1. Monitoring Business Activity with Oracle BAM
  2. Using Oracle Business Activity Monitoring as a Designer
  3. Creating KPIs

7 Creating KPIs

This chapter explains how to create Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in Oracle Business Activity Monitoring (BAM).

This chapter includes the following sections:

Understanding KPIs

There are two major types of performance indicators: outcome metrics and driver metrics. KPIs are outcome metrics that compare performance measures to specific business goals that roll up into larger organizational strategies requiring monitoring, improvement, and evaluation.

Outcome metrics, sometimes called lagging indicators, measure business activity that a strategy is designed to achieve, such as return rate per month or average call processing time for the last moving hour. Driver metrics, sometimes called leading indicators, measure business activity that influences the outcome metrics.

KPI values vary with time, have targets to determine performance status, include dimensions to allow for more specific analysis, and can be compared over time for trending purposes and to identify performance patterns.

You can define two types of KPIs in BAM: Realtime KPIs and Scheduled KPIs. A Realtime KPI collects data and performs incremental calculations of a measure continuously. For example, a call center might update the number of waiting calls every time a new call arrives. A Scheduled KPI collects data and recalculates the aggregation from a specific time at a regular interval. For example, a call center might update the number of unresolved customer complaints every week.

A KPI's status is determined by comparing its value against high and low thresholds that you define. For example, for a KPI that measures product sales in thousands of units, you can define the ranges described in Table 7-1.

Table 7-1 Sample Thresholds and Statuses

Evaluation Range Threshold Status

Values exceeding 120 indicate superior performance

121 and above

High

Values between 80 and 120 indicate good performance

80 - 120

Medium

Values less than 80 indicate poor performance

79 and below

Low

Risk indicators are driver metrics that provide early warning signs to identify events likely to jeopardize KPIs. For example, a risk indicator for sales might be the number of units in stock, which can block completion of sales if it is too low. You can associate a risk indicator with a Realtime KPI.

KPI Prerequisites and Uses

KPI prerequisites are a list of tasks you must complete to ensure that all KPIs you create function smoothly.

Before you can create a KPI, you must do the following:

  • Add to your project the data object containing the measure the KPI will analyze. For more information about projects, see Planning and Creating Projects. For more information about data objects, see Working with Data Objects.

  • If you are creating a Scheduled KPI, create a Group SQL Query with no dimensions on which to base the KPI. For more information about group queries, see Creating a Group SQL Query.

  • If you need to associate a risk indicator with a Realtime KPI, create a Continuous Query for the risk indicator. For more information about continuous queries, see Creating a Continuous Query.

After you create KPIs, you can use them in the following ways:

In a KPI Watchlist

You can create a special view called a KPI Watchlist that uses a group of related KPIs. After you save it, you can add it to dashboards. For more information about KPI Watchlists, see Creating KPI Watchlist Business Views. For more information about dashboards, see Creating Dashboards.

Although you cannot use a KPI directly in any other view, you can use the Group SQL Query on which a Scheduled KPI is based in a Gauge type view. Creating Gauge Business Views.

To trigger alert actions

You can use the values of a KPI measure (high, medium, low) to initiate different alert actions. For example, you can define an action that notifies you when the value of an Internal Costs KPI exceeds a certain dollar amount. These alert actions are specific to the KPI and do not appear in the left panel navigator under Alerts. For more information about alert actions, see Alert Actions.

Creating a Realtime KPI

This section outlines the procedure to create a Realtime KPI.

To create a Realtime KPI:

  1. Go to the Designer page.
  2. Click KPIs in the left panel navigator, or right-click KPIs and select the Create menu item.

    The KPIs dialog opens.

  3. Type a KPI Name and optionally edit the KPI Display Name, select Realtime KPI, and click Create.

    The Name is case sensitive, must begin with a letter, and may consist only of letters, numbers, and the underscore character. It may have up to 128 characters. It cannot be changed after the KPI is created.

    The Display Name is case sensitive and may contain any characters except the forward slash (/), which indicates a folder path. It may have up to 128 characters. It can be changed at any time.

    A tab opens for the new KPI.

  4. On the KPI tab, specify the following Measure settings:

    • Description — An optional description of the measure used in the overall description of the KPI query.

    • Data Object — The data object containing the measure the KPI will analyze.

    • Measure aggregation — Select AVG, COUNT, COUNTDISTINCT, SUM, MAX, or MIN.

