In Alfabet FastLane, users can evaluate different aspects about the performance of objects. To evaluate an object, the user sets an indicator for a specific object and indicator type in a data workbench or an evaluation view. For example, a Criticality indicator can be set for an application. The user could set the indicator to a number in a range from 1 - 5 whereby 1 is the highest and 5 the lowest.

Indicator types required to work with business questions are predefined in Alfabet FastLane. In addition, you can define indicator types required for the business cases of your company. Indicator types are grouped in evaluation types. Evaluation types structure the indicator types for the user in evaluation views. All indicator types for the evaluation of a specific aspect of the business shall be grouped under an evaluation type with a title informing the user about the evaluated topic. For example, the pre-defined evaluation group Business Score groups all indicator types to evaluate the importance of the application for the business, like Business Relevance and Number of Users.

Indicator types are assigned to object classes by assigning the evaluation type they are grouped in to the object class. If an evaluation type is assigned to an object class, users will be able to set indicators for all indicator types of the evaluation type in data workbenches and evaluation views for this object class. You can view the results of the evaluation using the visualization capabilities of data workbenches.

The definition of new indicator types requires configuration steps for evaluation type specification, indicator type definition and assignment of the indicator type to one or multiple object classes:

• Create an evaluation type
  1. In the navigation pane, expand Configuration > Reference Data.
  2. Click Evaluation Types.
  3. Click New > Create New Evaluation Type and define the evaluation type:
     • Name: Enter or name that is easily for users to understand. The attribute name will be displayed in the Evaluation view and in data workbenches for an object.
     • Short Name: Enter a short name with up to 5 characters for the evaluation type. The short name can be used to identify the evaluation type in small labels of graphic visualizations.
     • Technical Name: Enter a technical name for the evaluation type. The technical name is used to identify the evaluation type in technical processes. It must be unique and you should avoid using whitespace and special characters.
     • Description: You can add a description to inform other users with an administrative user profile about the purpose of the evaluation type.
     • User Profiles tab: If you select user profiles in the list, all indicator types of the evaluation type will only be available in the selected user profiles. If you do not select any user profiles, the indicator types of the evaluation type are available in all user profiles. Independent from the settings in the tab, the evaluation type will always be available in the Portfolio Admin user profile.

     The definition in the Visualization tab is not applicable. It is currently not displayed to users.

• Define an indicator type
  1. In the navigation pane, expand Configuration > Reference Data.
  2. Click Evaluation Types.
  3. Set the checkmark of the evaluation type the indicator type should belong to.
  4. Click Navigate > Navigate to Indicator Types.
  5. Click New > Create New Indicator Type and define the indicator type:
     • Name: Enter or name that is easily for users to understand. The attribute name will be displayed in the Evaluation view and in data workbenches for an object.
     • Description: You can add a description to inform other users with an administrative user profile about the purpose of the indicator type.
     • Range: Indicators without a range definition provide a text field for entry of the indicator value. If a range is defined, the user can select the values defined in the range definition from a drop-down list. Enter the valid values for the range:
       • Each value must be on a separate line.
       • Each value must be defined as: Numeric value or as a combination of numeric value and semantic value in the format:

         <NumericValue> - <SemanticValue>

         Ensure that an empty space exists before and after the dash.

       • Only non-negative integers (greater than or equal zero) may be specified.
       • The text you enter for each range value in the Range field may not exceed 128 characters.
       • It is highly recommended that you do NOT edit the values defined for the Range attribute once existing Alfabet FastLane objects have already been evaluated. If you determine that this is necessary, the existing indicators must be migrated to align with the new values defined for the Range attribute. Please contact Software GmbH Support about the required script required for such a migration.
     • Default Value: Enter a default value to enable users to set the indicator to the default value via the Set Undefined Values to Default option in the Evaluations view of objects.
     • Hide Numbers: Set a checkmark to hide the numeric values defined in the Range field from display in evaluation views and data workbenches. Only the semantic value defined fin the Range field will be displayed.
     • Generation: The value must be 0.
     • Short Name: Enter a short name with up to 5 characters for the indicator type. The short name can be used to identify the indicator type in small labels of graphic visualizations.
     • Technical Name: Enter a technical name for the indicator type. The technical name is used to identify the indicator type in technical processes. It must be unique and you should avoid using whitespace and special characters.
     • Visualization tab: If you select an icon gallery, the selected icons are used to visualization indicator values, for example in data workbenches.

       Once you have selected an icon gallery, the table below will display the icons in the icon gallery and additional cells that must be defined.

       In the Min. Value and Max. Value cells, enter a number for the minimum and maximum value that the icon represents. You can leave either the Min. Value or Max. Value cells empty in order to include everything below or above a certain value. The minimum and maximum values that you enter should correspond to the numeric values defined in the Range field in the Basic Data tab. If there is overlap in the definition of the value ranges, then the first range that matches an indicator value will be used to determine the icon to display.

       In the Caption cell, enter a caption as short tooltip text that explains the numeric value represented by the icon when the user moves the mouse over the indicator (for example, Very Critical, Critical, Not Critical). If you do not enter a caption, the numeric values defined in the Min. Value and Max. Value cells will be displayed.

• Assign the evaluation type to an object class
  1. In the navigation pane, expand Configuration > Class Configuration Explorer.
  2. Click the class that you want to assign the evaluation type to and click Evaluation Types.
  3. Click New > Add Evaluation Type and select the evaluation type you want to add.