Indicator form

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 4 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Indicator form

    The Indicator form in ServiceNow’s Application Portfolio Management (APM) module enables customers to define and manage business metrics (indicators) that assess applications across multiple dimensions, including cost, quality, technical risk, investments, user satisfaction, and business value. Starting with the Xanadu release, this module has been moved to the Enterprise Architecture Workspace.

    Show full answer Show less

    Only users with the snapm.apmadmin role can create or edit these indicators.

    Indicator Form Fields

    • Name: Defines the name of the application indicator.
    • Unit: Specifies the measurement unit (e.g., number, currency, time, rate) and can be customized to suit customer requirements.
    • Frequency: Sets how often data is collected for the indicator, which must align with fiscal periods for accurate normalization unless dynamic normalization is used.
    • Target Maximum and Target Minimum: Define threshold values for scoring, though they are unavailable for some data source types (e.g., Assessments).
    • Active: Enables or disables the indicator.
    • CI Class: Specifies the configuration item type for which the indicator score is generated.
    • Direction: Indicates whether higher or lower values are better (Maximize or Minimize).
    • Consider Absolute Values: Optionally enforces use of target min/max values for scoring when frequencies match fiscal periods.
    • Short Description: Provides a brief summary of the indicator’s purpose.

    Datasource Configuration

    The data source defines where the indicator collects its data, with these options:

    • Performance Analytics: Uses scores from Performance Analytics indicators.
    • Custom Script: Allows creation of scripts to pull data from other applications or tables.
    • Query Condition: Runs filtered queries on specified tables to retrieve data.
    • Assessments: Scores and ranks records based on assessments for metric types.
    • Indicators: Aggregates data from dependent child indicators into a parent indicator.

    Additional fields include:

    • Default Breakdown: Name of the Performance Analytics breakdown used.
    • Indicator: Selected when Performance Analytics is the data source; must have a collection frequency equal or higher than the indicator’s frequency.
    • Consolidation: Defines how to aggregate data values (sum, average, minimum, maximum), with Average as default.
    • Custom Script: Supports JavaScript to gather data dynamically, such as calculating incident counts per application.
    • Assessment Metric Type and Category: Appear if Assessments is the data source, defining the metric used to assess the indicator.
    • Query Table, Conditions, Aggregate Field and Type, Group By, Consolidation Field: Used to filter, group, and aggregate data when querying tables.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    Customers can leverage the Indicator form to create precise, tailored metrics that provide insight into application performance and health across various factors. By defining appropriate data sources, frequencies, and scoring thresholds, customers can generate normalized scores that support informed decision-making within their APM initiatives.

    Using the flexible data source options, including Performance Analytics and custom scripts, allows integration of diverse data types and complex calculations to accurately evaluate applications.

    The consolidation and grouping features enable customers to aggregate data meaningfully, for example, summarizing monthly values into quarterly scores or consolidating child indicators into parent indicators.

    Overall, this form empowers customers to measure, monitor, and improve their application portfolio with actionable metrics aligned to their business goals and operational realities.

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

    Important:

    Starting with the Xanadu release, the application indicators module is moved to the Enterprise Architecture Workspace. To learn more, see Configure indicators. To view the updated indicator form fields, see Create new indicator form.

    Role required: sn_apm.apm_admin

    Indicator form fields

    Field Description
    Name Name of the application indicator.
    Unit

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

    You can also create units according to your requirements.
    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.
    Direction Business application with maximum or minimum values. Select Minimize if lower values are better. Select Maximize if higher values are better.
    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.
    Short description Short summary of the application indicator.
    Table 1. Datasource Configuration section fields
    Field Description
    Default breakdown Name of the Performance Analytics breakdown.
    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: Allows you to write a script that collects data from another application.
    • Query Condition: Allows you to select a table to run filters on to obtain data.
    • Assessments: Allows 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 APM, see Generate survey assessments and view results within APM.
    • Indicators: Allows 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 isn’t greater than the frequency at which the data of the Performance Analytic indicator is 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.
    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.
    Custom script The Custom Script field appears when Custom Script is selected from the Data source list.
    An example custom script is:
    var results = {};
 var applications = [];
 var incidentCount = 0;
 
 var applicationsGr = new GlideRecord("cmdb_ci_business_app");
 applicationsGr.addQuery('active', true);
 applicationsGr.query();
 //for each application get incident count at business service level
 while(applicationsGr.next()) {
    incidentCount = 0;
    
    var gr = new GlideRecord("incident");
    gr.addEncodedQuery("opened_atBETWEEN"  + startDate  + "@" +   endDate);
    gr.addQuery('cmdb_ci_business_app', applicationsGr.getUniqueValue());   
    gr.query();
    
    incidentCount = gr.getRowCount();
    var appInfo = {};
    appInfo.appId = applicationsGr.getUniqueValue();
    appInfo.weight = incidentCount;
    applications.push(appInfo);
    }
 results.applications = applications;
 results;
    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.
    Query table Table from which the queries are filtered.
    Query conditions The conditions based on which the query is filtered.
    Aggregate field The field from the selected table is displayed for the records that match the query conditions.
    Aggregate type Type of aggregation applied for calculation of indicator scores.

    The available options are:

    • Sum
    • Count
    • Avg
    • Min
    • Max
    Group by Categorize the data returned by the query, based on values of a specific field in the query table. For example, if you want to group the data by the life cycle stage status of applications, select Life Cycle Stage.
    Consolidation field The field from the query table on which the computational method for aggregating the values is applied.