What are the key differences between analytics resources and team structure at large companies / small companies / agencies / consultancies?

There are three models for analytics team structures: Centralized, Decentralized, Centralized Decentralization.

Most small companies will be lucky to have a full-time dedicated Analyst. In these cases, the part-time analyst will sit in whatever team that’s most convenient. Usually, it is in Marketing.

In medium-sized companies, the team structure is typically centralized with the team owning all facets of data collection, reporting and analysis.

In large-sized companies, the team structure typically starts out as centralized. Over time as the company matures – and grows -, there is a small team at the center (that will own strategy, innovation and overall business analysis), while each Business Unit will have one or more Analysts in them operating in a decentralized manner with macro-guidance from the central analytics org.

An Agency’s analytics team might have a different structure depending on size (small, medium, large), competency (only data collection and reporting or collection, reporting and analysis), and focus area (end-to-end digital, or just marketing). Typically the analytics team is centralized. In larger agencies, there will be centralized analytics teams that individually develop competence in data collection, advanced data analytics, visualization and presentation, so on and so forth.