New Indicator form

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
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    Summary of New Indicator form

    The New Indicator form in ServiceNow's Enterprise Architecture application allows customers to define and configure application indicators—business metrics that evaluate applications across dimensions such as cost, quality, technical risk, investments, user satisfaction, and business value. These indicators help customers monitor and assess application performance through scorecards and dashboards.

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    Key Features

    • Indicator Configuration Fields: Define essential properties including Name, Category, Short Description, Direction (whether to minimize or maximize values), Result Limit (to control the number of records processed for performance), Result Precision (decimal display), and Unit (number, currency, time, rate, etc.).
    • Refresh and Frequency Settings: Set the Automatic Refresh Interval for updating indicator scores and configure Frequency to align data collection with fiscal periods. Frequency must match across indicators and data sources for correct normalization.
    • Target Values and Normalization: Specify Target Maximum and Minimum values for normalization when applicable; the system also supports dynamic normalization if frequencies do not match. The Consider Absolute Values option controls whether target values are applied directly or via intelligent logic.
    • Data Source Configuration: Choose from various data sources such as Performance Analytics (PA) indicators, Custom Scripts, Query Conditions, Assessments, or dependent child Indicators. Each data source type enables customers to tailor how data is gathered and used for scoring.
    • Normalization and Consolidation: Use normalization scripts to standardize scores across applications and capabilities. Consolidation methods (Sum, Average, Maximum, Minimum) determine how multiple data points aggregate into a final score.
    • Assessment Metrics: When using Assessments as the data source, specify the Assessment Metric Type and Category to align with evaluation criteria.
    • Click Through Configuration: Enable navigation from indicator scores to detailed views or related dashboards using configurable click-through URLs and scripts. Choose how these views open (new window, same window, dialog box) for flexible user access.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Enables comprehensive, customizable tracking of application health and value through measurable indicators.
    • Supports performance optimization by limiting processed data volume and automating refresh cycles.
    • Provides flexible data sourcing options that integrate with Performance Analytics and assessments for robust metric calculations.
    • Improves decision-making by applying normalization and consolidation methods to produce meaningful, comparable scores.
    • Enhances user experience by offering direct navigation paths from indicators to related information or actions.

    Application indicators are business metrics that assess the applications across dimensions such as cost, quality, technical risk, investments, user satisfaction, and business value.

    Indicator form fields

    Field Description
    Name Name of the application indicator.
    Category Category that the indicator is associated with.
    Short description Short summary of the application indicator.
    Direction Business application with maximum or minimum values. Select Minimize if lower values are better. Select Maximize if higher values are better.
    Result limit The maximum number of records an indicator displays when running an associated script. This enables better performance of the Enterprise Architecture by not processing too many records.
    Result Precision Define how many decimal places are displayed for the indicator's calculated value in the scorecards and dashboards. For example, a result precision value of 0 means that the value is rounded to the nearest whole number.
    Unit

    A number, currency, time, duration in minutes, hours, days, month, or quarter, or rate.

    You can also create units as per your requirements.
    Automatic refresh interval The refresh interval to update the indicator scores within the defined time range.
    Order The position of the indicator in the sequential order of all other indicators while accessing an application or capability.
    Frequency Frequency determines the interval at which the data for the indicator source should be collected.

    The Frequency field isn’t available when Performance Analytics is selected from the Data source list.

    The indicator frequency must match the fiscal period being scored for the Target maximum and Target minimum values to be applied during normalization. If the frequencies don’t match, the system uses dynamic normalization instead.
    Target maximum Maximum value for the indicator.

    The Target maximum field isn’t available when Assessments is selected from the Data source list.
    Active Select the Active option to enable the indicator.
    CI Class CI type for which the score is generated.
    Target minimum Minimum value for the indicator.

    The Target minimum field isn’t available when Assessments is selected from the Data source list.
    Consider Absolute Values Option to consider values from the Target maximum and Target minimum fields.

    This field is available only when values are entered in the Target maximum and Target minimum fields.

    When the check box is cleared, values for target maximum and target minimum are considered based on the intelligent logic.

    The target maximum and target minimum values are applied only when the indicator frequency matches the fiscal period being scored. If the frequencies don’t match, the system uses dynamic normalization regardless of whether this check box is selected.
    Table 1. Datasource Configuration section form fields
    Field Description
    Data source

    Defines the location from which the indicator receives data.

    • Performance Analytics: Collects scores from indicators created in Performance Analytics. See Performance Analytics indicators.
    • Custom Script: Enables you to write a script that collects data from another application. Beneath the Data Source field, a sample script appears. Customize the script as needed.
    • Query Condition: Enables you to select a table to run filters on to obtain data.
    • Assessments: Enables you to evaluate, score, and rank records by assessing records in a table. See Create metric types and generate assessable records. To view results of survey assessments within Enterprise Architecture, see Generate survey assessments and view results within APM.
    • Indicators: Enables you to add dependent child indicators. Through the child indicators, data is gathered to the parent indicator.

      For example, if the parent indicator is number of issues, the dependent indicators can be number of incident counts, number of problems, and changes. These dependent indicators are child indicators and the number of incidents, problems, and changes recorded are consolidated up to the parent indicator as the number of issues.
    Indicator The Indicator field appears when Performance Analytics is selected from the Data source list.

    Indicators are statistics that are used to measure current conditions and forecast trends.

    Note:
    If the collection frequency of the application indicator is not greater than the frequency at which the data of the Performance Analytic indicator are generated, then the system displays an error message: Frequency of the indicator must always be greater than or equal to the frequency of the datasource configuration indicator. For more information, see Collection of PA indicator score data.
    Default breakdown Name of the Performance Analytics breakdown.
    Normalization script A script to evaluate and score business applications and capabilities using standardized metrics. It involves using indicators that provide a normalized score for the condition they are evaluating. These indicators can be based on assessments, query conditions, custom scripts, or performance analytics.
    Consolidation Computational method for aggregating the values, a function such as sum, average, maximum, or minimum.

    Default is Average. For example, Average is the sum of the monthly values divided by the total number of months in a quarter.

    If you select Maximum or Minimum, then it’s the maximum value or the minimum value of a month in the quarter, respectively.

    If you select Sum, then it’s an aggregate of all monthly values in the quarter.
    Assessment Metric Type Type of metric that is used to assess the indicator.

    Assessment Metric Type field appears when the Data source is Assessments.
    Assessment Metric Category Category of the metric.
    Table 2. Click Through section form fields
    Field Description
    Click through URL navigation type Select whether to view the application or capability indicator details in a new window, in the same window, or in a dialog box.
    Click through URL script The script associated with an indicator that allows users to select a URL and view the indicator data in a related application or dashboard. This enables quick access to relevant information, or actions related to the indicator data.