AWS recently announced a new service called Clickstream Analytics on AWS, an end-to-end solution to collect, ingest, analyze, and visualize clickstream data inside organizations’ web and mobile applications.
With this new solution, organizations can keep their data in their AWS account's security and compliance perimeter and customize the processing and analytics to their requirements. Sébastien Stormacq, a principal developer advocate at AWS, explains in an AWS news blog the value of the solution:
For example, many business line owners want to combine clickstream analytics data with business system data to gain more comprehensive insights. Storing clickstream analysis data in your AWS account allows you to cross-reference the data with your existing business system, which is complex to implement when you use a third-party analytics solution that creates an artificial data silo.
The solution offers a backend system for capturing, processing, and visualizing clickstream data. It can be quickly deployed using an AWS CloudFormation template. Furthermore, it includes Java and Swift SDKs specifically designed for mobile applications, simplifying data collection and providing developers with a user-friendly API to gather application-specific data, handling tasks such as local buffering, communication retries, and more.
Source: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/solutions/latest/clickstream-analytics-on-aws/solution-overview.html
The solution offers an intuitive console for easy configuration, allowing users to select from three AWS services (Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka, Amazon Kinesis Data Streams, or Amazon S3) to ingest application clickstream data. It supports multiple data pipelines for different applications or teams, providing flexibility to tailor the backend to the user base and requirements.
In addition, the solution includes preinstalled plugins for data transformation, such as User-Agent and IP address enrichment. Furthermore, it provides an Amazon Redshift Serverless cluster by default to minimize the costs; however, users can select a provisioned Amazon Redshift configuration to meet their performance and budget requirements.
Additionally, Clickstream Analytics on AWS provides pre-built visualization dashboards for user acquisition, activity, and engagement using Amazon Redshift, with the option to develop custom analytics and dashboards using preferred tools and services.
The Clickstream Analytics solution is free; however, users are responsible for paying for the AWS services they choose to use, such as Kinesis or Amazon Redshift. The expenses incurred will vary based on the specific configuration users opt for.
Goran Opacic, an AWS Data Hero, tweeted regarding the cost:
I’m a bit worried about the costs. You can’t easily predict the cost due to many services involved.
With Stormacq, responding:
It really depends on the quantity of data to ingest, store, and analyse. The recurring fixed cost is minimal.
Lastly, more details and guidance is available through the Clickstream Analytics on AWS Workshop and documentation.