Create and manage metrics

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Applies to: TBM Studio 12.0 and later

Metrics are calculations that define measurements for reports. The metrics defined for each project are available for all reports in the project across all time periods. The metrics are listed in the Metrics section of Project Explorer. To define a new metric, open the New menu on the Home tab, and click Metric.

Types of metrics

There are two types of metrics:
  • Modeled metrics. A model is itself a metric. A model calculates a numeric value such as cost, quantity, or budget. A model can have multiple metrics. Models also are referred to as modeled metrics.
  • Calculated metrics. A calculated metric uses a formula to derive a numeric value. For example, you could create a calculated metric called Budget_Variance defined as the Budget-modeled metric minus the Cost-modeled metric.

The values calculated by metrics usually are displayed in reports using charts. Metrics, once defined, are available to all reports in a project and in all time periods.

There are several key differences between modeled and calculated metrics:
  • When grouping, model metrics sum numbers. Calculated metrics recalculate.
  • Calculated metrics can calculate across time. Modeled metrics cannot.
Following are several guidelines that may help you determine the type of metric to create:
  • If you have an attribute that will apply across several different areas, then create a modeled metric. A prime example is Cost, which is the default model metric in the application. A Cost model can be used to review the cost for many areas at different levels in your organization.
  • If you want to allocate a numeric value from one element in your organization to another, then create a modeled metric. For example, if you want to allocate the cost of servers to applications, this is best done with a modeled metric.
  • If you have an attribute that will be used for only one calculation, create a calculated metric. An example might be the number of servers or the number of trouble tickets.

Create a metric

To create a metric:
  1. On the Home tab, in the Document group, click New, and then click Metric.
  2. Enter a name for the metric, and then click OK.
  3. Complete the fields in the Properties pane. See the following detailed field-level descriptions under Metric properties.
  4. Click Save.

Delete a metric

To delete a metric:
  1. In Project Explorer, click Metrics.
  2. Click the metric you want to delete.
  3. Check out the metric if it is not already checked out.
  4. In the Home tab, in the Document group, click Delete, then click Save.
  5. Check in the metric.

Select metrics to improve performance

You can use the Edit Metrics button in the Tier Editor to specify which metrics you want to apply to a model report. The selected metrics are saved upon check-in, which speeds up calculations in the Staging and Production environments. Selecting fewer metrics results in faster calculations.

To select (edit) model metrics for a new report:
  1. In TBM Studio, click New > Model Report.
  2. Click Edit Metrics to open the Model Report dialog.

  3. (Optional) Click None to clear the checklist.
  4. Select the metrics you want to apply to your new model report.

  5. (Optional) Add a Description.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Click View > Show Document.Note that the options available in the Select a metric picker are now limited to the metrics you selected in the Model Report dialog.
To limit the metrics calculated for an existing model report:
  1. Open the report, then click View > Show Document > Edit Metrics.
  2. Select only the metrics you want to apply to the report, then click OK.You cannot modify the report name.

Metric properties

Metric properties control the behavior of a metric in the project. Using metric properties, you can select the metric name, type, format, and whether the metric appears in unit tables. Metric properties are described below. Properties that apply to calculated metrics only are flagged with an asterisk (*).
  • Default View - If the metric is displayed in a report as a link, clicking on the link will display the report entered in this field.
  • Model Type - When creating a metric, select the model type.
    • Model - Creates a new model in the modeler.
    • Calculated - Displays the Value Calculation field, in which you enter a formula or function to define how the metric is derived. After the metric is created, this field becomes read-only.
  • Ignore for Internal Filtering* - When checked, calculated metrics are excluded in the evaluation for filtering out rows that have all zeros. This evaluation happens even if the metrics are hidden. Rows with zeros in all columns can be included by clearing the option.
  • Can Sum* - If it is valid to add the values of this computation together instead of recomputing the formula when calculating, check the box.
  • Include in Virtual Models* - If you want the metric included in filtered and recursive models, check the box.
  • Metric Type - If the metric values are monetary from a fully costed source such as a general ledger, select Costing. If you select Costing, you also should set the table format to Currency.
    • If the metric is associated with a price x quantity model, select Pricing.
    • If the metric values are in any other format, select Numeric.
  • Hidden - Hides the metric in model object unit tables.
  • Value Calculation* - Enter a formula that defines the value of the calculated metric (see Formulas and functions).
    • To refer to a column in a table, use the format table.column name.
    • To refer to a column in a table in another project, use the format project!table:column name.
    • To retrieve the sum of all values in a table column, use the format table:column name.
    • To retrieve the sum of values in a column where a second column is equal to a specific value, use the format table:column[column2="value"].
    • To retrieve the sum of values in a column where a second column is equal to the value of the current row's table.column value, use the format table:column[column2=table.column name].
    • You can refer to the current metric using $_ instead of having to type out the full metric name. This is useful if you want to use the same formula in multiple metrics. You can copy and paste the formula without having to replace the metric name every time.
  • Table Format - Specifies the format for the value of the metric when displayed in report tables. You can specify formats in HTML or use the NumberFormat function.
    • To display values as dollars in models, enter: =Currency($_).
    • To specify formats using a dialog box instead of code, click the Table Format icon .
    • If you select Advanced, you must enter a formula manually, just as you do in the Table Format field of the Properties pane. If you select another format, the dialog box displays appropriate formatting choices. For the Number and Currency formats, you can choose to include "thousands" separators (comma, period, etc.) by selecting the Use Grouping Separator option.
  • Applicable Templates - This field is used by the Apptio Applications group only and relates to the templates.apptio.com project. DO NOT edit this field.
  • Time Behavior - Specifies the operation when the metric is viewed in an aggregate time period, such as a quarter.
    • Sum - Calculates each period separately and then adds the periods together.
    • Average - Calculates each period separately, adds the periods together, and then divides the result by the number of periods.
    • Recalculate - Computes the aggregated values in all columns referenced by the calculated metric, then reruns the metric’s formula.
  • Chart Format - Enter a pattern to use in formatting numbers on the chart axis. The syntax is the same as for the patterns and negative patterns used by the NumberFormat function but without the function name or quotes. For example, to have numbers displayed in a format like $5,000,000, you would enter $#,###. You cannot use a formula in this field.
    • If you wish to format the numbers as currency such that the currency symbol will reflect the locale selected for the project, preface the format statement with the universal currency Unicode symbol (¤). The easiest way to do this is to copy the symbol from the previous sentence and paste it into the field.
    • For more information on formatting numbers, see the function.
  • Chart Prefix - A prefix to be added to the metric when displayed in charts. For example, a $ sign.
  • Chart Suffix - A suffix to be added to the metric when displayed in charts.
  • Time Interval* - None, Quarterly, or Yearly. If you set this to Quarterly or Yearly, the metric will be pulled from the first period in the time interval rather than being calculated. For example, if you select Yearly, the metric will go back and look up the values from January instead of recalculating based on the current time period.