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Create a manual indicator


Create a manual indicator

Create a manual indicator to enter indicator scores 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.

Before you begin

Role required: pa_admin, pa_power_user, or admin

About this task

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 manually or by importing data.
Note: You must have a license for Performance Analytics to create indicators.


  1. Navigate to Performance Analytics > Indicators > Manual Indicators and click New.
  2. In the Name field, give the indicator a descriptive name, such as Number of Critical Incidents.
  3. In the Frequency field, select the frequency at which scores are set.
    The default value is Daily.
    Note: The frequency for a manual indicator specifies how to visualize its data. For example, if you set the data points per day or per month in the charts, the setting also affects the scoresheet, so it determines whether you can enter daily or monthly values.
  4. If you prefer that the score of this indicator increases or decreases over time, select Maximize or Minimize in the Direction field.
    Analytical tools and graphic displays use this Direction with this 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.
  5. (Optional) Specify any of the remaining indicator properties:
    Field Description
    Unit The unit of measurement for the score, such as number, days, or percentages.
    Precision The number of digits behind the decimal separator. For thousands and millions, the score is given in thousands or millions followed by a k or an M, with the next lowest power of 10 following the decimal. For more information, see Rounding and precision in indicators.
    Key Identifies the indicator as a key indicator. Used only to filter the list of indicators in Performance Analytics > Analytics Hub.
  6. In the Access control tab, set whether to publish this indicator to the Analytics Hub, and whether to limit the visibility of the indicator by user, group, or role.
  7. (Optional) In the Access Control tab, set which user is the Contributor authorized to populate the indicator scores.
    You can select only a user with the pa_admin, pa_power_user or pa_contributor role. If you do not specify a Contributor, anyone with one of these roles can edit the indicator scores.
  8. In the Other tab, set various miscellaneous properties.
    Table 1.
    Field Description
    Default time series A predefined analytical function, like a 7-days running average, to apply to the indicator instead of showing the raw scores of the indicator.

    The indicator frequency restricts which time series are available. For more information, see Time series aggregations in the Analytics Hub and widgets.

    Live group profile Live group profile that indicates the live group where the indicator scores are published.
    Value when nil The value that is inserted as the score when no value is collected.

    This value applies only to the indicator score. It does not impact scores for breakdown elements.

    Order Number indicating the order in which indicators are displayed in the Analytics Hub. Indicators with the lowest value are displayed at the top of the list. If no values are provided in the Order field, indicators are displayed from a to z using the Name field. To use the order field, you must enter order numbers for all indicators. If you put in numbers for only a few indicators, the order in which indicators are displayed reverts to a to z.
    Render continuous lines When selected, the Analytics Hub shows unbroken data lines for this indicator, even when there is no data for a specific date. This behavior may be useful when displaying data sets with varied starting dates or data that is not regularly updated, such as stock information.
  9. (Optional) In the Forecasting tab, set the forecast method, the number of data collection periods to forecast, the amount of historical data to base the forecast on, and the upper and lower limits of forecast values.
    For more information, see Performance Analytics scores forecasts.

What to do next

Create manual breakdowns and assign them to this indicator.