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KPIs, Alerts & Notifications

Last updated: 2026-04-27 Tags: KPI, alert, agent, notification, scorecard, watchlist, delivery

📖 Full Oracle Documentation: Visualizing Data — KPIs and Agents

Summary

OAC provides two systems for metric monitoring and alerting: KPI Watchlists (self-service, Workbook-based metric tracking) and Agents (Classic, rule-based scheduled delivery of analyses with conditional alerts). Together they enable business users to monitor KPIs, receive automated alerts, and schedule report distributions.

KPI Watchlists (Modern)

What Is a KPI Watchlist?

A Watchlist is a personalized dashboard of KPI cards that each show a single metric with status (green/yellow/red), trend, and target comparison.

Creating a KPI

  1. Home → Create → KPI
  2. Select a Dataset or Subject Area
  3. Configure:
  4. Metric: the measure to display (e.g., Revenue)
  5. Target: fixed value, or a column from the data
  6. Status rules: define thresholds for Good / Warning / Critical
  7. Related dimensions: for context (e.g., by Region, by Product)
  8. Time dimension: for trend line
  9. Save KPI to catalog

KPI Status Rules Example

Revenue KPI:
  Good (Green):    Actual >= 100% of Target
  Warning (Amber): Actual >= 80% of Target
  Critical (Red):  Actual < 80% of Target

KPI Watchlist

A Watchlist groups multiple KPIs on one page:

  • Create → Watchlist → add KPIs
  • Displays KPI cards in a grid
  • Each card shows: current value, status indicator, trend sparkline, vs. target
  • Drill into a KPI to see detail breakdown

Adding KPIs to a Workbook

Drag a KPI tile from the Catalog onto a Workbook canvas for integrated dashboards.

Scorecards (Classic)

What Is a Scorecard?

Scorecards (from Classic/OBIEE) implement Balanced Scorecard methodology:

  • Objectives — strategic goals
  • KPIs — measurable outcomes
  • Initiatives — programs to achieve objectives
  • Perspectives — groupings (Financial, Customer, Process, Learning)

Scorecard Components

Component Description
Objective A strategic goal with status rollup
KPI A metric that measures progress toward an objective
Initiative An activity that supports an objective
Cause-Effect Link Visual dependency between objectives
Strategy Map Visual diagram of objective relationships
Strategy Tree Hierarchy view of objectives → KPIs

KPI in Classic Scorecards

Classic KPIs differ from modern KPI Watchlists:

  • Defined via KPI Editor (Answers → New → KPI)
  • Support dimensional pinning (e.g., "Revenue" always shown for "Region = EMEA")
  • Support override and annotation (user can explain status)
  • Status rollup from child to parent objectives

Agents (Scheduled Alerts & Deliveries)

What Is an Agent?

An Agent is a scheduled job that:

  1. Runs an Analysis or Dashboard
  2. Evaluates a condition (optional)
  3. Delivers the results to recipients via email, OAC Inbox, or other channels

Agent Types

Type Trigger Delivery
Scheduled Time-based cron schedule Email, Catalog, FTP
Condition-Based Fires only when condition is met Email alert
Chained Triggered by another agent Any delivery

Creating an Agent

  1. Catalog → New → Agent
  2. General tab:
  3. Trigger: Daily/Weekly/Monthly + time
  4. Priority: Normal / High
  5. Condition tab (optional):
  6. Select an analysis
  7. Condition: "If analysis returns rows" → only fire if data matches
  8. Example: Revenue drops below threshold → send alert
  9. Delivery Content tab:
  10. Select analysis or dashboard to deliver
  11. Format: HTML, PDF, CSV, Excel
  12. Recipients tab:
  13. Specific users/groups
  14. Dynamic: from a column in the analysis (e.g., manager email)
  15. Destinations tab:
  16. Email (requires SMTP config)
  17. OAC Inbox (in-app notification)
  18. Saved to Catalog folder
  19. Mobile push notification (if OAC Mobile configured)
  20. Save and enable

Condition Example

Analysis: "Daily Revenue Alert"
SQL: SELECT REGION, REVENUE FROM "Sales" WHERE REVENUE < 50000

Agent Condition: "Deliver if analysis returns rows"
→ Agent fires only on days when any region has Revenue < 50000
→ Email sent to the Regional Manager with the alert

Dynamic Delivery (Bursting to Users)

Use an analysis that returns recipient details: 

SELECT MANAGER_EMAIL, REGION, REVENUE 
FROM "Sales"."Manager Assignment"
WHERE REVENUE < 50000
Agent delivers to each MANAGER_EMAIL with their specific REGION data.

OAC Inbox (In-App Notifications)

When Agents deliver to "OAC Inbox":

  • Recipients see a bell notification icon in OAC header
  • Clicking opens the delivered content
  • Notifications persist until dismissed

Setting Up Email for Agents

Administration → Manage Email: - SMTP host, port - TLS/SSL settings - Sender name and email address - Test email configuration

Push Notifications (Mobile)

For Oracle Analytics mobile app users:

  • Agents can send push notifications
  • Configure Mobile in Service Console
  • Recipient must have the OAC mobile app installed and logged in

Alert Best Practices

💡 Tip: Use condition-based Agents rather than always-fire agents for exception alerting — reduce email noise.

💡 Tip: Set Agent priority to High for critical business alerts (e.g., system downtime, revenue threshold breach).

⚠️ Warning: Agents run on the OAC server. Many concurrent agents at the same time can impact query performance. Stagger schedules.

💡 Tip: Test delivery by setting the agent to fire immediately ("Run Now") before scheduling it.