Analytics are a vital tool to validate and measure the effectiveness of your monitoring systems and your BigPanda configuration. BigPanda provides standard dashboards built around common reporting needs. To learn more about the default dashboards, see the View Unified Analytics documentation.

If the standard dashboards do not reflect your organizational needs, a dashboard designer is able to create custom dashboards to reflect the unique tags and configuration settings you use in BigPanda. These custom dashboards can be created using existing standard dashboards as a template, or from scratch.

Dashboard Designers are able to:

• Create custom dashboards using any field within the Unified Analytics Reporting Tables
• Create reusable formulas and data calculations
• Design your own widgets
• Slice data by your own filters
• Share dashboards to the BigPanda UI

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BigPanda University Training

Learn how to maximize your Unified Analytics dashboards with the BPU Unified Analytics Course. Learn best practices and advanced dashboard management, and test your knowledge to receive the official BigPanda Unified Analytics Credly badge.

To start the course, you may need to register for or log in to BPU.

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Dashboards

Unified Analytics Reports are called Dashboards within the Analytics management pages. When navigating within Unified Analytics design view or documentation, dashboard refers to a single-pane analytics report.

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Adding Tags

To add new tags to Unified Analytics, contact the BigPanda support team.

The BigPanda live-stream dashboard is a separate tool and is not managed through Unified Analytics. For more information about the live dashboard, see the Live Dashboards documentation.

Relevant Permissions

Roles with the following permission can access Unified Analytics:

Permission access levels can be adjusted by selecting either View or Full Access. To learn more about how BigPanda's permissions work, see the Roles Management guide.

To modify or create Unified Analytics Dashboards, you must also be assigned as the Dashboard Designer. The Designer is a variable role that ensures only one team member is making changes to your dashboards at a time.

A user with the Unified Analytics - Full Access role can assign the Dashboard Designer role. To assign the role, navigate to the bottom right corner of the Unified Analytics page and click the Manage Access button.

In the Designer Access prompt, you will see a list of currently assigned Designers. To change which user is assigned the Designer role, select their username from the dropdown.

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After updating, you may need to refresh the tab to see the changes.

The Dashboard Designer role is a shared role. Any changes the previous designer made will be saved upon changing assigned user. All users assigned as a designer will see all dashboards in progress. Dashboards cannot be private, but are shared across all users.

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Coordination is Key

We recommend coordinating with the other analytics admins from your organization before changing the assigned designer, so as to not interrupt anyone's work in progress.

If you would like access to additional Designer roles, contact us at [email protected].

Default Dashboards

BigPanda provides dashboard templates configured to cover the most common analytics needs. If the standard dashboards do not reflect your organizational needs, a dashboard designer is able to create custom dashboards to reflect the unique tags and configuration settings you use in BigPanda. These custom dashboards can be created using existing standard dashboards as a template, or from scratch.

See the Unified Analytics Dashboards documentation for a full list of the available dashboards.

Reporting Fields

BigPanda Unified Analytics uses transformed data tables for dashboard metrics and data relationship mapping. These data tables may have been adjusted to fit the custom tags of your organization.

Unified Analytics tables are built on the life cycle of incidents within BigPanda:

• Alerts enter BigPanda
• Alerts are enriched with metadata and enrichment tags
• Alerts are correlated into BigPanda Incidents (Incidents)
• Alerts are further enriched automatically and manually with Incident Tags (Incident Tags)
• The system and users take action on the incident, such as commenting, sharing, and entering or ending the flapping state (Incident Activities)

The Date table is provided in our data model to enable multiple time zone support and is based on Incident Start Date. Customers can request other data fields in their time zone as needed. Standard time zones available in Unified Analytics are UTC, PST, MST, CST, EST, and IST.

For more information on the relationships and data within the data tables, please see the Unified Analytics Reporting Tables documentation.

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Data Refresh

Data within Unified Analytics dashboards refreshes once a day.

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Data Retention

Unified Analytics retains data for the past 400 days.

To view data in real time, please see the BigPanda Dashboards documentation.

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The fields in the data model are configured during your migration or implementation and cannot be changed by Designers. Reach out to BigPanda Support and request a product change to add or change any data columns, for example to change time zones, concatenate tag fields, or whitelist specific fields.

Formulas

Dashboards use reusable formulas based on the field within the data model. BigPanda’s default dashboards include several pre-created formulas using the data columns available. These formulas can be edited or replaced as needed to fit your needs. New formulas can be supported as needed to fit your custom dashboards.

Organize Your Dashboards

Dashboards appear on the left navigation pane in alphabetical order. To make navigation and management easier, Dashboards can be grouped into folders and subfolders.

