Creating KPIs

Use the following procedure to create a KPI. You can create a KPI from the global header, the Home page, or from a scorecard. See "Editing KPIs" for additional information about opening a KPI for editing.

To create a KPI:

1. To create a KPI, do one of the following:

   • In the global header, click New then select KPI. From the Select Subject Area dialog, select a subject area for the KPI. The "KPI editor" is displayed.

   • From a scorecard, go to the Scorecard Documents pane and click the Create Object toolbar button. Or in the Catalog pane, click the New Object toolbar button. Select KPI, and from the Select Subject Area dialog, select a subject area for the KPI. The "KPI editor" is displayed.

2. On the "KPI editor: General Properties page", specify the business owner, actual value, and target value and whether to make the values writeable, define the data format, and indicate whether to enable trending to determine performance patterns. Oracle recommends that you enable trending because trending enables Scorecard to automatically display historical trend charts. Figure 11-3 shows an example of the "KPI editor: General Properties page" for a revenue KPI.

   Figure 11-3 KPI Editor - General Properties Page

   
   
   
   

   Note: If you are going to enable trending, you must also include a Time dimension on the "KPI editor: Dimensionality page". If a Time dimension is selected from the Compare to Prior option, the same Time dimension must be added to the "KPI editor: Dimensionality page". If a Time hierarchy level is selected from the Compare to Prior option, the hierarchy to which that hierarchy level belongs, must be added to the "KPI editor: Dimensionality page". If you are planning to use a KPI in a scorecard, you should assign a business owner. You will not be able to override a KPI status without having a business owner assigned. See "Working with Status Overrides" for additional information.

   
   

3. On the "KPI editor: Dimensionality page", select the dimensions (for example, Sales by Region and by Financial Quarter) that you want to use to aggregate the KPI's actual and target values and determine if the dimensions should be pinned. Note that you should include a time dimension for most KPIs. Exceptions include constants or metrics that are defined as current snapshots, such as "Inventory on Hand" or "Current Phone Support Wait Time." Figure 11-4 shows an example of the "KPI editor: Dimensionality page". In this example, the "Cust Regions"."C50 Region" dimension is pinned to AMERICAS.

   Figure 11-4 KPI Editor - Dimensionality Page

   
   

4. On the "KPI editor: States page", indicate the desired goal based on KPI values (for example, "High Values are Desirable"), define the ranges that evaluate KPI values to determine performance status and score, associate performance levels with actions, identify what to do if no data is returned for the KPI, and associate thresholds as a percent of target value. Figure 11-5 shows an example of the "KPI editor: States page".

   Figure 11-5 KPI Editor - States Page

   
   

5. On the "KPI editor: Related Documents page", add any external links or business intelligence objects to the KPI. Figure 11-6 shows an example of the "KPI editor: Related Documents page".

   Figure 11-6 KPI Editor - Related Documents Page

   
   

6. On the "KPI editor: Custom Attributes page", include as many as five custom columns. Each custom column must evaluate to a numeric value. Custom columns are helpful when you have an associated calculation that you want to show, which isn't the same as the actual, target, variance, and change formulae. For example, you might add a custom column for Year Ago Revenue that displays next to the Revenue KPI for a matching time period. Figure 11-7 shows an example of the "KPI editor: Custom Attributes page".

   Figure 11-7 KPI Editor - Custom Attributes Page

   
   

7. Save the KPI.

   Note the following items:

   • If you are creating a standalone KPI, then click Finish to save the KPI.

   • If you are creating a new KPI, then the "Save As dialog" is displayed where you specify the KPI's name and where you want to save the KPI. If you want the KPI to display within a scorecard's "Scorecard Documents pane", then save the KPI to the scorecard object's folder within the catalog.

   • If you are creating a KPI from a scorecard, then click Save from the "Scorecard editor".