To analyze the performance of a business process that is recorded in a ServiceNow table, use an automated indicator. If a suitable indicator is not provided in a Platform Analytics Solution, create a new one.

Before you begin

You must have a suitable indicator source, as explained in Automated indicators. You also should design your KPIs as part of a business strategy before you create them, as described in Design your Performance Analytics solution with KPI Composer and Planning your indicators. Also familiarize yourself with the Workflow for creating indicators.
Note:
  • You must have a subscription for Performance Analytics to create indicators.
  • If you are using domain separation, the indicator is created in the domain that you are currently in.

Role required: pa_admin, pa_power_user, pa_data_collector, or admin

About this task

This form provides all the many options for creating an automated indicator. To create a simple automated indicator quickly, see Create an automated indicator with a wizard. However, for deeper information about indicator options and for tips, read this topic first.

Procedure

  1. Use one of the following navigation paths:
    • If you are on an upgraded instance that has not migrated to Platform Analytics, navigate to All > Performance Analytics > Indicators > Automated Indicators and select New.
    • If you are on a new instance or have migrated to Platform Analytics, navigate to All > Platform Analytics Administration > Indicators > Automated Indicators and select New.
  2. In the Name field, give the indicator a descriptive name, such as Number of Critical Incidents.
  3. Either:
    • Select a calendar and frequency, then an indicator source. Go to step 4, then do step 5.
    • Select an indicator source without first selecting a calendar or frequency. Skip step 4 and do step 5.
    If you manually set the calendar and frequency, you can select only an indicator source with a matching calendar and frequency. If you do not set the calendar and frequency, you can select any indicator source. In the latter case, the indicator inherits that indicator source's calendar and frequency.
    Note: If you enable data snapshots for this indicator, any calendar and frequency you set on the indicator are overridden and the frequency becomes daily.
  4. (Optional) Set the calendar and frequency.
    1. In the Calendars field, select either the standard calendar or a business or fiscal calendar group.
    2. If you selected a business or fiscal calendar, select the calendar frequency.
      The choice of calendar frequencies depends on the setting of the business calendar entries or fiscal calendar schedules.
      For example, the Gregorian calendar has Quarter, Month, Week, and Year frequencies. If you are using the Gregorian calendar, you must choose one of these frequencies.
      Calendar frequency options for the Gregorian calendar
    3. (Optional) If you selected a standard calendar, you can select the indicator frequency.
      If you do not select an indicator frequency, the frequency is inherited from the indicator source.
      Changing from a Daily frequency to a Monthly changes the available indicator sources.
  5. Scroll to the Source tab and select an Indicator Source.
    Typing a partial name in the field filters the list of available indicator sources accordingly.

    If you are using domain separation, you can select only indicator sources to which you have visibility.

    If a Calendar frequency or Frequency is specified, you can select from only those indicator sources with a matching calendar and frequency.

  6. In the Aggregate field of the Source tab, select the aggregate function to apply to the data from the indicator source.

    Count counts the number of records. Count distinct counts the number of unique values rather than the total number of records. For example, if the name of a user appears more than once in a list, the user is only counted once. Other choices perform the specified aggregate operation, such as summing the values in a field across records.

    If you select a Sum, Minimum, or Maximum aggregate, consider excluding some types of time series from being applied to the indicator. For more information, see Exclude time series from an indicator.
    Tip: Try to avoid using the Average aggregate, because that aggregate can complicate the use of time series. Instead, create a Sum automated indicator and a Count automated indicator. Then create a formula indicator that divides the Sum indicator by the Count indicator to calculate the average.
  7. If you prefer that the score of this indicator increases or decreases over time, select Maximize or Minimize in the Direction field.
    Analytical tools and graphic displays use this Direction with this indicator.
    Tip: Set a direction whenever you can. All key indicators should be set to Maximize or Minimize.
    ValueUse case
    Maximize Select if an increase in this indicator score is desired. For example, consider selecting Maximize for an indicator that shows revenue. Analytic tools and graphic elements reflect that an increase in this indicator score is good and a decrease is bad.
    Minimize Select if a decrease in this indicator score is desired. For example, consider selecting Minimize for an indicator that shows costs. Analytic tools and graphic elements reflect that a decrease in this indicator score is good and an increase is bad.
    None Select if the direction of change in this score does not matter to your business.
  8. In the Source tab, complete any remaining fields.
    If the Aggregate is set to Count, only the Collect records and Value when nil fields are available.
    Table 1. Source tab fields
    FieldDescription
    Collect records
    Check box to indicate if the individual record sys_ids are stored when the indicator is collected. Selecting this check box enables you to drill down to those details in the Analytics Hub and widgets. When available, collected records appear on the Records tab.
    Tip: Generally avoid collecting records with aggregates other than Count and Sum. Users rarely want to see the records that go into a Min or Max, and the number of records in a Count Distinct may differ from the score. Consider collecting records for indicators with these other aggregates only if a user asks for them.

