.

Connect with Charles on LinkedIn. Charles Davis has written on the Blast Digital Customer Experience and Analytics Blog.

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