Configure Demand Forecast

Define the data that you want to collect for incidents, interactions, or any table to forecast the number of agents that you require for your staffing needs.

Before you begin

• You must have the MetricBase plugin [com.snc.clotho] enabled to use Demand Forecast in Workforce Optimization for ITSM. For more information, see Requesting the MetricBase product.
• You must be in the global application scope.

Role required: sn_agent_forecast.admin

Procedure

1. Navigate to All > Workforce Optimization for ITSM > Demand Forecast
2. Define the data that you want to collect for forecasting the number of agents that you need.
   1. Click Data Collection Definitions.

      See the forecast configuration tables for demand forecast for the list of configurations that are available by default.

   2. Click New.
   3. On the form, fill in the fields.

      Table 1. Forecast Configuration form

      Field	Description
      Name	Unique name for the collection forecast configuration.
      Type	Data Collection Definition type that is set to Collection by default and collects data using a scheduled job.
      Table	Table that is used for collecting data. From the list, do one of the following: To collect data to forecast incidents, select Incidents. To collect data to forecast interactions, select Interactions.
      Condition	Conditions that you can set so that you can capture the data that you need.
      Date Field	Data that you can add to forecast for the future.

   4. Click Submit.
      Note:

      A forecast parameter in Published state is automatically created.
   5. Create an index for the table that you have created using the date field and the conditions that you have added to the table. For information on creating a table index, see Create a table index.
3. Add parameters for the formula to calculate how many agents you need per hour in a day.
   1. Click Formula Parameters.
   2. In the Name field, enter a name for the parameter.
   3. Do one of the following:
      • To add a value to be calculated for the formula, in the Value field, enter the value.
      • To use the performance analytics score card API or a custom API, click Advanced, and add the script.
      The Average Chat Duration and Average Walkup Duration forecast parameters that are provided by default are examples of how you can use scripts to add the parameters. For a list of parameters provided by default, see the forecast parameters in demand forecast for the list of configurations that are available by default.
      Note:

      A resource conversion formula uses multiple data collection definitions to calculate the resource conversion. In a data collection definition, if the forecast parameters set for each of the forecast configurations vary, the resource conversion formula uses the lowest parameter values set for a forecast configuration.

      For example, let's assume:

      • The P1 Incidents Created forecast configuration has the period length set to seven days and periods to forecast set to 2. Therefore, the next number of days for which the forecast would be calculated is 14 days.
      • The Chat Interactions Created forecast configuration has the period length set to seven days and periods to forecast set to 4. Therefore, the next number of days for which the forecast would be calculated is 28 days.

      When you add both of these forecast configurations to the resource conversion formula, it only considers the lower of the two forecast configuration values, which is 14 days, to calculate the resource conversion.
   4. Click Submit.
4. Configure the resource conversion formula.
   1. Click Resource Conversion Formula.
   2. Click New.
   3. On the form, fill in the fields.

      Table 2. Forecast Configuration form

      Field	Description
      Name	Name for the resource forecast configuration.
      Type	Type that is set to Resource Conversion Formula.
      Formula	Formula to calculate the forecasted number of agents that you need. In the Related Links section, do the following: Click Browse Forecast Configuration, select the forecast configuration to add to the formula and click Add. Click the Browse Forecast Parameter related link, select the forecast parameter to add to the formula, and click Add. Note: FC refers to Forecast Configuration and FP refers to Forecast Parameter.

   4. Click Submit.
5. Associate an assignment group with a resource conversion formula.
   You can assign a forecast configuration to multiple assignment groups, but an assignment group can have only one forecast configuration.

   1. Click Group Forecast Configurations.
   2. Click New and do the following:
      • In the Assignment Group field, click the search icon () and select the group to which you want to associate a forecast configuration.
      • In the Forecast Configuration field, click the search icon () and select a Resource Conversion Formula.

What to do next

Run the Collect historical data for automated forecast configurations scheduled job. For more information, see scheduled jobs for demand forecast .

• Define the minimum and maximum number of agents to forecast demand
  Set the minimum or maximum number of agents required per hour so that you always have the desired staffing coverage.

Related tasks

• Use Demand Forecast