    You must enable this option for the main indicator of a Spotlight group. Otherwise, the Spotlight group cannot evaluate a snapshot of collected records. For more information, see Evaluating a snapshot or platform data.
    Scripted A check box to indicate if the value should be aggregated based on a script. This option is available only if Aggregate is not set to Count. Clear the Scripted check box to aggregate the values in a field.
    Field The field to perform the aggregate operation on. This field appears only if Aggregate is not Count and Scripted is not selected.
    Script Select a script or create a script for the aggregation. This option is available only if the Scripted check box is selected.

    For more information, see Scripting in Performance Analytics.
    Value when nil The value that is inserted as the score when no value is collected. This value is inserted whether or not breakdowns are applied.

    This value is not used to calculate formulas or aggregates, such as an average.
    For example, the indicator Summed age of open incidents uses the Sum aggregate. Because it uses this aggregate, it must have either a field or a script specified. In this case, it is scripted and uses the Incident.Age.Hours script.
    The Incident.Age.Hours script on the Summed age of open incidents indicator
  9. In the Access control tab, set whether to save this indicator to the library and whether to limit the visibility of the indicator by user, group, or role.
    Activating Share to library means that the indicator will be available in the following places:
    • The list of KPIs in the Platform Analytics experience library
    • KPI Details
    • Analytics Hub, but only on upgraded instances that have not fully migrated to Platform Analytics
  10. To enable more than two levels of breakdowns to apply to this indicator, select Enable Unlimited Breakdowns.

    The Enable Data Snapshots button on an indicator record.

    Not all indicators support multiple breakdowns. If this indicator does not support multiple breakdowns, a message with the reason appears. For more information, see Data snapshots and multiple breakdowns.

    If you activate multiple breakdowns, you override any calendar and frequency you have set on the indicator. The indicator becomes daily.

  11. Expand the context menu and click Save.

    Save option in the context menu
  12. Perform one of the following procedures:
    • If no prompts appear to take further action and the indicator meets your requirements, select Manage Breakdowns to add breakdowns to your indicator. For more information, see Assign and map breakdowns
    • If you are prompted to take further action or you have designed a more elaborate indicator, complete the advanced indicator settings.

Advanced indicator settings

After you create an automated indicator with the required settings, you can configure optional, advanced settings.

Before you begin

You have created and saved an automated indicator.

Role required: pa_power_user

Procedure

  1. If you selected a business or fiscal calendar, and this indicator is the first indicator created with this calendar frequency, you are prompted to set the periodicity.
    These settings apply to all indicators with the same calendar frequency, unless you override the settings in the Collection periods tab. For more information, see the section "Indicators with business calendars."
    1. In the Related Links section, click Configure periodicity.
      A PA Business Calendar Retention Period record opens.
    2. In the Number of entries to establish seasonality field, enter the number of time periods, as defined in business calendar or schedule entries, that are necessary to find seasonal patterns.
      For more information about business calendar entries, see Creating business calendars.
    3. Set the number of time periods, as defined in business calendar or schedule entries, to retain scores and snapshots.
      A default value of one is provided, but you should consider changing it.
  2. In the Additional Conditions tab, add conditions to limit the set of records that the indicator evaluates.
    The conditions in the indicator apply in addition to the conditions in the indicator source. For real-time scores to be displayed, a condition must be set in the indicator or indicator source.
    However, the following operators are not supported on indicators. You can use these operators on the indicator source conditions instead:
    • keywords
    • greater than field
    • less than field
    • greater than or is field
    • less than or is field
    Warning: To avoid a data collection job completing with errors, follow these limitations:
    • Do not add a condition that references Roles to an indicator. You can reference the Roles table only in an indicator source.
    • If you define conditions that refer only to dot-walked fields, you must associate at least one breakdown with the indicator.

