Creating the PSA Analytics App from the App Template

The following templates are used to create dashboards in PSA Analytics:

The app template for FinancialForce PSA Analytics enables you to generate an app that contains dashboards and datasets. The PSA Analytics app template design wizard allows you to customize several values in your app before it is generated.

The app template for PSA Analytics Embedded Dashboards enables you to generate an app that contains dashboards optimized for embedding in PSA workspaces and pages. This app contains copies of the datasets held in your primary PSA Analytics app.

For more information about dashboards and datasets, see the Salesforce Help for Analytics.

The length of time for your first PSA Analytics app to be generated depends on the volume of information stored within your PSA app and whether you have turned on specific features in Analytics, such as Data Sync and Incremental Load. Typically, you can expect the app to be generated within 10 minutes.

By default, the Data Sync and Incremental Load features are turned off in Analytics. Turning these features on can improve the performance of the app template generation. If the app takes a long time to be generated, contact Customer Support. Refer to the Salesforce Help for Analytics for more information about these features.

To create an app using the PSA Analytics template:

  1. Click Create in Analytics Studio.
  2. Click App.
  3. Select the FinancialForce PSA Analytics template, then click Continue.
  4. Provide your answers to each question. See below for a list of the questions included in the wizard.
  5. Name your app, then click Create.

Your app is now available on the App Launcher page. You can view the app from the Analytics tab, or edit it from the Analytics Studio.

By default, when you generate an app the sharing settings are set to private. To give access to other users, click . This opens the app's Give Access tab. For more information about sharing Analytics apps, see the Salesforce Help.

You must first create your primary PSA Analytics app. This contains the datasets that are copied into your PSA Analytics Embedded Dashboards app.

No app template design wizard is used in the creation of this app. It is activated using Feature Console. For more information, see Enabling PSA Embedded Dashboards with Feature Console see

When you create a new PSA Analytics app you can customize several parameters by selecting the required value in the app template wizard. To enable additional features you need to answer the questions prompted by the app template wizard during the app creation, update or reconfiguration. Settings marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.

App Template Design Wizard Settings

Settings

 

Description
Step 1. Enable the existing PSA object sharing model for the data displayed in PSA Analytics.  

Select whether you want to apply the existing PSA object security model to your PSA Analytics app or not. If you enable the existing sharing model, users can only view records related to the objects they have access to. If you do not enable the existing sharing model, all users with access to Analytics that share the app can view the data for all PSA records.

PSA Analytics supports sharing with Salesforce public groups and their member users. If a group contains any subgroups, you have to share the access to each child group separately.

See PSA Analytics Object Sharing Model for more information.
Step 2. Select the start month of your fiscal year.  

PSA Analytics uses your time period records or your org configuration to identify which month you have assigned as the start of your fiscal year. You can accept the suggested month or you can manually select the start month of your fiscal year from the drop-down list in this section of the app wizard. The value you select determines the date ranges for the fiscal quarters and fiscal years displayed in PSA Analytics.
Step 3. Create the Revenue Forecast dataset * Choose whether to create the Revenue Forecast dataset. This dataset is used by the Revenue Forecast and Revenue Forecast (Embedded) dashboards. These enable you to embed analytics to display key revenue forecasting key performance indicators (KPIs), including comparisons of forecast versions. This dashboard requires you to ensure the necessary data is available in your org's data environment. For more information about the data requirements, see Preparing the Data Environment for PSA Analytics. To create this dashboard, you must enable the PSA Analytics Embedded Dashboards feature in Feature Console. For more information, see Enabling PSA Embedded Dashboards with Feature Console.
Step 3. Create the Billing Forecast Summaries and the Billing Forecast Details datasets and the Billing Forecasts dashboard *

Choose whether to create the Billing Forecast Summaries and the Billing Forecast Details datasets and the Billing Forecasts dashboard. This dashboard allows you to visualize your PSA Enhanced Services Forecasting data in Analytics and drill down into the data to gather business insights.

This dashboard requires you to ensure the necessary data is available in your org's data environment. For more information about the data requirements, see Preparing the Data Environment for PSA Analytics.
Step 3. Create the Project Margin dataset and the Total Project Margin (Workspace) dashboard *

Choose whether to create the Project Margin dataset and the Total Project Margin (Workspace) dashboard. This dashboard can be integrated with the project manager workspace in Lightning PSA, enabling your project managers to get a smart vision of their total margins for their assigned projects.

This dashboard requires you to ensure the necessary data is available in your org's data environment. For more information about the data requirements, see Preparing the Data Environment for PSA Analytics.
Step 3. Create the Utilization Results dataset *

Choose whether to create the Utilization Results dataset. This dataset is used by the Utilization Analytics and Utilization Analytics (Embedded) dashboards. These enable you to visualize detailed information about your resources' scheduled or actual hours logged and calendar hours. This dashboard requires you to ensure the necessary data is available in your org's data environment. For more information about the data requirements, see Preparing the Data Environment for PSA Analytics. To create this dashboard, you must enable the PSA Analytics Embedded Dashboards feature in Feature Console. For more information, see Enabling PSA Embedded Dashboards with Feature Console.
Step 4. Select additional fields from the Project object to import.  

