Last Updated on September 10, 2024 by maximosecrets

The Operational Dashboard was first released in MAS 8.9 and has been enhanced in both 8.10 and 8.11. It is the modernised landing page similar to the Start Center. This review is made on a MAS 8.11 (Manage 8.7.5) environment.

Default Operational Dashboard

It is important to bear in mind that the Operational Dashboard is still being developed and it is not yet a replacement for the Start Centers. While the Operational Dashboard can be personalised by each user there doesn’t appear to be anything yet that is built into Security Groups that would allow an administrator to configure the Operational Dashboard for a set of users. 

The Operational Dashboard will only work while connected (online). There are several card types; Value, Table, Favorites, Work Queues, Quick Actions, KPI Value, KPI Chart, and KPI Comparison. The four cards along the top are KPI Value, the second row is KPI Comparison, KPI Chart and Favorites on the right. Below this there is a Quick Actions card, and the Workflow Assignments card, which is a bit of a special one which we will discuss later.

Notice the Edit button at the top right, we’ll come back to this in the second part of this article on Configuring the Operational Dashboard. 

In the top right of some of the card types there is a menu. For the KPI Value you have the options View in KPI Manager, View in KPI Viewer or a Refresh option to have the KPI recalculated. I checked and it does launch those two applications.

For the KPI Comparison card there is an option – Expand to fullscreen. When in fullscreen there are options to Export as CSV, Export as PNG, or Export as JPG. If you move over any of the bars there is hover over text showing the KPI, its y-axis value and the KPI Group it falls under, Alert, Warning or Target. If you click a bar it launches the KPI Manager application for that KPI.

When not in full screen the options are Refresh or View Table which is what I used for the screenshot. The View Table is comparing the three KPIs and showing their Status, Actual, Target and Variance, which is Actual – Target. The Status is colour coded as Alert (red), Warning (yellow) and Target (green). In this case there is no value in the Warning zone and the legend doesn’t show this, it only shows Alert and On Target. 

The Refresh option will recalculate each of the KPI values.

The KPI Chart card can also be expanded to full screen and has the same three export options. There is also a Refresh and View Table option, which is shown in the screenshot. The KPI Chart will show a table of values for each KPI and each date. There is a download option for this.

The Workflow and Work Queue cards only have the option for a Search bar. There are no options for the Favorites and Quick Action cards.

Configuring the Operational Dashboard

I’ve logged in as HUNTER, as I didn’t want to change the dashboard for WILSON, and I have now noticed that it isn’t the same as for WILSON. The Favorites and Quick Action cards are beside each other and the Selected KPI Trends is wider. This must show that the changes you make are personal. In MAS 8.11 Maximo doesn’t have the ability to create an Operational Dashboard as an Administrator and set it for a Security Group.

Notice the edit button at the top right.

When using the Edit button, the Card Gallery is shown with currently 8 options, and we’ll go through each of these in turn.

Value Card

For the Value Card there is a Basic and Advanced tab for editing the card. The Basic tab is similar for most cards. There is a Card Title, Subtitle, Description (hover text for card title) and Size of card. For a Value Card the size is fixed as Extra small, Short – it cannot be modified.

The Advanced tab has fields for:

• Data Source, I selected personDS 
• Value field, I selected displayname
• Secondary value field, I selected phone
• Unit, I entered Money
• Label, I entered USD

You use the blue Done field when you are ready to review the result.

The Value Card is shown at the bottom left, you can reposition it when you are in Edit mode by dragging it to its new position.

The Card Title is shown at the top left of the card with the Subtitle in much smaller text below this. When you click on the Card Title it shows the text you entered for the Description (hover text for card title).

The largest text is that which you selected as the Value field, I selected displayname and Tom Revis is the display name for the Person REVIS. However, the Value Card can only show two values from one record, and it is now obvious that you should be selecting a Data Source that only has one record because there wasn’t the option to select which record of the data source to select.

The data sources that you can select from are currently limited, it may be this is where the Maximo Application Framework (MAF) tools are used to add additional data sources, but I haven’t tried this. As the Value Card is restricted to show one value, a single attribute coming from one record of a table, I am finding it difficult to see how this card would be used. 