    In general, try to avoid dot-walking to sys_id or the display value of a table, as doing so creates unnecessary table joins.

    Tip: To verify that your conditions are well designed, list the indicators for an indicator source and include the Conditions field in the view. You should have at least one indicator that only uses the conditions on the indicator source. Otherwise, your indicator source is probably collecting unused data. In this case, consider moving common conditions from the indicators to the indicator source, or splitting the indicator source.
    List of indicators for the Incidents.Open indicator source, showing that some do not have conditions on the indicator
  3. (Optional) Specify any of these indicator properties:
    FieldDescription
    Unit The unit of measurement for the score, such as number, days, or percentages.

    To collect scores in the system reference currency on a Price, Currency, or FX Currency field, select Use reference currency. For more information, see Indicator scores in reference currency.

    If you select % or a time period as the unit, consider excluding some types of time series from being applied to the indicator. For more information, see Exclude time series from an indicator.

    If you select Time as the unit, the time is given as Days, Hours, and Minutes. If the system property glide.ui.duration.seconds.enabled exists and is true, seconds are also displayed. In this case, seconds are also displayed for all time fields on the instance and are included in exports to Microsoft Excel.
    Precision The number of digits behind the decimal separator. For more information, see Rounding and precision in indicators.

    This field is not available when the unit is Use reference currency. In this case, the precision is inherited from the reference currency.
    Number format The abbreviations used for large numbers, thousands through quintillions. For more information, see Rounding and precision in indicators.
    Key Identifies the indicator as a key indicator. Used only to filter the list of indicators in Performance Analytics > Analytics Hub. Not used in Platform Analytics experience.
  4. (Optional) In the Other tab, set various miscellaneous properties.
    Table 2. 'Other' tab fields
    FieldDescription
    Default time series

    A predefined analytical function, like a 7-days running average, to apply to the indicator instead of showing the raw scores of the indicator.

    For more information, see Applying time series aggregations.
    Note: You cannot set the default time series for an indicator that uses a business or fiscal calendar. These calendars do not support time series aggregations.
    Live group profile

    Live Group Profile [live_group_profile] record for a Live Feed group. Specify a group profile to cause that group to get notifications about this indicator.

    For more information about this social application on the ServiceNow AI Platform, see Live Feed.
    Order

    Number indicating the order in which indicators are displayed in the Analytics Hub. Indicators with the lowest value are displayed at the top of the list. If no values are provided in the Order field, indicators are displayed from a to z using the Name field. To use the order field, you must enter order numbers for all indicators. If you put in numbers for only a few indicators, the order in which indicators are displayed reverts to a to z.

    Not used in Platform Analytics experience.
    Default chart type

    Set a default chart type (line, column, spline, or area) for this indicator. When opening the Analytics Hub or KPI Details for this indicator for the first time, the default chart type is used. If the chart type is changed in the Analytics Hub or KPI Details, that preference is remembered.
    Render continuous lines

    When selected, the Analytics Hub and KPI Details show unbroken data lines for this indicator, even when there is no data for a specific date. This behavior may be useful when displaying data sets with varied starting dates or for data that are not regularly updated, such as stock information.

    Continuous lines are not rendered when a time series is set on the indicator or the Analytics Hub or KPI Details.
    Show real-time score

    When selected, the Analytics Hub and KPI Details can show the score of this indicator in real time, as well as the current state of associated records. Clear this check box when indicator data is not available in real time, such as in an integration that uses data from a third-party source. For more information, see Real-time scores.

