Create an indicator definition

You can create a new KPI Composer indicator definition directly from the relevant artifact in the Data Definition tab. Fill the indicator definition with the necessary information for creating a Performance Analytics indicator.

Before you begin

You have an existing KPI Composer project with a complete draft of the KPI tree in the Analytics tab. You also need technical knowledge of Performance Analytics indicators.

Role required: sn_kpi_composer.admin or admin to link to a Performance Analytics indicator, sn_kpi_composer.user for other functionality. No roles are required for responsible users or users with edit access, except to link to a Performance Analytics indicator.

About this task

You can create an indicator definition for every artifact in your project, whether or not it is associated with a Performance Analytics widget. You cannot add more than one indicator definition for an artifact. However, if you link an artifact to a formula indicator, you automatically link it to all the contributing indicators in the formula.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to All > KPI Composer and open the relevant project.
  2. Navigate to the Data Definition tab.
  3. Locate an artifact, probably a Measurement, that you want to define an indicator for.
    Tip: Before you continue to create an indicator definition, check whether any suitable indicator definitions already exist. Click the artifact to open its properties. Then browse the list of available indicator definitions.
    Properties of a measurement artifact in the data definition tab
  4. Select the plus sign, +.
  5. In the PA Indicator field, you can search the existing Performance Analytics indicators on this instance to see if any match this indicator definition.
    If you select a Performance Analytics indicator, its properties appear read-only in the "Linked PA indicator details" column. This information is there to help you base the indicator definition on the linked indicator.
    Note: Requires the sn_kpi_composer.admin or admin role.

    You can only search the indicators by name.

    A link icon appears in artifacts next to the name of an indicator definition that is linked to a Performance Analytics indicator.

    Critical success factor artifact in Data Definition tab, showing indicator definitions linked to PA indicators

  6. Fill in the Development instructions field with any information for your developers that is not in the rest of the form.
    The information in Development instructions is for your internal developers use only. You can also provide details about the indicator in the Description field. The information in the Description field should be replicated in the Description field of the resulting Performance Analytics indicator.
  7. Decide on the Direction of the indicator.
    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. Decide whether an Automated, Formula, or Manual indicator best represents the information in the artifact.
    Indicator TypeDescription
    Automated An automated indicator uses an indicator source as its data set. The indicator source specifies a table or database view, conditions for filtering records from that source, and the frequency at which you expect to display the data. The indicator applies an aggregator and optional conditions to this data.
    Formula Create a formula indicator to produce a new computed score from one or more other indicators. Besides indicator scores, the formula can include calculations such as the gap between an indicator score and the indicator target.
    Manual

    Manual indicators are not associated with an indicator source. Scores for manual indicators are not generated automatically by a data collection job. Instead, populate these indicators by adding scores to the scoresheet manually.

    Manual indicators are typically used for data that cannot be retrieved from the ServiceNow instance because it comes from an outside system, such as customer data from a third-party sales system.

  9. Fill in any remaining fields.
    • If you are defining a Manual indicator, you do not have to add any more information.
    • If you are defining a Formula indicator, clearly describe to a Performance Analytics administrator how to build the formula. You do not have to use actual formula indicator JavaScript syntax.
    • If you are defining an Automated indicator, include the following information:
  10. Either click Submit, or, if you want to define supporting indicators, open the context menu and click Save.

Example: Creating an indicator definition

In the following short animation, the user defines a formula indicator for the measurement "% of major incident first call resolution." The indicator is based on an existing PA indicator that calculates a similar percentage but does not filter on Priority.

Creating an indicator definition for a measurement

Add contributing indicators

After you create an indicator definition in KPI Composer, you can add contributing indicators to that definition. Formula indicator definitions, where the formula includes one or more other indicators, require contributing indicators to be complete.

Before you begin

You have an existing KPI Composer project with a complete draft of the KPI tree in the Analytics tab. This project has at least one indicator definition that requires references to other indicators.

You need technical knowledge of Performance Analytics indicators.

Role required: Same as creating an indicator definition

Procedure

  1. In the relevant artifact on the Data Definition tab, click the indicator definition name to open the indicator definition.
    Measurement artifact with the indicator definition highlighted
  2. In the Supporting Indicator Definitions related list, click one of the following buttons:
    • Click New to create a new indicator definition. Follow the same procedure as in Create an indicator definition.
    • Click Edit to open a list of existing indicator definitions in this project. You can select as many indicators as you need.
    Search the existing indicator definitions before you create new ones, so as not to duplicate indicators.

Result

After saving the changes, the artifact in the Data Definition tab shows the contributing indicator definitions under the main indicator definition, with a darker background.

Example: Adding a contributing indicator

In this example, the contributing indicator Number of resolved incidents is added to the % of major incident first call resolution artifact. This indicator matches an existing indicator definition.

Animated gif showing a contributing indicator being added to an artifact