Overview of reporting and analytics for developers

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Overview of reporting and analytics for developers

    Reporting and analytics are essential for most applications you develop on ServiceNow to provide actionable insights that drive change. Reporting typically involves displaying data from tables like Incident [incident], while key performance indicators (KPIs) are tracked over time using the Performance Analytics application.

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    ServiceNow currently supports two main user interfaces for reporting and analytics:

    • Core UI: Includes the Reporting application for table-based data and PA Widgets for Performance Analytics indicators. Reports and widgets can be added to responsive dashboards within Core UI.
    • Platform Analytics: Offers Data Visualizations that can report on data from any source, which can be placed on Platform Analytics dashboards with filters. This UI is based on the Next Experience UI Framework and accessible to developers and non-developers alike.

    To avoid confusion, "report" and "reporting" refer specifically to Core UI Reporting, while "visualization" refers to Platform Analytics data visualizations.

    Best Practices

    • Filter large tables by date range or other criteria to prevent performance issues.
    • Avoid grouping by fields with many unique values to reduce load times.
    • If you encounter long-running transactions, add more filters to improve performance.
    • Schedule exports and emails for reports, visualizations, or dashboards that need to be shared regularly.

    Options for Displaying Multiple Visualizations on One Page

    ServiceNow offers several approaches to combine multiple data visualizations on a single page, tailored to different skill levels and customization needs:

    • Platform Analytics experience: Build visualizations and dashboards entirely within the Platform Analytics UI—ideal for non-developers or quick setups.
    • UI Builder with data visualization components: Use UI Builder to create highly customizable pages integrating visualizations, filters, and other components—best suited for developers.
    • Hybrid approach: Create dashboards via Platform Analytics and embed them into UI Builder pages using the Dashboard page template—balances ease of creation with customization.
    • Technical dashboards in UI Builder: Use pre-built technical dashboards available in the dashboard library for easy sharing and integration into UI Builder pages.

    Most applications that you create have some level of reporting requirements. Reports should be actionable to drive change.

    "Reporting" generally refers to showing the data inside facts tables like Incident [incident]. You can also create key performance indicators (KPIs) to track changes in this data over time, through the Performance Analytics application.

    Currently the ServiceNow AI Platform® is in transition between two user interfaces for showing this information:
    • The older Core UI technology. This UI includes the Reporting application, which only shows data directly from tables, and PA Widgets, which show data from Performance Analytics indicators. Both reports and PA widgets can be placed on Core UI responsive dashboards. For more information, see Reporting, dashboards, and Performance Analytics in the Core UI.
    • The newer Platform Analytics technology. This UI includes Data Visualizations, which let you report on data from any source. These visualizations can be placed on Platform Analytics dashboards, along with Platform Analytics filters. For more information, see Platform Analytics experience.

      All Platform Analytics objects are rooted in the Next Experience UI Framework and are available to developers. However, a non-developer can still build their own objects through the Platform Analytics experience, without using UI Builder. For more information, see Platform Analytics experience.

    Note:
    Although "reporting" is a general term, this documentation usually uses "report" and "reporting" to refer to the Core UI Reporting application and "visualization" or "visualize" to refer to Platform Analytics data visualizations, for disambiguation.

    Follow these guidelines when building reports or data visualizations:

    • Creating reports or visualizations on large tables can negatively impact performance. Be sure to filter by a date range or other limiting criteria rather than showing all records on the table.
    • Grouping by fields that contain many possible values can negatively impact performance.
    • If loading a report or visualization gives a Long running transaction timer message, consider adding more data filters to reduce the load time.
    • If you need to export a report, data visualization, or dashboard on a regular basis, schedule the export and email.
    In Platform Analytics, you have several possibilities for showing multiple data visualizations on one page:
    • Create the data visualizations and the dashboards entirely inside the Platform Analytics experience. This approach does not require a developer role or special technical knowledge, and probably should be explored before you try a more complex solution.
    • Create data visualization components in a generic UI Builder page, along with filters and other components. This approach gives you the most freedom as a developer, but also requires the most configuration.
    • Create the data visualizations and the dashboards inside the Platform Analytics experience, but then place the dashboards inside UI Builder pages using the Dashboard page template. This approach lets you use the convenience of the Platform Analytics experience to create dashboards, data visualizations, and filters in your own experiences/workspaces. It also gives you the freedom to customize the page configuration partially. For more information, see Creating Platform Analytics pages in your own workspace.
    • Create a technical dashboard and populate it inside UI Builder. This approach is almost the same as creating your own UI Builder page from scratch, but the dashboard is available in the dashboard library, has dashboard details, and can be shared like other dashboards. For more information, see Technical dashboards.