    Note: A condition must be set on the indicator or the associated indicator source for real-time scores to be displayed.
    For example, in the Other tab you can configure an indicator as follows:
    • By default, it shows a 30-day running sum of scores in widgets. You can override this default in the Analytics Hub, KPI Details, dashboard widgets, or workspace data visualization.
    • The IT Live Group is notified of changes to the indicator.
    • The indicator is listed third in the Analytics Hub list of indicators. All other indicators also have their position specified. This setting does not affect the order of indicators on KPI Details.
    • The default chart type is Spline on the Analytics Hub and KPI Details.
    • Data lines for the indicator are shown unbroken, even when data is missing.
    • The Analytics Hub and KPI Details can show the score of this indicator in real time.

    The Other tab on an indicator with settings previously listed

  5. (Optional) In the Collect breakdown matrix fields tab, you can enable second-level breakdowns for the indicator, such as Open Incidents by Category by Priority.
    Enabling second-level breakdowns can significantly impact performance. For more information, see Collect and manage a matrix of breakdowns.
  6. (Optional) In the Collection periods tab, override the properties that set the maximum number of periods prior to today for which scores and snapshots are collected and kept.
  7. (Optional) In the Forecasting tab, set the forecast method, the number of data collection periods to forecast, the amount of historical data to base the forecast on, and the upper and lower limits of forecast values.
    For more information, see Performance Analytics scores forecasts.
  8. (Optional) In the Statistics exclusion tab, select any statistics that you do not want to show on KPI Details or the Analytics Hub.
    For example, you might not want to show the Change % for an indicator with a percentage unit.
  9. Click Manage Breakdowns.

Indicators with business calendars

Business and fiscal calendars do not have standard periods. Performance Analytics has introduced several innovations to accommodate these custom periods. Your workflow for creating indicators differs accordingly.

Important: The Create New indicator creation wizard does not support indicators based on business or fiscal calendars.

Differences in how periods are defined

Unlike the standard calendar, business calendars have custom periods based on business calendar entries. To accommodate this difference, the following properties are defined differently on indicators that use business or fiscal calendars:
  • The indicator frequency is derived from the business calendar instead of from a static list of choices. The Frequency column of the indicator record is ignored. Instead, the Calendar frequency column is used.
  • For forecasting, you have to specify the number of periods that are needed to find seasonal patterns. This value cannot be determined automatically from the calendar period, like for standard calendars. You set this value for each calendar frequency, in PA Business Calendar Retention Periods [pa_calendars_retention] records.
  • You have to set the number of calendar periods to retain scores and snapshots. The system properties that set the default numbers of calendar periods for retaining data are ignored. Instead, set these numbers for each calendar frequency in PA Business Calendar Retention Periods records.

PA Business Calendar Retention Periods records and overriding them

When you first create an indicator that uses a particular calendar frequency, you are prompted to complete a PA Business Calendar Retention Periods record. Any indicators you make in the future with that calendar frequency use the same PA Business Calendar Retention Periods record.

You can override the settings in a PA Business Calendar Retention Periods record for a specific indicator. Override the defaults in the Collection periods tab of the indicator record, the same as for standard calendar indicators. However, when you first select Override retention periods, you see the default retention periods for a Daily indicator with a standard calendar. These values are display artifacts only and you can ignore them. Put in the values you want, and they will override the PA Business Calendar Retention Periods record values.

Note: You cannot override the Number of entries to establish seasonality value from the PA Business Calendar Retention Periods record.

Business calendar groups

When you select an entry in the Calendar field other than the standard calendar, you actually select a business or fiscal calendar group. Both business and fiscal calendar groups are listed under Business calendar > Business Calendar Groups. Each business or fiscal calendar group contains a set of business calendars, which you select under Calendar frequency. Each business calendar in turn contains a set of either business calendar or schedule entries, for business and fiscal calendars, respectively.

The process for generating a fiscal calendar automatically creates a fiscal calendar group. For business calendars, the creator of the business calendar must also create the business calendar group, manually. If you have any questions, contact the admin responsible for creating business calendars. For more information, see Create a Business Calendar Group.

Automated indicators in formulas

A formula indicator can include automated indicators that use business calendars. The formula indicator must use the same business calendar as at least one of the contributing automated indicators. For more information, see Create a formula indicator.