Performance Analytics widgets give you real-time metrics on dashboards, but flat numbers don't tell the story — you need to see how incidents break down by assignment group or how requests vary by category. This guide walks you through adding breakdown sources to PA indicators and configuring widgets to display segmented data.
Why PA breakdowns beat standard reports
Before Performance Analytics, you built reports that showed totals and manually created separate reports for each slice of data you wanted — incidents by assignment group meant one report per group or complex grouping that was hard to read. PA indicators calculate metrics automatically and breakdowns let you segment that data dynamically in widgets. The difference: PA indicators update in real-time and breakdowns give you interactive drill-down capability that static reports can't match. Platform teams build the indicators once, and dashboard consumers can slice the data however they need.
How PA breakdowns layer onto indicators
A PA indicator defines what to measure — count of incidents, average resolution time, whatever metric matters. The breakdown source adds dimensional slicing to that metric, pointing to fields like assignment_group or category that you want to segment by. Then widgets consume both the indicator and the breakdown, letting users see the metric split across those dimensions. Start with a working indicator, add a breakdown source that references the fields you want to slice by, then configure widgets to display both the total and the segmented view.
Building production-quality breakdowns
Once basic breakdowns work, the improvements that matter are: adding multiple breakdown dimensions so users can drill from assignment group into priority, setting up time-based breakdowns to show trends over periods, and configuring breakdown hierarchies that let users navigate from high-level groups down to individual values. Well-designed breakdowns also limit the number of segments to avoid cluttered widgets — if you have 50 assignment groups, consider rolling up to departments first.
Before you start
- •Performance Analytics plugin activated
- •pa_admin role or admin role
- •Working PA indicator already created
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Step by step
Open your PA indicator
Navigate to Performance Analytics > Indicators and open the indicator you want to add breakdowns to. You'll see the existing configuration — table, conditions, and aggregation type. The breakdown will segment whatever this indicator measures, so make sure the base metric is working before adding complexity.
Test the indicator in a basic widget first to confirm it's returning data.
Create the breakdown source
Scroll to the Breakdown Sources related list and click New. Set the Table to match your indicator's table — this has to be identical or the breakdown won't find the records. In the Breakdown field, select the field you want to segment by (assignment_group, category, state, etc.). The Label will appear in widgets, so make it user-friendly.
Reference fields work best for breakdowns — avoid text fields that might have typos or inconsistent values.
Configure breakdown collection
Set Collection frequency to match your indicator's schedule — if the indicator collects hourly, the breakdown should too. Check Active to enable collection. The Conditions field should usually stay empty unless you need to filter the breakdown differently from the main indicator. Click Submit to create the breakdown source.
Wait for data collection
PA breakdowns don't show historical data immediately — they start collecting from when you activate them. Check the Collection Status field on both the indicator and breakdown source. You'll see 'Complete' when the first collection finishes. This usually takes one collection cycle.
Force a collection by running the 'Collect All Data' UI action on the indicator if you need data immediately.
Add breakdown to widget
Navigate to Performance Analytics > Widgets and open or create a widget that uses your indicator. In the Breakdown source field, select the breakdown you just created. The widget will now show your metric segmented by the breakdown field instead of just the total.
Configure display options
Set the Display type to match how you want the breakdown shown — Bar chart for comparing segments, Line chart for trends over time, or Donut for proportional view. In the Maximum records field, limit the number of segments displayed to avoid cluttered widgets. Values like 10-15 work well for most breakdowns.
Use 'Others' grouping to combine small segments when you have many breakdown values.
Test the breakdown display
Add the widget to a dashboard and verify the breakdown appears correctly. You should see your metric split across the breakdown field values — incidents by assignment group, requests by category, etc. Click on individual segments to drill down if your widget supports it. Save the widget configuration once the breakdown displays properly.
Best practices
Choose breakdown fields with stable, consistent values — assignment groups and categories work better than free-text fields that users might fill inconsistently.
Limit breakdown segments to 15-20 maximum in widgets to avoid visual clutter and performance issues.
Always test breakdown collection during low-usage periods first — PA collection jobs can impact instance performance if configured incorrectly.
Set up breakdown hierarchies for large datasets — break down by department first, then by individual groups within departments.
Monitor PA job queues after adding breakdowns — complex breakdowns with many segments can create processing bottlenecks.
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