Documentation

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Using the Reports

The three types of report (Benchmark My Service, Standard and Dashboard) in SP-Bench are based on the same framework, so they work in a consistent way.

The tips on how to use the reports on this page apply to all the reports in SP-Bench. Once you try them out you'll be ready to use any report.

Drilling into the data

The report shows you average values by region - you can easily drill down into the data by expanding one of these regions (click the "+" icon next to the x-axis label) to see the average values for its constituent Local Authorities. From there you can drill down further, into any Authority, to see the exact results for each service of that Authority.

To collapse a region or Authority, just click the "-" next to the x-axis label and the data will be folded up again.

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Filtering

If you are specifically looking to analyse a particular type of service or services with a certain primary client group, for example, you can use the drop-down lists in the filters area to choose what attributes the services in your report should have.

Just click on one of the filter drop-downs, tick the boxes next to the attributes you are interested in and click "OK". The report will automatically update to only include the services that match your filters.

Note: If you tick more than one of the options in a filter (for example, "Frail elderly" and "Older people with support needs" from Primary Client Group) then a service will be included if it matches any of the options you tick.

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Switching between reports

You can switch between the default cost, performance and quality reports using the report selector area on the left. Switching reports will not change the filters you have applied.

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Choosing a different measure

A measure is a value you can report on. For example Cost per support hour, KPI 1a, C1.2, etc.

In the Standard report, you can change the measure displayed on the report by clicking the "Measures" drop-down on the right of the report. Here you can tick the box next to the measure you want to show and untick any ones you don't. You can even select more than one for a side-by-side comparison. Click "OK" to apply your choice and the report will update automatically.

In the Benchmark My Service and Dashboard reports, measures are added as individual charts, so just tick the box next to a chart you want to display in the "Charts" area above the report.

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Viewing the data table

Behind the graph in the report is the table of data that the graph represents.

To view the data table, click the "Grid" tab at the top of the report. The view will change to display a table of data with the same filters applied and regions expanded as the chart you were just looking at. The grid also shows the number of data items behind each value, for example the average cost per support hour of an LA might be the average of 10 services.

Note that you can interact with the table of data in much the same way as the chart, by expanding and collapsing regions, sorting the data, applying filters, etc.

If you want to switch back to the chart then just click the "Chart" tab at the top of the report.

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Saving the chart or grid

Chart

  1. Click the "Save Entire Chart Image" button in the toolbar above the report. It is the button on the far left.
  2. It may take some time to prepare the image, depending on how much you have expanded the report out beyond the default.
  3. When the image is ready a "File Download" dialog box will appear, click "Save" to choose a location to save the image.
  4. A file browser window will appear, browse to the location in which you want to save the image and click "Save" to begin the download.
  5. Once the download has completed you can choose "Open" to display the image, "Open Folder" to go directly to the folder that now contains the image, or "Close" to close the dialog without opening anything else.

Grid

  1. Click the "Export to Excel" button in the toolbar above the report. It is towards the right hand side and displays the Microsoft Excel icon.
  2. It may take some time to prepare the file, depending on how much you have expanded the report out beyond the default.
  3. When the file is ready a "File Download" dialog box will appear, click "Save" to choose a location to save the Excel file.
  4. A file browser window will appear, browse to the location in which you want to save the file and click "Save" to begin the download.
  5. Once the download has completed you can choose "Open" to open the file in Excel, "Open Folder" to go directly to the folder that now contains the file, or "Close" to close the dialog without opening anything else.

The Excel file will not contain the counts of the number of data items behind each value, this is only shown on the report in the web browser.

Note: When opening the file in Excel you may receive a message stating:

The file you are trying to open is in a different format than specified by the file extension.

This is due to the file being based on the HTML used to display the grid in a web browser. You should click "Yes" to continue opening the file.

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Adding data value labels

You can easily add labels to the columns in the chart that display the exact value of the data item. This is ideal for creating charts that you can use in your own documents:

  1. Click on the "Properties" button in the middle of the toolbar above the chart. It has the icon of a hand pointing at a bar chart.
  2. Select the "Labels" tab, third from the left.
  3. Tick the "Show Labels" checkbox.
  4. Click the drop-down list under "Format and Precision" on the right and select the appropriate format. The following is a set of suggested formats for the reports in SP-Bench:
    • Cost report: Currency
    • Performance report: Percent
    • Quality report: Number
  5. Enter a precision (the number of decimal places to show) in the number up-down box on the right of the drop down list.
  6. Click "OK" to close the properties window and apply your changes to the chart.

Note: This setting is retained as long as you are logged in. To remove it you can either close your browser, or edit the properties again and uncheck the "Show Labels" checkbox.

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Editing the chart title

  1. Click on the "Properties" button in the middle of the toolbar above the chart. It has the icon of a hand pointing at a bar chart.
  2. Edit the text of the title by changing the contents of the "Title Text" field on the right. The chart will dynamically replace the following keywords, anything else will be displayed exactly as you type it:
    • #MEASURES: Replaced by the list of measures you have chosen to display. E.g. "Avg PI Percentage by Performance Indicator", or "Avg Cost Per Support Hour".
    • #DIMENSIONS: Replaced by "by Region" as this is how each chart is broken down.
  3. You can choose where the title is displayed relative to the chart by selecting a different radio-button beside the "Placement" heading.
  4. Click "OK" to close the properties window and apply your changes to the chart.

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Editing the chart legend

  1. Click on the "Properties" button in the middle of the toolbar above the chart. It has the icon of a hand pointing at a bar chart.
  2. Select the "Legend" tab, second from the left.
  3. You can turn off the legend by unchecking the "Show Legend" checkbox.
  4. You can choose where the legend is displayed relative to the chart by selecting a different radio-button beside the "Placement" heading on the right.
  5. Click "OK" to close the properties window and apply your changes to the chart.

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