Select one or more additional fields from the Project object to include in your PSA Analytics datasets. These are stored on the following datasets:

  • Backlog
  • Billings

If you decided to enable additional features in the previous wizard question, the additional fields from are also added to the optional datasets that contain project data:

  • Billing Forecast Details
  • Total Project Margin (Workspace)
  • Revenue Forecast

To properly visualize the data in Analytics, ensure that the integration user and the user have the necessary permissions to view the selected fields. If you select a field that is a lookup to an object outside of PSA, the integration user also requires a license that provides access to that object.

Note: Encrypted, multi-select drop-down fields are not supported. These fields are not displayed in the list of available fields for import.
Note: The additional fields you import from the PSA package receive a label identifier that states which object (Project or Resource) the field belongs to. For example, if you import an additional field from the Resource (Contact) object called "Start Date", after importing it to Analytics the label identifies the field as "Resource Start Date" in PSA Analytics. If the imported field already contains an identifier as part of its regular label this feature does not apply. For example, if you import an additional field from the Project object called "Project Manager Name", after importing it to Analytics the label for this field remains the same in PSA Analytics.
Warning: If the Data Sync feature is enabled, do not withdraw the fields permissions assigned to the integration user after the App's creation is complete. This might cause the App to crash when running the dataflow. To fix this, re-assign the necessary permissions to the integration user, or disable the affected fields in the dataflow nodes.

To disable custom fields from a node in the dataflow:

  1. From the Data Manager | Connect
  2. Open the affected node and deselect the affected fields from the list
  3. Click Continue
  4. Run the Dataflow
Step 4. Select additional fields from the Contacts object to import.  

Select one or more additional fields from the Contacts object to include in your PSA Analytics datasets. These are stored on the following datasets:

  • Billings
  • Capacity
  • Utilization

To properly visualize the data in Analytics, ensure that the integration user and the user have the necessary permissions to view the selected fields. If you select a field that is a lookup to an object outside of PSA, the integration user also requires a license to that object.

Note: Encrypted, multi-select drop-down fields are not supported. These fields are not displayed in the list of available fields for import.
Note: The additional fields you import from the PSA package receive a label identifier that states which object (Project or Resource) the field belongs to. For example, if you import an additional field from the Resource (Contact) object called "Start Date", after importing it to Analytics the label identifies the field as "Resource Start Date" in PSA Analytics. If the imported field already contains an identifier as part of its regular label this feature does not apply. For example, if you import an additional field from the Project object called "Project Manager Name", after importing it to Analytics the label for this field remains the same in PSA Analytics.
Warning: If the Data Sync feature is enabled, do not withdraw the fields permissions assigned to the integration user after the App's creation is complete. This might cause the App to crash when running the dataflow. To fix this, re-assign the necessary permissions to the integration user, or disable the affected fields in the dataflow nodes.

To disable custom fields from a node in the dataflow:

  1. From the Data Manager | Connect
  2. Open the affected node and deselect the affected fields from the list
  3. Click Continue
  4. Run the Dataflow
Step 4. Append a suffix to the custom fields labels. *

Choose to append the custom fields you import into the PSA Analytics App with a suffix tag to easily identify them. The suffix also identifies the object from which these custom fields are extracted. For example, if you import a custom field named "Location" from the PSA Project object, the field appears in PSA Analytics as "Location [ProjectCustomField]".

Note: This suffix only applies to the custom fields you create for PSA objects. If you import a managed field from the PSA package, the suffix is not applied. Instead, managed fields receive a label identifier.

When you run the PSA Analytics app template to create an app, a dataflow is generated. This dataflow is named according to the app name you provide. The following dashboards, datasets, and lenses are generated:

Generated Assets

Package

 App Template Dashboards Datasets
Business Analytics PSA Analytics

Overview

Billings

Backlog

Utilization

Capacity

Project Burnup

Capacity and Demand Planning

Billings

Backlog

Utilization

Capacity

Currency ISO Code

During the app creation, you can use the app template wizard to enable several optional features such as additional dashboards and datasets. The following dashboards and datasets are available as additional features.

Additional Assets

Package

App Template

Dashboards

Lenses
 Business Analytics PSA Analytics Total Project Margin (Workspace)  
Billing Forecasts  
 
Revenue Forecast  
Utilization Analytics  

When you enable the PSA Analytics Embedded Dashboards app in Feature Console, the following dashboards are created:

Generated Assets

Package

 App Template Dashboards Datasets
Business Analytics PSA Analytics Embedded Dashboards

Revenue Forecast (Embedded)

Utilization Analytics (Embedded)


Revenue Forecast

Utilization Results