Performance Analytics for ServiceNow
Performance Analytics (PA) provides advanced reporting and KPI tracking capabilities for measuring and improving business processes.
PA Architecture
Component Hierarchy
PA Dashboard
├── Widgets
│ ├── Scorecard Widget
│ ├── Time Series Chart
│ ├── Breakdown Pie Chart
│ └── Single Score
├── Indicators
│ ├── Number of Open Incidents
│ ├── Average Resolution Time
│ └── SLA Compliance Rate
├── Breakdowns
│ ├── By Priority
│ ├── By Assignment Group
│ └── By Category
└── Thresholds
├── Critical: > 100
└── Warning: > 50
Key Tables
| Table | Purpose |
| ------------------------- | ------------------------- |
| pa_indicators | KPI definitions |
| pa_indicator_breakdowns | Indicator-breakdown links |
| pa_breakdowns | Breakdown definitions |
| pa_thresholds | Threshold rules |
| pa_widgets | Dashboard widgets |
| pa_dashboards | Dashboard containers |
Indicators
Indicator Types
| Type | Aggregation | Example | | -------------- | ---------------- | ------------------- | | Count | COUNT(*) | Number of incidents | | Sum | SUM(field) | Total cost | | Average | AVG(field) | Avg resolution time | | Percentage | (A/B)*100 | SLA compliance % | | Duration | Time calculation | Avg time to resolve |
Creating Count Indicator (ES5)
// Create "Open Incidents" indicator
var indicator = new GlideRecord("pa_indicators")
indicator.initialize()
indicator.setValue("name", "Open Incidents")
indicator.setValue("description", "Number of currently open incidents")
// Source configuration
indicator.setValue("cube", "pa_cubes_incident") // or table-based
indicator.setValue("facts_table", "incident")
indicator.setValue("conditions", "active=true")
// Aggregation
indicator.setValue("aggregate", "COUNT") // COUNT, SUM, AVG
// Display settings
indicator.setValue("direction", 2) // 1=Up is good, 2=Down is good
indicator.setValue("unit", "Incidents")
indicator.setValue("precision", 0) // Decimal places
// Scoring
indicator.setValue("frequency", "daily")
indicator.insert()
Creating Average Indicator (ES5)
// Create "Average Resolution Time" indicator
var indicator = new GlideRecord("pa_indicators")
indicator.initialize()
indicator.setValue("name", "Avg Resolution Time")
indicator.setValue("description", "Average time to resolve incidents")
indicator.setValue("facts_table", "incident")
indicator.setValue("conditions", "state=6") // Resolved
// Aggregation on duration
indicator.setValue("aggregate", "AVG")
indicator.setValue("field", "calendar_duration") // Duration field
// Time unit
indicator.setValue("unit", "Hours")
indicator.setValue("unit_conversion", 3600) // Seconds to hours
indicator.setValue("direction", 2) // Lower is better
indicator.setValue("frequency", "daily")
indicator.insert()
Creating Percentage Indicator (ES5)
// Create "SLA Compliance" percentage indicator
var indicator = new GlideRecord("pa_indicators")
indicator.initialize()
indicator.setValue("name", "SLA Compliance Rate")
indicator.setValue("description", "Percentage of incidents meeting SLA")
indicator.setValue("facts_table", "task_sla")
indicator.setValue("conditions", "task.sys_class_name=incident")
// Formula-based percentage
indicator.setValue("aggregate", "FORMULA")
indicator.setValue("formula", "(COUNT(has_breached=false) / COUNT(*)) * 100")
indicator.setValue("unit", "%")
indicator.setValue("direction", 1) // Higher is better
indicator.setValue("precision", 1)
indicator.insert()
Breakdowns
Common Breakdowns
| Breakdown | Field | Use Case | | --------- | ---------------- | --------------------- | | Priority | priority | Incidents by P1/P2/P3 | | Category | category | Incidents by type | | Group | assignment_group | Team performance | | Location | location | Geographic analysis | | Time | opened_at | Trend analysis |
Creating Breakdown (ES5)
// Create "Priority" breakdown
var breakdown = new GlideRecord("pa_breakdowns")
breakdown.initialize()
breakdown.setValue("name", "Priority")
breakdown.setValue("description", "Breakdown by incident priority")
breakdown.setValue("facts_table", "incident")
breakdown.setValue("dimension_field", "priority")
// Sorting
breakdown.setValue("sort_field", "priority")
breakdown.setValue("sort_order", "ASC")
// Element mapping (optional)
breakdown.setValue("use_element_mapping", true)
breakdown.insert()
Linking Breakdown to Indicator (ES5)
// Link breakdown to indicator
var link = new GlideRecord("pa_indicator_breakdowns")
link.initialize()
link.setValue("indicator", indicatorSysId)
link.setValue("breakdown", breakdownSysId)
link.setValue("active", true)
link.insert()
Thresholds
Creating Thresholds (ES5)
// Create threshold for Open Incidents
var threshold = new GlideRecord("pa_thresholds")
threshold.initialize()
