1.4. Performance Indicators

SocrateCloud offers some performance analysis tools that allow you to monitor and track the global status of your business. The performance indicators are updated each time the data included in the analysis is modified in the system (e.g. the payment of an invoice). The analysis is very flexible. You can define measure that are specific to a certain business partner, product, product category, user and/or role, thus obtaining the appropriate information for your business and the operations inside it.

If you define the parameters by indicating the objectives, these can be viewed by pressing the Dashboard button in the principal menu bar:

All the performance objectives defined for the logged-in user and all the goals linked to the any of the user's roles (irrespective of the role used to log in) will be displayed. Furthermore, if the role that the user has logged in with does not have the Use BP Restrictions checkbox and is not defined as a WebStore role, then all the performance objectives that have not been associated to any user or role will be displayed.

Among the performance measures, you can count the Colour Schema, Measure Calculation, and the Measures and Objectives.

Color Schemas

The color schemas control the color of the menu indicator bars. These need to be defined so that, the user will know at first glance whether the Dashboard parameter status is favorable or not.

The colour schemas can be defined using the Performance Color Schema window located in the Performance Measurement -> Performance Analysis SetUp menu. You can define up to 4 levels, each indicated by a separate colour.

Measure Calculation

The performance measure calculation determines what is calculated determine whether it meet the defined objectives and targets.

While the colour schemas can be used for multiple measures, a measure calculation will only be used for a single measure type.

The measure calculation can be defined using the Performance Measure Calculation window located in the Performance Measurement -> Performance Analysis SetUp menu and should be done by a user with SQL knowledge.

Measures

The Performance Measure window, located in the Performance Measurement -> Performance Analysis SetUp menu, is used to define the rules used to measure the performance, which establish the link between the calculation method and the data type.The following fields are available:

• Name, Description

  • Active - select this to indicate that the record is active within the system;

  • Measure Data Type:

    • "Status Qty/Amount" - the indicator will display the measured / target percent;

    • "Qty/Amount in Time" - displays the actual measured amount;

  • Measure Type - select the way the actual measure will be determined: Achievements, Calculated, Manual, Project, Request, Ratio, or User defined.

    • "Calculated" - uses the measure calculation method selected in the Measure Calculation field;

  • "Manual" - the measured amount is entered in the Manual Actual field;

  • "Project" - Project Type

  • "Request" - Request Type

  • "Ratio" - defined in the Performance Ratio window;

    • "User Defined" - the measured is calculated using a custom Java Class;

• Benchmark, Reporting Hierarchy

Goals

The objectives link the measures to the color schemas and determine the time periods and targets for a certain measure. For each objective an indicator will be displayed on the dashboard. These can be defined using the Performance Goal located in the Performance Measurement -> Performance Analysis SetUp menu. The following fields are available:

• Name, Description

  • Role, User/Contact - roles and/or users for which the indicator is displayed;

  • Sequence - determines the order in which the indicators are displayed on the dashboard;

  • Color Schema - determines the colors on the indicator;

• Consolidation Level, Parent Goal

• • Measure Target - enter the target amount that will be compared to the result of the selected measure;

  • Measure - determines how the measured amount is calculated (link between the measure calculation and corresponding data);

  • Measure Scope - determines the period for which the measured amount is determined (total, current year, current month, etc.);

  • Start Date, Stop Date - interval for which the measured amounts are displayed on the chart below the indicator;

  • Measure Display - the grouping level used for the measured amounts displayed on the chart below the indicator;

• • Measure Actual - the measured amount calculated;;

• Performance Objective - measure actual / target measure ratio;

• Show Decimals - option to display the decimals for the amounts on the indicator;

• Last Processing Date, Relative Importance

The Restriction tab is used to establish restrictions for the evaluated records when calculating the measure amount;