The Targeting functionality provides the ability to create Targets based on key data items to help monitor, maintain and measure key performance indicators.

Combined with the standard Crosstab functionality, users are able to create KPI reports which highlight whether business performance meets or breaches customisable thresholds.

To access the Targeting functionality, click Setup, Extensions then Targets.

Creating Targets

There are four sections that must be individually created: Scenarios, Fields & Values, Targets and Levels. Click the relevant tab and click the New button to begin the process.

Scenarios

Scenarios are used to group Targets into easily identifiable groups.

Specify a Name and Description in the relevant textboxes and click Create Scenario to complete the process.

Fields & Values

In this step, the values that the Targets will applied to can be specified.

Specify a name in the Name textbox. Values can either be entered manually into the Values textbox, or the Index and Display Field drop-down lists can be used to populate the Values drop-down list to quickly add multiple values. Click All to add all fields from the specified Display Field, or click None to remove all selections. Click the X icon next to the relevant field to remove individual entries. Added values are not Index specific, with the Index and Display Field drop-down lists only used to add values without manual entry.

Click Create Field to complete the process.

Targets

This step allows users to enter the high-level Target values for each specified scenario.

Specify a Name and Description in the relevant textboxes and select a field created in the previous step from the Field drop-down list. Specify the Target value and click Add.

Levels

Use the Levels step to establish a hierarchy of the field and Target values.

Specify a Name and Description in the relevant textboxes select a parent Target from the Parent drop-down list. Then, specify the Field and Values options with those created in the Fields & Values tab to reveal the Test Targets options at the bottom of the screen.

For each value, use the Value slider to split the parent value by the next level’s values. Click Balance to automatically balance any splits to 100% if any of the values have been manually changed.

Once the values have been created for the level, click Create Level.

Creating a Target Index

Now the Targets have been specified, a Target Index must be created. 

Navigate to the Data Sources screen by clicking Search Engine, then Data Sources. Click New, enter a name in the Name textbox and select Target from the Type drop-down list. Specify the created Targets that will be used from the Targets drop-down list and enable the Create Index option to create a separate Index containing all the Target data.

Specify the Search Engine that the Index will be added to using the Add to Search Engine drop-down list, and specify, if required, the collected that the Index will be added to using the Add to Collection drop-down list.

Click Create Data Source to complete the process.

Using Targets

Once the Targets have been added to the relevant Index, using the Targeting steps in the Index creation chapter, it is then possible to add the Targets to existing values.

When a report is creating using one or more of the mapped fields, the Target values will be displayed for selection in the Crosstab Total Type drop-down list. Once the Target values have been selected, Cell Calculations can be used to create any required variance reports using the Crosstab functionality.