The label field appears above the value field and the unit follows the value field, Tom Revis in this example. The secondary value appears below the value field in a smaller font. When you use a subtitle, label, and secondary value the fixed height of the card isn’t sufficient to show all the data. Also, if the data for the value field is long then the fixed width won’t be sufficient to show all the text. You will need to consider all of this if you do decide to use this card.

I’m going to use the Delete Card option when in Edit mode to delete the Value Card I created. In most card types there is also the option to Clone Card, except this is not available for the KPI Value cards along the top or for the Workflow card.

Table Card

The table card shows the data coming from a data source in a list view. I won’t be going into how to create data sources in this article. 

The Basic tab has the same fields as the Value Card; Card Title, Subtitle, Description (hover text for card title) and Size, except in this case you can choose the card size, the default is Medium, Regular (width, height). The size has the six combinations for a width of Medium, Large, or Extra Large, and a height of Regular or Extra Tall.

The Advanced Tab of the Table Card has three parts. The Rows per page is an integer value that you can type rather than using the +/- buttons. It sets the number of rows in the table before you need to move to the next page.

The Datasource field shows the same five data sources as I found for the Value Card. I’ll select personDS as I know I have Person records.

The plus button on the Table Headers allows you to select the attributes from the selected data source. I have chosen personid, displayname and locationA physical place where assets exist and where work can be performed. More. It doesn’t matter what order you choose your attributes as you can change the order in the Advanced tab using the button on the left of the Table Headers table.

After using OK on the Select Attributes window I’m going to use the blue Done button to save the setup of the Table Card and see the results.

A table has been created with the Title and Subtitle displayed at the top. I’ve clicked the Title – Service Requests, so that you can see the display of the hover over description that was entered on the Basic tab. The table has the three columns and there are 5 Items Per Page. This can be changed to 10, 20 or 50. Sorting can be performed by clicking on a column header. 

The first of the three buttons on the right of the card are a Search, I’ve searched for records which contain the text ‘stan’ and found two records.

The third button opens a filter row for each column. You can filter by multiple fields and when you have entered a value in a filter field a button appears on the right to clear the filter field. 

The second button is titled Manage Columns and allows you to change the order of the columns by dragging a column to its new position.

As before I will now delete my Table card. Before I did so I did test the Clone Card option and it copied the card and positioned it on the right, the next available space on the Operational Dashboard.

Favorites Card

I’m going to edit the existing Favorites card rather than create a new one, but I did test creating a new one. The Basic tab is similar to what we have seen before. There are 8 options for the Size; the width can be Extra Small, Medium, Large, or Extra Large, and the height can be Regular or Extra Tall. The default is Extra Small, Regular.

The Advanced tab is a table of the applications that you want to be able to navigate to from the Favorites card. The left-hand button allows you to drag the application name to a new position, the button on the right will remove the application from the Favorites card.

When you use the plus button above the table a new window opens allowing you to select the application that you would like to add to the Favorites card. You can use a filter above the table of applications on the left, I filtered by ‘inspection’ to check that both a role-based application (Inspections) and a work center (Manage Inspection Forms) could be selected. I chose Manage Inspection Forms. When you select a new application on the left panel it is added to the right-hand panel, the Selected applications.

As you can see, I have added the Manage Inspection Forms work center and will now use the blue Done button to save the change.

The Manage Inspection Forms application is now added to the Favorites card. Unfortunately, it did not launch, I received the following error message for both Manage Inspection Forms and Manage Inventory, two of the remaining work centers – You do not have all the required authorizations for the requested location. Would you like to load a default application? 

I did several tests on the Favorites card and concluded that there was no problem adding a Maximo application or Role Based application, the problem was only associated with launching a Work Center. Incidentally, I can launch the Work Centers from the desktop Maximo side bar. I’ve raised an IBM Support case for this.

Work Queue Card

The Work Queue Card only has a Basic tab. The Work Queue was added in MAS 8.11, the current release at the time of writing, it is also currently restricted to work orders, I expect an Advanced tab will appear in future releases. I was aiming to create a second Work Queue card for only the work queues for which I am responsible – I called it My Work Queues. The Size defaults to Medium, Regular with 8 options with the combination of a width of Extra Small, Medium, Large, or Extra Large and a height of Regular or Extra Tall.

After using the blue Done button the My Work Queues card showed No Data. Conclusion, it is too early to use the Work Queue card, and I wouldn’t delete the standard Work Queue card, as you might not be able to get it back again. 

