Why Google Isn’t Enterprise Level
As I was in a client’s portfolio today inside Google Analytics I was trying to export a dashboard as a PDF, but would consistently get the following error message upon either export or trying to send the dashboard via email:
After playing around with it I was able to export as XML. I suspect the problem may be due to the fact that this particular dashboard had Google Adwords data in it, as other reports and profiles exported just fine, but so far it is just a theory. After exhausting all of my troubleshooting methods (PC vs. Mac, Firefox vs. IE vs. Safari) I opened up a ticket with Google Analytics support. As Google Analytics is a free solution they only currently offer email support, although they do have Google Analytics Authorized Consultants as well as Google Analytics Groups if you have an issue, but in this case I believe it is with Google themselves and not something I’ve defined.
I go to open my ticket and it goes through without issue. Fast forward 15 minutes when I go to check my email in Entourage. It comes up with an error that it cannot connect and that there is an error with my account. Colleagues email is working fine so I give it some time. Fast forward again over 12 hours later and my work email is still down. Upon logging into Google Apps our IT administrator is greeted with a message that there are problems with Gmail and Google is actively working on fixing the issue. Upon logging in to web mail I’m greeted with the following:
So now I’m stuck in a situation where I emailed Google Analytics for support on an error message but I’m unable to see any communication because Google Apps and Gmail is not currently functioning either. Now not every company can afford to house a Blackberry Exchange Server or Microsoft Exchange 2007 which I understand, but I’m not the first, second, or even third to point out the pitfalls of relying upon Google to essentially manage day to day business operations. Similarly on the web analytics front there are plenty of free alternatives out there to Google Analytics, but not everyone has the need or can shoulder the expense of deploying Omniture Site Catalyst or Coremetrics.
My point being that while Google offers solutions that are geared towards the small and medium business market their products are simply not up to the caliber of being termed Enterprise level when you have over 12 hours of downtime to fix email, and when you’re unable to export a report in Google Analytics as a PDF for days without getting error messages. Has anyone else had similiar issues with other Google based apps?
HI there- I actually think Coremetrics has a solution that is affordable. Check out their new PowerPack bundle, they just launched it yesterday. It’s on their home page. You certainly get what you pay for!