Infor M3 Analytics components
This topic describes the basic components of M3 Analytics to help you search for and navigate to the information needed.
M3 Analytics is powered by Infor Birst, an integrated networked business intelligence platform for data-driven analysis. Birst extracts and transforms the source data into an analytical data model that contains fact tables and dimension tables. The resulting star schema is used as a source for reports and dashboards.
The process of extracting and transforming data is done in several spaces, each with a specific purpose. The content is moved through packages to different spaces as needed. M3 Analytics contains a source space for extraction of data from Data Lake, a space for dimensions that are shared across the solution, fact spaces, and a consumer space for reports and dashboards.
Dimensions that are shared across the solution are referred to as conformed dimensions. Fact spaces include fact tables and dimensions that are only used within a specific domain. Fact spaces are named after the domain that they support.
Reports
M3 Analytics provides reports that display a trend for a single KPI, and reports that allow the user to analyze one or several metrics in a chart or a table. Reports showing a trend for a single KPI are referred to as KPI charts.
Dashboards
Dashboards enable a single view of several KPIs that are relevant to a specific business process. They present varied information such as summaries, key trends, comparisons, and exceptions through charts and tables with metrics.
The dashboards delivered in M3 Analytics are designed to cover a business process within a single domain in a company and to cover a specific topic within a domain in the company. Several dashboards in the Rental, Procurement, Production, Finance, Sales, Equipment, Warehouse, andCustomer Lifecycle domains are designed based on this logic.
Dashboards are built up by several dashlets. You can use a KPI object, a KPI chart, or any other type of report as a dashlet.
Each dashboard is delivered with a set of filters that enables the user to drill in to the data presented in the various reports on the dashboard. Filters that are based on conformed dimensions are shared across dashboards. M3 Analytics provides dashboards that are designed for a specific topic and overview dashboards with drill across to target dashboards for a more detailed analysis.
M3 Analytics also offers guided ad hoc dashboards. These exemplify a dynamic approach to reporting where selection of measures and attributes is available in different filters.
This graphic shows a sample of a dashboard.
