How to grow and develop an analyst team in a matrix organization

During my career, I have worked in both a custom development organization and a product company. Despite the fact that the approaches and principles of teams work in them are very different, analysts in both types face with similar difficulties: as a specialist, you are isolated within one team, you are engaged in local tasks of your product / project, there is no one to exchange experience with or to learn. 

How to be? Matrix structures come to the rescue. Analysts, while continuing to work within their “vertical” teams, gather into a “horizontal” department/direction/tribe. 

What are the pros and cons of such a “matrix” organization? What does a head of analytics do? Where is the line of responsibility between him and product/project managers? How to form a strong team of analysts in the conditions of the matrix? For which companies is the “matrix” generally suitable? 

Let's talk about all this questions.