Click the name of a folder to expand or condense the list of dashboards within the folder.

To move a dashboard to a different folder, drag and drop the dashboard name into the desired folder in the left navigation pane. A yellow outline appears around the destination folder to make it easy to see where the dashboard will be moved.

Manage Folders

Dashboards can be grouped into folders. Every customer will get a folder called Template Reports - Your Org Name. These are the templates from BigPanda and can be copied/edited but not changed directly. Designers may choose to show these to their users or not. Any dashboards created by the designers are encouraged to be grouped under folders with the naming convention of Folder Name - Customer Name.

Designers are able to rename, delete, hide, or create folders.

To rename, delete, or hide a folder:

1. In the left navigation pane, click the three dots menu icon next to the desired folder.
2. Select the desired option from the menu.
3. Click the green checkmark to confirm and complete, or the red X to cancel.

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Hiding a folder removes it from the view of all other users, including other Dashboard Designers. All dashboards and subfolders within the folder will automatically be unshared with all other users.

To create a folder:

1. At the top of the left Navigation Pane, click +.
2. Select New Folder. The new folder is added to the dashboards list.
3. Enter a name for the folder and click the green checkmark.

To create a subfolder:

1. In the left navigation pane, click the three dots menu icon next to the desired folder.
2. Select New Folder.
3. Enter a name for the folder and click the green checkmark.

Manage Existing Dashboards

In the Unified Analytics page, Designers are able to see all dashboards currently visible to them. This includes any standard dashboards created by the BigPanda team. If your organization has a secondary designer role, you'll also be able to see the folders and dashboards created by other designers.

Designers can rename, duplicate, export, and download dashboards. Designers are also able to edit the widgets, filters, and settings of any dashboard, but those changes will only be visible to other users if published.

For custom dashboards, designers can delete, share (sometimes called publish), and hide dashboards.

All Dashboards can be downloaded in a PDF or Image format. Unified Analytics will attempt to automatically adjust the widgets and data for best export, but users are able to configure page settings to improve visibility.

To take action on a dashboard:

1. In the left navigation pane, click the three dots menu icon next to the desired dashboard.
2. Select the desired option from the menu. If you do not see the option to delete, share, or hide the dashboard, you may not have permission to adjust this dashboard.
3. Click the green checkmark to confirm and complete, or the red X to cancel.

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Once confirmed, a deleted dashboard cannot be recovered.

Create a New Dashboard

Dashboards are designed to give users visibility and insight into patterns and trends that shape their day-to-day workflow. Creating dashboards specific to user roles, teams, and regions can empower your users to use analytics faster and more effectively.

Unified Analytics enables you to create unique dashboards to cover all of your needs. For best performance and ease of management, we don't recommend creating more than 20 dashboards.

Any Dashboard Designer can create a new dashboard by copying an existing dashboard or from scratch.

From a Copy

Copying an existing dashboard enables you to use the settings of that dashboard as a template when creating a new dashboard. Copying a dashboard will duplicate all of the widgets, filters, and data settings into the new dashboard, allowing you to edit existing settings instead of creating widgets from scratch.

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Dashboard Duplication

Not all dashboards can be duplicated. To see a full list of which dashboards are duplicable, see the Unified Analytics Dashboards documentation.

To copy a dashboard:

1. In the left navigation pane, click the three dots menu icon next to the folder to copy.
2. Select Duplicate.

The new dashboard appears directly below the original dashboard in the left navigation pane.

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We recommend renaming and organizing new dashboards upon creation to prevent confusion for other designers.

From Scratch

When no existing dashboards fit the type of widget and data visualizations you need, you can always create a dashboard from scratch. Creating a dashboard from scratch creates only the dashboard itself, you will need to configure widgets, filters, and data settings for the dashboard.

When creating a new dashboard from scratch, you can choose to create it inside a folder. Folder visibility rules will automatically apply to the new dashboard.

To create a new dashboard from scratch

1. At the top of the left navigation pane, click the + icon, or select the three dots icon beside the desired folder.
2. Select New Dashboard.
3. In the Data Source popup, select your ElastiCube cached model.
4. Name your dashboard in the Title field.
5. Click Create.

The new dashboard appears in the left navigation pane.

When you create a dashboard from scratch, your dashboard is initially empty.

Click + Select Data to begin building widgets, click + Filter Your Dashboard in the right pane to start building filters, or navigate to other dashboards to copy existing widgets to the new dashboard.

Manage Dashboard Filters

Users can use filters to hone in on the most relevant information and data sets.

Filters can be configured for the dashboard as a whole, or for individual widgets.