      COUNTDISTINCT counts duplicates only once. The options displayed depend on the Measure selected. For example, if the Measure is a VARCHAR type, only COUNT and COUNTDISTINCT are displayed.

    • Measure — The numeric attribute the KPI measures.

    • Use rolling window — Optionally check this box to define a period over which and a frequency at which the aggregation is calculated for incoming data. For example, you could update the number of calls completed in the last hour every ten minutes.

    • Update Interval — The aggregation is recalculated every time new incoming data is received. The update interval determines how often the result within the rolling window is updated.

    • Units — Select hours, minutes, seconds, or milliseconds. This setting applies to both the Update Interval and the Window Size.

    • Based on — A date or time column upon which the rolling window calculation is based. For example, choosing Call Start Time enables the system to determine whether a given call is within the rolling window period.

    • Window Size — The period over which the aggregation is calculated, from an amount of time in the past to the present. Examples of window sizes are the last 30 minutes or the last 24 hours.

  5. Specify the following optional Threshold settings:

    • Description — An optional description of the threshold used in the overall description of the KPI query.

    • Threshold — Click the down arrow button and select one of the following options. More settings are displayed depending on the option you select.

      • Constant — Type an integer value in the text box to define the upper end of the high range. The lower end of the low range is zero. This is the default unless the Measure aggregation is AVG.

      • Historical — Type an integer value in the text box. Select SECOND, MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, WEEK, or MONTH as the units for the integer. Then select a historical reference measure, which can be the same as the KPI measure. The KPI and historical reference measures use the same aggregation.

      • Standard Deviation — This option is displayed only if the Measure aggregation is AVG. In that case, it is the default. No additional options appear.

    • Deviation Ranges — Click the down arrow button. Select constant (the default) or percentage if the Threshold is Constant or Historical. If the Threshold is Standard Deviation, this setting is standard deviation.

    • Deviation Range display — Click the gear icon to change the Min, Max, and Increment of the range.

    • High and Low range sliders — Move the range sliders until they show the desired high and low threshold values. The sliders are set to 1 and –1 by default.

    • <add action> — You can optionally add different actions for the High, Medium, and Low ranges of the KPI. For more information about actions, see Alert Actions.

  6. Specify the following optional Risk Indicators settings:

    • Description — An optional description of the risk indicator used in the overall description of the KPI query.

    • Risk Indicators — A continuous query of a measure defined in the data object as a driver metric for the KPI measure. For more information about continuous queries, see Creating a Continuous Query.

  7. Click Save.

Creating a Scheduled KPI

This section outlines the procedure to create a Scheduled KPI.

To create a Scheduled KPI:

  1. Go to the Designer page.
  2. Click KPIs in the left panel navigator, or right-click KPIs and select the Create icon.

    The KPIs dialog opens.

  3. Type a KPI Name and optionally edit the KPI Display Name, select Scheduled KPI, and click Create.

    The Name is case sensitive, must begin with a letter, and may consist only of letters, numbers, and the underscore character. It may have up to 128 characters. It cannot be changed after the KPI is created.

    The Display Name is case sensitive and may contain any characters except the forward slash (/), which indicates a folder path. It may have up to 128 characters. It can be changed at any time.

    A tab opens for the new KPI.

  4. On the KPI tab, specify the following Measure settings:

    • Description — An optional description of the measure used in the overall description of the KPI query.

    • Business Query — The query of the measure the KPI will analyze. Only group queries with no dimensions are listed. For more information about queries, see Creating Business Queries.

    • Measure aggregation — Select AVG, COUNT, COUNTDISTINCT, SUM, MAX, or MIN. COUNTDISTINCT counts duplicates only once. The options you can select for this setting depend on the query you select.

    • Every — Select SECOND, MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, or MONTH.

    • Starting on — Type a date, or click the Select Date icon and select a date from the pop-up calendar. The default is today.

    • At — Type integers for the hour and minute, or use the Increment and Decrement buttons. The hour box uses 24-hour time, so 2 pm is 14, for example.

  5. Specify the following optional Threshold settings:

    • Description — An optional description of the threshold used in the overall description of the KPI query.

    • Threshold — Click the down arrow button and select one of the following options. The options you can select for this setting depend on the query you select. More settings are displayed depending on the option you select.