Incidentally, if you use the Clone Card action on the current Work Queues card while in Edit mode, then the table does appear, and it shows the same records. There is little point doing this currently because you do not have the ability to say what work queues you want displaying on each Work Queue Card.

Quick Actions Card

The Quick Actions Card has a Basic tab and Advanced tab. The Basic tab has the same four fields, Card Title, Subtitle, Description and Size, this defaults to Extra Small, Regular, it has 8 options with the combination of a width of Extra Small, Medium, Large, or Extra Large and a height of Regular or Extra Tall.

On the Advanced tab you can select Quick Actions using the plus button. I’ve added two, Create Service Requests which would open the Service Requests application, and Create Work Orders, this is the new Role Based Application which will be the subject of my next article. You have buttons to change the order or to delete a Quick Action record.

The Quick Action Selector has a search bar above the left-hand panel. I had searched for work order, when I took the screenshot, I had just picked the new role-based work orders application, and it appears on the Selected Actions panel on the right. The left-hand panel without a filter shows one record for each application, the same number as will be found for the Favorites Card.

After using the blue Done button, the two applications could be launched. Service Requests did launch in insert mode. However, the new Work Orders application launched but without creating a new work order.

The Start Center equivalent is the Quick Insert portlet which allows you to reference a Ticket Template if the launch application is a type of ticket. This feature does not exist yet for the Quick Actions Card, but I’ve raised an IBM Idea for it. https://ideas.ibm.com/ideas/MASM-I-1059

KPI Value Card

The KPI Value Card has the same four fields on the Basic tab, the Size is read-only and fixed as Extra Small, Short (width, height). I wouldn’t use a Subtitle as I found if you do then the indication of the percentage change won’t be visible in the setting for a Short height card.

The Advanced tab allows for the selection of a single KPI. I selected KPI-7.

After using the blue Done button, the KPI value will be shown. In this case the KPI value shows 390 in red text and above it a description – Over target by 385.00, which is correct because the target is 5.00. KPI-7 is defined as a Decimal not a Percentage. It looks as if the percent sign following the KPI current value is hard-coded and not dependent on whether the KPI is marked as Decimal or Percentage. I’ve raised an IBM Support case for this.

There is no ability to launch to the KPI Manager or KPI Viewer applications, or to Refresh the KPI as there are for the four KPIs which are positioned along the top of the Operational Dashboard. I raised an IBM Support case for this as well. I thought about cloning one of the top four KPI Value cards, but they do not have the Clone Card option.

I wondered how to refresh the KPI and remembered that there was a refresh button at the top right of the Operational Dashboard. I completed four PM work orders, and this reduced the total to 386 when the refresh button was used. The text below the KPI value indicates a reduction of 1.03% from last refresh, a positive trend hence the indicator is coloured green.

KPI Chart Card

When the KPI Chart Card opened the regular four fields were displayed on the Basic tab. The Card Title field already had the title of KPI Trend Tile, which would indicate a card like the one on the right in the second row, rather than the one on the left. The Size defaults to Extra Small, Regular, but there are options for a width of Extra Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large with a Regular height, and Medium, Large and Extra Large with an Extra Tall height, 7 options in all.

On the Advanced tab the Time Range field has options for Last 7 days, Last 14 days, Last month, Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last year, Last 2 years and Last 5 years. The default in Last 7 days.

You need to select one KPI against which others can be compared. I choose KPI-7 and am aiming to compare KPI-8 and KPI-9 with this. This doesn’t make too much sense as the KPI-7 has a Decimal basis, and KPI-8 and KPI-9 are on a Percentage basis, I would have thought all should have the same type. We’ll wait to see the results.

After you have selected a base KPI then when you select the KPIs to compare this against, Maximo is filtering so that you cannot select the same KPI to compare with itself. When you have selected the KPIs to compare against they are added to the right-hand panel.

You can compare 9 KPIs, so you can select up to 8 others, after this the OK button becomes read-only and has a grey background.

After using the Blue Done button the KPI Chart card is displayed. KPI-7 is at the top close to 400 and the KPI-8 and KPI-9 are both down at 0. The bumps along the bottom are the points at which you can see the KPI and its x-value and y-value. All the values for KPI-8 and KPI-9 are zero for the date range.

In the legend you can click one KPI to only focus on its values or click two to compare two KPIs. Also, the solid black bar at the top allows you to zoom in by moving the little bars at each end.