Dashboard filters affect the data represented in all widgets for the Dashboard. Each default dashboard includes filters based on the available tags and enrichment data for the dashboard. Additional filters can be added or modified to enable your users to focus on specific data.

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The default Unified Analytics Dashboards also include custom date and time zone filter widgets. These widgets can be copied over to any custom dashboard using the Copying a Widget steps.

Individual widgets can be excluded from dashboard filters, or may have widget-specific filters configured. See the Widget Filters section for details on managing individual widgets.

By default, all changes to filters automatically update the dashboard view. To turn on or off this setting, use the Update on Every Change toggle at the bottom of the filters pane.

Manage Existing Dashboard Filters

Dashboard Designers are able to toggle on or off, delete, rearrange, edit, rename, or lock filters. Changes are only visible to the designer until the dashboard has been published or shared.

Filters are managed in the right Filters pane. All filters currently configured for the dashboard appear in the filters list. Each filter shows the configured settings that will apply when the dashboard is published or shared.

Toggle filters on or off to make them available or remove them from reader-view. When toggled off, filters appear dark grey in the Dashboard Designer view and cannot be edited or changed. To permanently remove a filter from a dashboard, click the trash icon on the filter. Filters cannot be recovered once deleted and will need to be recreated.

Filters can be rearranged in the right pane by clicking the filter header and dragging the filter to the desired location. The filters will move to demonstrate the location when the filter is released. Rearranging filters changes only the order the filters appear for users, but does not affect the data results. To create dependent filters, see the Creating Dependent Filters section.

To edit a dashboard filter:

1. Click the pencil icon on the filter header
2. In the Edit Filters window, adjust included fields or filter type
3. Click OK to apply the filter to the dashboard

To rename a dashboard:

1. Click the three dots icon in the filter header.
2. Select Rename from the dropdown.
3. Enter the filter name in the filter header. This name will appear when users view the filter in the Dashboard.
4. Click the green checkmark to confirm, or the red x to cancel.

To lock or unlock a filter:

1. Click the three dots icon in the filter header.
2. Select Lock or Unlock from the dropdown.

While locked, a filter cannot be edited or renamed but can be rearranged or deleted.

Create a Dashboard Filter

Adding additional Dashboard Filters enables you or your users to quickly hone in on the most relevant data. Filters are an easy option to create custom dashboards for similar teams or purposes.

To create a dashboard filter:

1. If there are no existing filters: click Filter Your Dashboard in the dashboard’s right pane. If there are existing filters: click + in the top right of the filters pane.
2. In the Add Filter window, select the field to filter. You can search for fields by name, or browse by table.
3. Select the type of filter from the pane on the left. The options available in this window will vary according to the selected field type (Date, Numeric or Descriptive).
4. Configure the filtering details according to the filter type by adding and removing fields, conditions, and settings.
5. (Optional) Click the star icon to bring up a list of previously saved filters. Note: Your favorite filters are visible to shared users.
6. Click OK to filter the data in the Dashboard and add this filter to the Filters panel on the right of the Dashboard.

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Dashboard filters are case-sensitive. If you have two columns with the same name, but one is uppercase and the other is lowercase, a dashboard filter applied to one will not be applied to the other.

Create Dependent Filters

Dependent Filters combine multiple dashboard filters into a hierarchy of filters where each filter shows only the options relevant to its parent filter settings.

To add a dependent filter:

1. At the bottom of the parent filter, click +
2. Define the filter settings. The available options for selection in the child filter are automatically narrowed down by the selections in the parent filter.
3. Click OK to apply the filter settings and add the filter.

The child filter appears below and attached to the parent filter.

Additional dependent filters can be added to the child filter. Each filter can only be the parent of one dependent filter.

Manage Widgets

Dashboards are made up of widgets, or individual data visualizations. While filters and data model settings are configured for the whole dashboard, each widget is individually configurable. Adjust the data fields, visualization type, and design elements to best represent your data.

Designers are able to add, edit, copy, delete, and rearrange dashboard widgets.

Changes to dashboard widgets are only visible to other users after the dashboard has been shared or published.

For additional details on available widgets and widget customization, see the Sisense help documentation.

Add Widgets

Each dashboard is made up of individual widgets. As with all data visualization, we recommend focusing on quality over quantity in creating dashboard widgets. For best performance, we recommend no more than 8 widgets per dashboard.

Widgets can be added through the Widget Wizard, or through the Widget Designer.

The Widget Wizard automatically guides you through the process of creating a widget, making automatic formatting recommendations for displaying the data that you select.

The Widget Designer gives you additional control over the widget’s appearance and behavior. When editing existing widgets, you’ll automatically be taken to the Widget Designer screen.

