Benchmark Panel Development

Use a Benchmark panel to analyze dimension members or metrics based on targets and variances to the target.

Prerequisites

The Add Dashboard Panel dialog box or the Edit Dashboard Panel dialog box is displayed

Features

When creating a Benchmark panel, you enter the following information:

Feature	Description
Specify the row items	You can select either metrics or a dimension to appear down the panel as row items. You can select up to 10 items. When selecting metrics, do not select one with text values. Text metrics do not appear correctly in the report. For information about selecting members, see Dimension Member Selection in Select Dialog Boxes.
Set filters	You can filter dimensions by one member. For information about selecting members, see Dimension Member Selection in Select Dialog Boxes.
Set the layout of the panel	You set one of the following types of layouts: Dimensions down the table, a time period in column 1 and a comparison time period in column 2, and a measure to report on. The report shows the measure values for the dimension over two time periods and the percent variance between the time periods. Dimensions down the table, a time period in column 1 and a fixed target value in column 2, and a measure to report on. When setting fixed target values, you specify the target value for each row. The report shows the values for the time period, the target values you entered, and the percent variance between the reported values and target values. Dimensions down the table, a metric in column 1 and a comparison metric in column 2, and a time period to report on. The report shows the metrics and the percent variance between them during that time period. Metrics down the table, a time period in column 1 and a comparison time period in column 2. The report shows the metric values over two time periods and the percent variance between the time periods. Metrics down the table, a time period in column 1 and a fixed target value in column 2. When setting fixed target values, you specify the target value for each row. The report shows the values for the time period, the target values you entered, and the percent variance between the reported values and target values.
Set alerts	You can apply color-coded alerts to the values in the first column when that value is below or above a particular threshold value. Setting alerts is optional. Typically, values that are below the low threshold appear in red (warning) and values that are above the high threshold appear in green (positive). In cases where a low value is considered more positive than a high value, you can switch the colors so that values that meet the low threshold are shown in green and values that meet the high threshold are shown in red. For information about setting alert options, see Setting Alerts for a Benchmark Analysis.
Display variances as a percentage	You can display the information in the Variance column as a percent. Otherwise, the information is displayed as the difference between column 1 and column 2.
Scale large values	If the numbers in the report are large and appear to be merging between columns, you can scale the values. The scale affects all the columns of data except percentages. For example, if you scale numbers such as 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 by 1,000, all the numbers are divided by 1,000 and appear as 1,000 and 2,000. The label at the bottom of the panel identifies Scale: 000's.

Activities

To create a Benchmark panel, select Benchmark from the Module Type drop-down list.