Visual KPI Version Comparison

Feature

2.1

3.0

Benefit

General Features

No programming required

Y

Y

Large target audience that want control over their data screens

Deploys in hours, not days or months

Y

Y

Short time to benefit

No Run-time Client Software Installation

Y

Y

Very low Total Cost of Ownership

Software Lease Structure

Y

Y

No up-front commitment

Automatic Migration to New Versions

New update architecture allows for seamless, side-by-side, risk-free migrations

Validation-ready

Third-party validation services available from Transpara Partners

Data Access Features

Native PI Data Access

Y

Y

The world's leading Historian, a great place to store and calculate your KPIs

Extensible to Any Data Source

Y

Y

Allows all new, unknown systems to be easily encapsulted with an interface

Web Service Data Access

Y

Y

Best technology on which to base the extensibility model

ODBC Data Access

Y

Y

Most broadly used access mechanism for relationsl data

Excel Services Data Access

Y

Y

Leverage Microsoft Excel Server 2007. Easily repurpose existing spreadsheets as data sources

SmartSignal Data Access

Y

Y

SmartSignal Corporation delivers incredible value to customers with their EPI Center analytics platform

Secure Interface Option

Y

Y

Now all interface types support passing of credentials for more secure data access control

Secure Interface Migration

Y

Y

Manages the migration of 2.1 Interfaces to 3.0 Interfaces automatically

Reference Count per Interface

Keeps track of the number of references in the system to a particular interface

Editing Features

Excel 2003 Professional

Y

Y

The Universal Client for Business. Easy to use and well understood by most people. Inutitive use of latest technology (Visual Studio Tools fro Office, called VSTO)

Web-based Editor

Y

Y

If Excel 2003 is not available, this is a good back up way to edit without installing any client software

Multiple Datasource Support

Y

Y

Easily intermix data from PI, SQL Server and other sources. For example, the HighHigh and LowLow limits might come from MRO, the High and Low limits from SQL, the Target from SAP and the Actual from PI.

KPI Config from Excel

Y

Y

KPI configuration is intuitively arranged as one Scorecard per Excel Worksheet. VSTO add-in direclty integrates with Excel Task Pane for native feel

Web Site Config from Excel

Y

Y

No external editing tools are required to maintain and configure the entire web site.

Preview Function

Y

Y

See what the current value of ALL KPI data is in a snap.

Interface Test Function

Y

Y

Ensure that the Data Sources you have configured are ready to roll.

Drop down list of most recent URLs edited

Y

Y

Easily access several Visual KPI servers wihtout typing their URLs

Session log saved to disk

Y

Y

Record of all actions taken now avilable for later review

User-configurable KPI State Colors

Y

Allows each web site to have its own set of colors to denote LowLow, Low, Good, High, HighHigh

User-defined calculations for KPI attributes

KPIs are not always calculated in the underlying data source. The 3.0 calculation engine supoprts many math functions

Query Builder

Create dynamic SQL queries interactively. These queries determine which KPIs will be shown at runtime

Alias Names can be used in Calculations

Calculations such as "LowLow = 0.85 * Target" are allowed, which use the Alias Name instead of a tagname

Where Used function for KPIs, Scorecards, Interfaces

Allows user to easiliy determine where objects are referenced and why

Orphan status support

All objects which contain no references are now classifed as "orphaned" and are easily found and fixed.

Visualization Features

Trending

Y

Y

High resolution trends on any device. Useful for collaboration and problem solving

Configurable Standard Trend Time Ranges

Y

Y

User can specify the durations of all standard trend selections

Custom Trend Time Ranges

Y

Y

Both absolute and relative time addressing is supported

Auto-fit screens to device dimensions

Y

Y

Application optimizes display contents and size for device constraints

Session-specific Filter

Y

Y

Any status can be filtered and persisted to display or not

Scorecard History Support

Y

Y

Scroll entire Scorecards back in time

Effective Date Support (KPI, Scorecard, View)

If a screen calls for data that is prior to the effective date, the object will be suppressed from the display

Responsibilie Person Name, E-mail, Phone

Y

Y

Allows easy configuration of who to contact in the event of KPI excursion from expected behavior

Deterministic sizing for Desktop IE

Y

Y

User can set specific desktop size for web pages, allowing KPI map to be used as Annunciator Panel replacement

Static Value Support

Y

Y

Constant values instead of tags are often convenient for certain KPI attributes like limits

Send any page by e-mail

Y

Y

Collaboration with colleagues is enhanced by allowing your context, including time shifts, to be sent as a URL to anyone with access to the Visual KPI Server

KPI Detail Page

Y

Y

Person responsible, phone, e-mail, and all KPI config data available for review. Clicking on the phone number dials the number, clicking on the e-mail sends a message (with context).

Info URL for each KPI

Y

Y+

Each KPI can have a "drill-down" page for additional detail or explanation of how to recover from bad conditions. This page can reside anwhere on the corporate Intranet. With version 3, 10 Associated URLs are allowed per KPI

In Service / Out of Service support

Y

Y

Each KPI can be associated with a digital tag or a static value infdicating if the Unit is In Service or not. If not, then the KPI is set to "black " and the status is not calculated.