To add a widget using the Widget Wizard:

1. If this is the first widget on a dashboard, click + Select Data. If there are existing widgets on the dashboard, click + Widget, then +Select Data.
2. Select a data field to visualize. Available fields can be searched by name in the field at the top of the popup, or browse by table.
3. (Optional) To report on a simple formula, click More beside the desired data field and select a formula function to apply to the field.
4. (Optional) To report on a complex formula, select the fx formula icon to the left of the search bar. Build the formula using available data fields and a robust list of functions. Click OK when satisfied with the formula.
5. (Optional) Select additional fields to add to the visualization using the + Add More Data … button
6. (Optional) Click Advanced Configuration to open the Widget Designer for further customization options
7. Select a visualization style from the options to the left. Visualization styles that are not possible with the current data set will be pale gray and cannot be selected.
8. Click Create.

To add a widget using the Widget Designer:

1. If this is the first widget on a dashboard, click + Select Data. Select a field to report on. Click Advanced Configuration. If there are existing widgets on the dashboard, click + Widget, then Advanced Configuration.
2. At the top left, select the type of visualization from the dropdown.
3. In the left pane, click + Add to add data fields or formulas to visualization elements as available for the visualization type. Elements may include x-axis, values, break by categories, and more.
4. (Optional) Name the widget using the Set a Title field. This name will appear at the top of the widget to inform viewers of the widget contents.
5. (Optional) In the right pane, use the Design tab to adjust design details such as line type, labels, and colors.
6. (Optional) In the right pane, use the Filters tab to adjust how users are able to filter and drill down into the data.
7. Click Apply.

Manage Existing Widgets

Dashboard designers are able to edit, copy, delete, and rearrange widgets.

Edit a Widget

Widgets can be edited at any time after they have been added to a dashboard, enabling you to adjust data fields, visualization types, design elements, or widget header.

To edit a widget’s data fields, visualization type, or design elements:

1. Select the pencil edit icon in the header of a widget
2. In the Widget Designer, make the desired changes to the widget
3. Click Apply

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The new widget settings will not be visible to other designers or viewers until the dashboard is re-shared.

In addition to adjusting the name of a widget, designers are also able to hide the header. Hiding the header removes the name of the filter as well as the see details, full screen, and export options for end users.

Copy a Widget

Widgets can be copied within the same dashboard, or to another dashboard visible on the left navigation bar. This is a quick tool to help you create meaningful dashboards. Copy widgets to make easy visibility on similar tools or data elements, or to add the widget to a different dashboard focused on different user groups or functionality.
Copying a widget duplicates all of the widget settings including visualization type and design elements.

To copy a Widget within the same dashboard:

1. Click the three dots menu button in the top-right corner of the widget to be copied.
2. Select Duplicate. The copy will appear next to the original on the dashboard.

To copy a Widget to another dashboard

1. Select the header of the desired widget and drag it to the name of the target dashboard.

Rearrange Widgets

Unified Analytics uses a snap-to grid to organize your widgets, or you can manually adjust widget sizing. All widgets will automatically scale the data to fit as needed. When moving widgets, we recommend you use the Dashboard Best Practices to ensure that the data is easy to understand and read.

To rearrange widgets:

1. Select the header of the desired widget and drag it to the desired location. Available locations will appear in purple.

To resize widgets:

1. Hover your mouse on the edge of the widget to make the resize cursor appear.
2. Click and drag the edge of the widget to fit the desired size. Any widget impacted by the resize will be replaced with a blue box during movement. All affected widgets will automatically resize their visualization when you release.

Delete a Widget

Widgets can be deleted at any time. A deleted widget cannot be recovered once the changes are published. It is best practice to make a copy of dashboards with key widgets before deleting any widgets.

To delete a Widget:

1. Click the three dots menu in the top-right corner of the Widget.
2. Select Delete.
3. Click the green checkmark to confirm and complete the action, or the red x to cancel.

All other widgets will resize automatically to fill the dashboard when a widget is deleted.

Widget Filters

In the Widget Designer, you can define a filter for the data in the widget. Widget-specific filters are not visible in the dashboard filters pane, and cannot be edited directly from the dashboard.

Widgets can also be excluded from dashboard filters. When a dashboard filter is applied, the widget data will not update to match the dashboard filter.

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When creating a widget filter for a field that is already filtered in a dashboard filter, the widget filter will override the dashboard filter. If your widget is filtered using measured values, then the measured value will override any other widget or dashboard filters you have for the same fields.