threshold.setValue("indicator", indicatorSysId)
threshold.setValue("name", "Critical Level")
// Threshold conditions
threshold.setValue("operator", ">=") // >=, <=, =, >, <
threshold.setValue("value", 100)
// Visual styling
threshold.setValue("color", "red")
threshold.setValue("icon", "exclamation-circle")
// Notification
threshold.setValue("notification_user", adminSysId)
threshold.setValue("notification_script", thresholdScript)
threshold.insert()
// Add warning threshold
var warning = new GlideRecord("pa_thresholds")
warning.initialize()
warning.setValue("indicator", indicatorSysId)
warning.setValue("name", "Warning Level")
warning.setValue("operator", ">=")
warning.setValue("value", 50)
warning.setValue("color", "orange")
warning.insert()
Widgets
Widget Types
| Type | Use Case | Shows | | ---------------- | ------------------- | -------------------- | | Single Score | Current value | "127 Open Incidents" | | Scorecard | Value + trend | Current + sparkline | | Time Series | Trend over time | Line/bar chart | | Breakdown | By dimension | Pie/bar chart | | Comparison | Multiple indicators | Side-by-side |
Creating Widget (ES5)
// Create scorecard widget
var widget = new GlideRecord("pa_widgets")
widget.initialize()
widget.setValue("name", "Open Incidents Scorecard")
widget.setValue("type", "scorecard")
// Indicator
widget.setValue("indicator", indicatorSysId)
// Time range
widget.setValue("time_range", "last_30_days")
widget.setValue("show_trend", true)
widget.setValue("compare_to", "previous_period")
// Display
widget.setValue("show_breakdown", true)
widget.setValue("breakdown", priorityBreakdownSysId)
widget.setValue("chart_type", "bar")
widget.insert()
Dashboards
Creating Dashboard (ES5)
// Create PA Dashboard
var dashboard = new GlideRecord("pa_dashboards")
dashboard.initialize()
dashboard.setValue("name", "Incident Management Dashboard")
dashboard.setValue("description", "Key metrics for incident management")
// Layout
dashboard.setValue("layout", "2-column")
// Access control
dashboard.setValue("public", true)
dashboard.setValue("owner", gs.getUserID())
var dashboardSysId = dashboard.insert()
// Add widgets to dashboard
function addWidgetToDashboard(dashboardId, widgetId, row, column) {
var placement = new GlideRecord("pa_dashboard_widgets")
placement.initialize()
placement.setValue("dashboard", dashboardId)
placement.setValue("widget", widgetId)
placement.setValue("row", row)
placement.setValue("column", column)
placement.insert()
}
addWidgetToDashboard(dashboardSysId, openIncWidget, 0, 0)
addWidgetToDashboard(dashboardSysId, avgTimeWidget, 0, 1)
addWidgetToDashboard(dashboardSysId, slaWidget, 1, 0)
Data Collection
Manual Score Collection (ES5)
// Collect scores for an indicator
var job = new PAScoreCollector()
job.collectIndicatorScores(indicatorSysId)
Scheduled Collection
// PA uses scheduled jobs for data collection
// Default: Daily at midnight
// Configure via: Performance Analytics > Data Collection > Jobs
MCP Tool Integration
Available PA Tools
| Tool | Purpose |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------ |
| snow_create_pa_indicator | Create indicator |
| snow_create_pa_breakdown | Create breakdown |
| snow_create_pa_threshold | Create threshold |
| snow_create_pa_widget | Create widget |
| snow_get_pa_scores | Retrieve scores |
| snow_collect_pa_data | Trigger collection |
| snow_discover_pa_indicators | Find indicators |
Example Workflow
// 1. Create indicator
var indicatorId = await snow_create_pa_indicator({
name: "Open P1 Incidents",
table: "incident",
conditions: "active=true^priority=1",
aggregate: "COUNT",
direction: "down_is_good",
})
// 2. Create breakdown
var breakdownId = await snow_create_pa_breakdown({
name: "By Assignment Group",
table: "incident",
field: "assignment_group",
})
// 3. Link breakdown
await snow_create_pa_indicator_breakdown({
indicator: indicatorId,
breakdown: breakdownId,
})
// 4. Create threshold
await snow_create_pa_threshold({
indicator: indicatorId,
operator: ">=",
value: 10,
color: "red",
})
// 5. Create widget
await snow_create_pa_widget({
name: "P1 Incidents Scorecard",
type: "scorecard",
indicator: indicatorId,
breakdown: breakdownId,
})
// 6. Get current scores
var scores = await snow_get_pa_scores({
indicator: indicatorId,
time_range: "last_30_days",
})
Best Practices
- Direction Matters - Set correctly (up/down is good)
- Meaningful Thresholds - Based on business requirements
- Consistent Frequency - Match data volatility
- Use Breakdowns - Enable drill-down analysis
- Dashboard Purpose - One focus per dashboard
- Trend Analysis - Always show comparison
- Performance - Limit active indicators
- Documentation - Clear indicator descriptions