Amid all the hype arround the new version of Google Analytics last week, Visual Sciences/WebSideStory did its share to grab headlines by announcing new releases for HBX and Visual Sciences, and officially changing the name of the company from WebSideStory to Visual Sciences.

I believe the name change means more for Wall Street than for customers. In fact, much of what the company communicated to the press and financial analysts is a rehash of a core Visual Sciences theme: focus on analysis of all data points, not solely web data. On the plus side, the company released a white paper discussing the "data wheels" concept behind Visual Sciences' technology. This is a (small) departure from Visual Sciences "close to the vest" approach. Of course, the new name also signals the strategy to up-sell customers into the Visual Sciences product line-up, a point that was made clear during the company's analyst conference call.

The release of HBX Analytics 4.0 is intended to be the bridge between HBX and Visual Science offerings. The optional module introduces some of the well-known Visual Sciences 3D data visualization and e-commerce analytics. The question is whether V. 4.0 will represent a stable release. Clearly the company has seemingly put together a broader toolkit and migration path, but current customers are going to want to ask themselves if this is the path they want to follow. And prospective buyers should carefully compare HBX Analytics to Visual Site. I'd suggest you review the information in Parts 1-6 of the Web Analytics Report to determine how you make the right decision for your enterprise.