To add or edit a widget filter:

1. Click the pencil icon to edit the widget.
2. In the right pane, click the Filters tab.
3. (Optional) Toggle on and off which Dashboard filters will apply to this widget collectively or individually. For some widget types, you may be able to adjust the type of filter effect that dashboard filters have.
4. Click on the + icon in the Widget Filters list to add a new filter.
5. Select the field to filter.
6. Select the filter type and configure filter settings as determined by the type.
7. Click OK to apply the filter settings and add the filter to the widget filters list.

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You can quickly create a widget filter from existing widget fields in the left widget designer pane. Click the filter funnel icon beside the field to bring up the filter editor. Adjust settings and click OK to apply the filter to the widget.

Drill Down in a Widget

You can quickly drill down into a widget to see more granular data. To enable drill down:

1. Within a widget, click the three dots icon.
2. From the flyout menu, under Drill, select Jump to Dashboard and choose the field you’d like to enable drill down functionality for. Depending on the widget you are using, different options will appear.

Manage Formulas

Dashboard Designers can define formulas to calculate the values and filters of a widget. Formulas use the existing data fields and calculation functions to make complex data relationships clear.

Formulas can be created, favorited, edited, and reused.

Favorited Formulas appear in the Data Browser under the Formulas section. These formulas can be selected in lieu of a data field when selecting data fields during widget and filter creation.

Create Formulas

Dashboard Designers are able to create formulas using the Data Browser window during widget creation.

A rich variety of functions are available to choose from. For a full list of available functions and detailed use instructions, see the Sisense User Documentation. Not all functions will apply correctly to all data types. A formula cannot be saved if there are syntax or calculation errors in the formula.

To create a new formula:

1. During widget creation or editing, select Add + to add a new widget field.
2. In the Data Browser window, click the fx formula icon.
3. In the formula editor, add fields and functions by either typing in the top field, or by selecting options in the data browser and functions tab.
4. (Optional) Resolve any formula errors by adjusting syntax, data field, or function. A red dialog appears in the bottom of the Formula Editor with information on the formula error.
5. (Optional) Click the Star icon in the top right of the Formula Editor window to save this formula to the Data Fields options. You are able to edit the name of the formula in the prompt. Click the green checkmark to save the formula.
6. Click OK to add the formula to the widget.

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You can read a description of each function in a tooltip by hovering over it.

Filters in Formulas

Often formulas must take into account specific criteria. To do this you'll use a feature called Measured Value, which like the SUMIF function in Excel, only performs a calculation when the values meet a set of criteria.

Criteria for Measured Values may be based on any logical operators in a filter.

To add a filter to a formula:

1. In the Formula Editor, select the field to filter by in the top window
2. Select Filter
3. Adjust Filter settings and type
4. Click OK to add the filter to the formula.

The Formula Editor will automatically format the filter to meet the formula syntax requirements

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If your widget is filtered using measured values, then the measured value will override any other widget or dashboard filters you have for the same fields.

Edit Formulas

Formulas in widgets can be edited through the Widget Designer window.

To open the Formula Editor, click the pencil icon on the formula field in the left pane of the widget designer. In the Formula Editor, designers are able to change syntax, data fields, or functions. Click OK to save the changes to a formula. Formulas with errors cannot be saved.

The actions available in the three dots quick action menu varies by widget, formula, and data type. Options may include:

• Rename: Rename the formula to make the function of the formula clear.
• Filter: Add filters to the formula.
• Type: Change the default aggregation method, for example, from Sum to Average.

Share Dashboards

Once your dashboard is ready for use across the team, review the dashboard to ensure that it looks good visually and includes the relevant information for your team. You can change a dashboard after it is published, but the original published settings will be visible as you make changes.

A dashboard is only visible to dashboard designers until it has been published or shared.

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When a dashboard has been shared, a share icon appears next to the dashboard name in the Dashboards navigation panel

To share a dashboard for the first time:

1. Click the share icon at the top of the dashboard.
2. Add your organization viewers by adding the user role (usually companyname_all)
3. Click Save.

When a designer makes changes to a dashboard, those changes are not visible to end users until the changes have been published. When changes have been made to a published dashboard, the share icon may be highlighted by a blue ribbon marking that the changes are pending publication. Click the share icon to open the sharing manager and publish the changes.

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When you share a dashboard that is contained within a folder, the dashboard is shared using the same folder. Only dashboards that have been shared will be visible to users viewing the folder.

Next Steps

Read more about navigating The Analytics Tab

Dig deeper into Unified Analytics

Get a glimpse into how end users View Unified Analytics Dashboards

Dive into potential reporting fields in ​​Unified Analytics Reporting Tables​​. If your organization uses the Standard Data Model, you can find these tables in the ​Standard Data Model​​ documentation.