Static Text Descriptions in KPI Map

Y

Y

Descriptions of the KPI can be configured, so that the KJPI map is easier to understand on a desktop browser

Dynamic Values in KPI Map

Y

Y

Top and Bottom text in KPI map can have live values from any interface shown instead of static text

Analog Tag Support

Y

Y

Basic real value support

Digital Tag Support

Y

Y

Digital States show the state name in a Scorecard, but the state ordinal value in a trend

String Tag Support

Y

Y

String value is shown in a Scorecard, and there is no trend support

PDA Landscape / Portrait dynamic support

Y

Y

Pivoting the PDA to Landscape will cause the Visual KPI server to create pages optimized for Landscape orientation

High Resolution Axes

Y

Y

X-Axis is now shown down to the second

Configurable Auto-refresh

Y

Y

The server can be configured to support Auto Refresh of all pages. If turned on, then the refresh time is set server wide by the server admin. Each client machine has the option of using Auto Refresh or not. If a client machine chooses to use Auto Refresh, then all pages on that machine will auto refresh. This feature can be stopped for each client individually or turned off a the server.

Separate Auto-refresh for PDA and Desktop

Y

Y

PDAs and Phones typically have slower refresh requirements than the Desktop browser client

Dynamic Data on View List

Y

Y

Text or values are now allowed as a 'roll up" indicator on the View list

Dynamic Data on Scorecard List

Y

Y

Text or values are now allowed as a 'roll up" indicator on the Scorecard list

Dynamically Show/HIde Views, Scorecards, KPIs

Y

Y

A very powerful new feature allows the user to dynamically (via tag value) determine if any individual KPI, Scorecard or View should be shown or not shown. This means that certain KPIs or Scorecards may only be relevant to a user during certain periods, for example during a weekend turn-around, or a start up.

SharePoint 2007 Web Parts

Y

Y

Additional Client option display for Corporations that are adopting

Forward and backward arrows on trend

Y

Y

Easily scroll back and forth in time, using existing duration as scroll amount

Support for future time on trends

Y

Y

Forecast data, projections and targets are now easily accomodated by the Visual KPI Server

KPI map can optionally match Scorecard order

Y

Y

Create deterministicaly-oriented KPI maps which match the Scorecard order as configured

Unused field display suppression in displays like KPI Detail

Y

Y

With this option, any fields that would show "N/A" are omitted from display

Pen type selection by KPI (Interpolated, Step, None)

Y

Y

Easily change display types on a per-KPI basis.

Color/State Legend optionally on every page

ne-line legend ensures that all displays are "in context" for the user

All KPI Maps, Scorecards and Views have independent dimensions

Facilites re-use of screens in SharePoint and SAP Portal by setting size per map

Time of last update on all live values in KPI Detail

Allows fast determination of which KPI Attribute is "stale" or no longer updating.

KPI Detail page shows each trend pen color and "trendability"

Each Atribute on the KPI Detail shows whether its underlying value will trend and in which color

Dynamic Scorecards, Views and KPI Maps

Run time display shows the result of the query built in the Query Builder feature in Excel

Scorecard Title on KPI Map

Each Scorecard can be optionally labeled with its name on the KPI Map, allowing easy detection of problems

User-defined Attributes for KPIs, Scorecards, Views

Allows a complete data-driven description for use by the Query Builder

Trendable Icon for Attributes on KPI Detail

Shows explicitly whether a certain Attribute will display on a Trend

Multiple Info URL Links and Descriptions

Allows up to 10 "in-context" invocation of external systems from the KPI Detail page

New Trend Types

None, Step, Interpolated, Step + Symbol, Interpolated + Symbol

Bar Graph Support for KPIs

All Scorecards and Views can now be rendered as a Bar Graph, with new Physical limits of Min and Max added

Filter and Group by User-defined Attributes at run-time

User-defined Attributes are now present on the Filter and Group by screen

Filter and Group setting persists across all displays

Any setting on the Filter and Group by is now maintained throughout the current User Session

Default KPI Map Type set for the entire web site

Some web sites require a certain default configuration, like "Break + Name"

TRU Charts for roll-ups

Tru Roll-Ups are now available at an level in the hierarchy. This solves the problem of managing and interacting with thousands of KPIs simultaneiously.

Server Features

Multiprocessor support

Y

Y

Scalability modifications to utilize multiple processors in a single box

All meta data in SQL Server

Y

Y

Scorcard and KPI definitions are now stored in SQL Express 2005 or SQL Server 2005

Web Farm Support

Y

Y

Scalability modifications to utilize multiple boxes in a Server Farm configuration

Configurable Alerting (SMTP or SMS over SMTP)

Y

Y

Alert the responsible party of KPI excursions beyond expected values

Configurabel logging to the Windows Event Journal

Y

Y

Choose to log only failures or increase the logging level for Interface, Server and Alerter debugging

IIS 6 Support

Y

Y

The most popular web server platform on the planet

IIS 7 Support

Y

Y

Now included with Windows Vista. Visual KPI has been tested on IIS 7

Server Management Application

Manges automated upgrades from 2.1, handles complete provisioning and management of multiple 3.0 web sites

KPI Cache Server

A new windows service caches data in SQL Server, resulting in a very significant perfromance boost

Explicit Support for Multiple Web Site Instances

Multiple web sites are supported in every way. No manual installation or management required.

Server statistics and Status info

All system errors and warnings are shown on the Info page, with a one-line link from all pages when an error exists

OS / Device Support

iPhone & iPod Touch

Windows Mobile 5

Y

Windows Mobile 6

SmartPhone 2003

Y

SmartPhone 2003 SE

Y

Blackberry

Y

Blackberry Pearl

Y

Sony PSP

Y

Y

Internet Explorer 5.5

Y

Y

Internet Explorer 6

Y

Y

Internet Explorer 7

Y

Y

Windows XP

Y

Y

Windows Server 2003

Y

Y

Windows Vista

Y

Y