Configure and understand the forecasting in the Indicator Monitoring tab in a Technical Object.

[SAPSupport]

1. How do I configure an indicator to be to use the forecast functionality in Indicator Monitoring?
2. How do I display the forecast in Indicator Monitoring?
3. How does the Indicator Monitoring chart calculates the data points?
4. How do I interpret the forecast chart?

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[SAPSupport · Accepted solution]

1. How do I configure an indicator to be used in the forecast functionality in Indicator Monitoring?
   
   1. Open a technical object.
   2. Select the Indicators tab.
   3. Select an indicator that has values.
   4. Select the Configure button.
   5. Select the Forecast tab within the Configure popup window.
   6. Enable the forecast (left hand side) and chose the past data range (right hand side).
   7. Select Save.
2. How do I display the forecast in Indicator Monitoring?
   1. Following on from above.
   2. Select the Indicator Monitoring tab.
   3. Select the Duration wished to be displayed.
   4. Select the Select Indicators button and select which indicator(s) to be displayed.
   5. Select the Settings button (the cog near Select Indicators).
   6. Enable the Forecast and set the duration of it and select Apply.
   7. The forecast chart will then be calculated and displayed beside the duration chart.
      
      
3. How does the Indicator Monitoring chart calculates the data points?
   The visualisation logic relies on grouping data points into time-based aggregates to improve performance and simplify the display. So differences or missing data maybe noticed for the last 6 hours or longer time windows as opposed to 4 hours:
   1. Aggregation Logic:
   1. The smallest time unit for aggregation is 2 minutes. This means that, for every hour, there are 30 aggregates (since 60 minutes divided by 2 equals 30).
   2. When viewing a chart with a 4-hour window, the system needs to divide the data into 125 divisions. However, since 4 hours only provides 120 aggregates (4 x 30 = 120), the system uses raw data to calculate the visualisation, which can produce different results.
   3. For a 6-hour window, there are 180 aggregates available (6 x 30 = 180), which is more than enough to fill the 125 divisions. In this case, the system uses the pre-computed 2-minute aggregates, which can cause differences in the displayed values compared to the 4-hour view.
   2. Lead Time for Aggregates calculation:
   1. There is a 15-minute lead time for calculating these pre-computed aggregates. So, if the chart relies on these aggregates, there is a chance that the most recent data points (within the last 15 minutes) might be missing. This explains why the last few data points are missing for the 6 hours duration.
     Recommendation to ensure you visualise all the recent data points:
   1. Zoom in to view the data for the last 4 hours duration or less. This will force the system to calculate the visualisation using raw data, ensuring all the data points are included.
   
   
   
4. How do I interpret the forecast chart?
   The forecast will be more accurate if the Range of past data to be considered value used is a large range. So if a small range is chosen (1 day) for the indicator forecast, then the chart will show a larger variable range (larger cone) within the forecast chart. If the range on the indicator forecast is larger (1 month of example) then the chart will show a smaller variable range (small cone) within the forecast chart. The larger an indicator ranger (bigger the data set) the more accurate the forecast, this results in smaller variation of value ranges (smaller cone).