The KPI Chart card uses data that exists in the KPIHISTORY table which can be found in the KPI Manager application and Historical Trends tab. These are normally calculated via a Cron Task set up for the KPI.

KPI Comparison Card

The KPI Comparison Card is similar to the left-hand card in the middle row of the screenshot. A similar Basic tab with the Size defaulting to Extra Small, Regular but there are options for a width of Extra Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large with a Regular height, and Medium, Large and Extra Large with an Extra Tall height, 7 options in all.

The Advanced Tab allows you to select multiple KPIs, I did a test where I selected 20 KPIs. Obviously the KPIs that you compare need to be similar, ideal if you have used a KPI template to create several KPIs which differ slightly. I’ve raised an IBM Support case to have the template added to the KPI Selection window, it should be relatively easy to achieve. 

Above the KPIs is a Chart Type with the options for Bar, Line, Pie, or Donut. The default is Bar.

I selected KPI-7, KPI-8, and KPI-9 and will now use the Blue Done button.

The KPI Comparison for KPI-7, KPI-8 and KPI-9 is shown at the bottom left of the screenshot. If you click on KPI-7 which has a value, you will be taken to the KPI Manager application. If you hover over the bar, you will be shown the x-value, y-value and its KPI Group, one of Alert (Red), Warning (Yellow) or On Target (Green). 

There are no buttons at the top of the card to expand to full screen or view table. However, if you clone the existing KPI Comparison card, then you can modify it by changing the KPIs, and the buttons are retained and work with your new KPIs.

There are four chart types. I cloned the new KPI Comparison card three times and changed the chart type. From left to right they are Bar, Line, Donut and Pie. Unfortunately, as I am on a development environment there isn’t the data to give a better impression of these, but I thought you would at least appreciate having a feeling for what they may look like, even if only KPI-7 is shown. KPI-8 and KPI-9 have a zero value, so they do not show on the donut or pie charts.

I raised another IBM Idea to show the Percentage/Decimal type field when selecting KPIs in the KPI Chart and KPI Comparison cards. When you are comparing KPIs the Y-axis should be the same scale, if a KPI is a Percentage type then it only makes sense to compare other Percentage based KPIs. Similar for Decimal type. I suggested that a restriction shouldn’t be put in place but just guide the user by showing a column that shows Percentage or Decimal that can be used during filtering.

https://ideas.ibm.com/ideas/MASM-I-1060

Workflow Card

If you have applications with an active workflow process, then your workflow assignments will appear in the card with title Workflow assignments due soon. I’ve enabled the POSTATUS workflow process and created a new PO, 1113 with a cost greater than 500 so that a workflow assignment is generated. You can navigate to the PO application and PO 1113 from the highlighted text, this will allow you to review the record assigned.

If you mark the workflow assignment, you will receive the option to Route workflow.

The Route Assignment dialog allows you to enter a 100-character memo, and the option to either Reassign or Route.

Initially I chose to Reassign, and you are presented with a dialog where you can filter for a person to reassign to and enter a comment.

The dialog to select a person to reassign the workflow can be filtered. I have filtered by Wilson and will select Mike Wilson.

After entering a memo which as you can see has used 96 of a maximum 100 characters. I used the blue Reassign button.

I then received an error message indicating that the memo has a maximum length of 50. It was successful when I added a memo that was less than 50 characters, and it did arrive on Mike Wilson’s Operational Dashboard. I’ve raised an IBM Support case for this.

I returned to the workflow assignment and after entering Test on the Route Assignment dialog I selected this time the blue Route button.

Unfortunately, I received a different error message – BMXAA5426E – Primitive type parameter cannot have null value. I have also reported this to IBM Support.

The IBM documentation says that you can now accept, reject, route, and reassign workflow assignments on the Workflow assignments due soon card on the Operational dashboard. I didn’t test accept and reject, perhaps I’ll come back to it once some of the issues have been resolved, and the Operational Dashboard has been enhanced again.

One final word of warning, the Workflow card will not be found in the Card Gallery, and it cannot be reproduced using the Table card as the Table card does not have associated actions, like Route Workflow. If you delete the Workflow Card, I don’t think there is a way of getting it back again. I’ve created an IBM Idea for this. https://ideas.ibm.com/ideas/MASM-I-1061