      • Constant — Type an integer value in the text box to define the upper end of the high range. The lower end of the low range is zero. This is the default unless the Measure aggregation is AVG.

      • Historical — Type an integer value in the text box. Select SECOND, MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, WEEK, or MONTH as the units for the integer. Then select a historical reference measure, which can be the same as the KPI measure. The KPI and historical reference measures use the same aggregation.

      • Standard Deviation — This option is displayed only if the Measure aggregation is AVG. In that case, it is the default. No additional options appear.

    • Deviation Ranges — Click the down arrow button. Select constant (the default) or percentage if the Threshold is Constant or Historical. If the Threshold is Standard Deviation, this setting is standard deviation.

    • Deviation Range display — Click the gear icon to change the Min, Max, and Increment of the range.

    • High and Low range sliders — Move the range sliders until they show the desired high and low threshold values. The sliders are set to 1 and –1 by default.

    • <add action> — You can optionally add different actions for the High, Medium, and Low ranges of the KPI. For more information about actions, see Alert Actions.

  6. Click Save.

Editing a KPI

When you edit a KPI, the changes propagate to all KPI watchlists that include the KPI and all dashboards that include these KPI watchlists.

Use the following procedure to open, edit, and save a KPI.

Note:

If you edit the group query upon which a Scheduled KPI is based, do not add a dimension, or the KPI will not work.

To edit a KPI:

  1. In the left navigation pane, click the arrow to the left of KPIs.

    All saved KPIs in the current project are displayed in a list.

  2. Click the KPI name, or right-click the KPI and select the Edit menu item.
  3. Make the desired changes.
  4. Click Save.

Renaming a KPI

This section outlines the procedure to rename a KPI.

Use the following procedure to change the Display Name of a KPI.

The Display Name is case sensitive and may contain any characters except the forward slash (/), which indicates a folder path. It may have up to 128 characters. It can be changed at any time.

To rename a KPI:

  1. In the left navigation pane, click the arrow to the left of KPIs.

    All saved KPIs in the current project are displayed in a list.

  2. To rename the KPI, right-click the KPI name and select the Rename menu item.

    The name becomes text in an editable field.

  3. Type the new name and press Enter.

    The new name appears in the list.

When you edit the KPI, the new Display Name is displayed on the tab. However, the internal Name remains unchanged. When you edit the KPI, this name is displayed on the left in the header.

Deleting a KPI

This section outlines the procedure to delete a KPI.

Use the following procedure to delete a KPI. The KPI is removed from any views or dashboards that reference it.

To delete a KPI:

  1. In the left navigation pane, click the arrow to the left of KPIs.

    All saved KPIs in the current project are displayed in a list.

  2. Click the KPI icon and click the Delete icon, or right-click the KPI name and select the Delete menu item.

    A dialog asks you to confirm the KPI deletion.

  3. Click OK.

    The KPI disappears from the list.

Securing a KPI

A KPI inherits security settings from the project in which it is created.

For more information about projects, see Planning and Creating Projects.

To change security settings for a KPI:

  1. In the left navigation pane, click the arrow to the left of KPIs.

    All saved KPIs in the current project are displayed in a list.

  2. Right-click the KPI and select Security Settings from the pop-up menu.

    The security tab for the KPI opens.

  3. To add a role or group to whom you can explicitly grant or deny permissions, follow these steps:

    1. Click the Add icon in the Grant Permissions or Deny Permissions table.

      The Add Application Roles, Groups, and Users dialog opens.

      See Managing Oracle BAM Users for information about how to add users to roles and groups.

    2. Type a Name for the role or group you are adding.

    3. Select from the drop-down List: Application Role or Group.

    4. Click Search to populate the Available Members list.

    5. To add a member to the Selected Members list, select the member and click the single right arrow.

    6. To add all members to the Selected Members list, select the member and click the double right arrow.

    7. To remove members from the Selected Members list, use the single and double left arrows.

    8. When the Selected Members list is final, click OK.

      The Add Application Roles, Groups, and Users dialog closes, and the Name you specified appears in the table.

  4. To remove a role or group, select the table row and click the Remove icon.

  5. To grant permissions, select Read, Write, Remove, or Security for the users, roles, and groups listed in the Grant Permissions table.

  6. To deny permissions, select Read, Write, Remove, or Security for the users, roles, and groups listed in the Deny Permissions table.

  7. Click Save.