Risk Comparisons Chart

The Risk Comparisons chart in the line chart format displays trended values for the risk reason with the greatest at-risk amount, over the analysis period you specify. In the Mekko chart format, it displays each attribute's percentage contribution to the total risk amount by period.

You can display the distribution of the at-risk amounts by organization, project type, project manager, or customer.

Use this chart to compare the distributions and trends of at-risk amounts, by attribute, for a specific risk reason.

In this topic

Chart Format

Chart Data

Example: At-Risk Amount Calculation

At-Risk Projects

User Options That Affect The Chart

Change the Analyzed Attribute

Maximize the Chart

Focus the Chart

Display Data Point Information

Send the Chart Data to Excel

Other Chart Actions

Chart Format

The default chart is a line chart, but you can use the Fast Change icon () in the chart title bar to display a Mekko chart.

Chart Item

Description

Horizontal axis: fiscal periods

The horizontal axis displays the fiscal periods included in the analysis period.

Vertical axis (line chart): at-risk amounts

The vertical axis displays the range of at-risk amounts.

Trend lines: at-risk amount trends for the selected attribute values

Each colored trend line represents the change in at-risk amount for an attribute value (an organization, for example) from the beginning of the analysis period to the end. The at-risk amounts are those for the risk in the Risks list with the highest total at-risk amount as of the latest fiscal period in the analysis period.

By default, this chart displays trend lines for level 1 organizations. However, you can use to change the attribute for which you analyze at-risk amounts.

Mekko bars: percentage contributions of risk by organization, project type, project manager, or customer

Each Mekko bar represents 100 percent of the at-risk amount for the risk reason for that period. Thus, all bars are the same height. The relative width of the bars indicates how a period's total at-risk amount for the risk reason compares to the total at-risk amount for other periods on the chart.

Each segment in a Mekko bar represents the percentage of the total at-risk amount for the period contributed by that attribute (a project type, for example).

Use the Cycle button () next to the legend to break down at-risk amounts by organization, project type, project manager, or customer.

Chart Data

Data Item

Description

At-risk amount

The calculation of at-risk amounts is different for each risk reason. However, for each attribute value, each charted amount is the sum of at-risk amounts, as of the indicated fiscal period, for projects that have that attribute value.

For detailed descriptions of the calculations for all of the risk reasons, see Available Risk Reasons.

For descriptions of the sources of the data used in those calculations, see Data Sources.

Mekko chart only: percentage contributions to at-risk amount

Risk reason's at-risk amount for the organization, project type, project manager, or customer for the period ÷ Risk reason's total at-risk amount for the period.

Example: At-Risk Amount Calculation

Here is a simple example of how Costpoint Analytics determines at-risk amounts. A firm concerned about containing costs monitors the Costs Over Budget risk reason. Costpoint Analytics calculates at-risk amounts with this formula:

At-risk amount = Inception-to-date costs – Inception-to-date budgeted costs

The tolerance for the risk reason, the acceptable risk, is 3 percent of budget:

Tolerance = .03 x Inception-to-date budgeted costs

The following table contains the actual and budgeted costs for the company's projects at the end of the most recent fiscal period:

Project

Actual Costs

Budgeted Costs

Tolerance

At-Risk Amount

Notes

A

100,000

110,000

3,300

0

Actual costs are less than budgeted costs, so the project is not at risk.

B

610,000

600,000

18,000

10,000

The at-risk amount falls within the tolerance range, so the project is not considered at risk, and the at-risk amount is not included in the company's total at-risk amount for the risk reason.

C

430,000

400,000

12,000

30,000

The at-risk amount exceeds the tolerance range, so the project is at risk, and the at-risk amount is included in the company's total at-risk amount for the risk reason.

As a result, the Costpoint Analytics indicates a total at-risk amount of $30,000 for the Costs Over Budget risk reason as of the end of the current fiscal period.

At-Risk Projects

Costpoint Analytics calculates at-risk amounts only for active (Direct, Inter-Company, or Inter-Co Multi), risk-level projects.

A risk-level project is a project at the level of the project structure at which Costpoint Analytics calculates risk. For a billing-based risk reason, Costpoint Analytics calculates risk for projects at the level of the project structure at which the billing formula resides (billing-level projects). For all other risk reasons, Costpoint Analytics calculates risk for projects at the level of the project structure at which the revenue formula resides (revenue-level projects)

User Options That Affect the Chart

The following options on the User Options tab affect this chart:

For descriptions of how each option affects Projects at Risk Analytics, see User Options That Affect Projects at Risk.

Change the Analyzed Attribute

By default, the Risk Comparisons chart displays the distribution of the at-risk amount by top-level organization, but you have the option to display the distribution by any of the following:

To change the analyzed attribute, do either of the following in the chart legend:

If you apply filters to the analytics before you change the analyzed attribute, the chart only displays distributions for items that satisfy those filters. For example, if you select two project types in the Project Type list under Additional Filters and then use to display the distribution by project type, the chart only displays the trended at-risk amounts for those two project types.

Maximize the Chart

Click at the top right of the chart to display the chart at its maximum size. Click to restore the chart to its original size and location on the tab.

Focus the Chart

To focus the chart on a particular set of data points, click and drag the mouse pointer so that all of those data points are included in the green selection area. Illustration

To focus the chart on one or a few attribute values, click and drag the mouse pointer over the chart legend so that the green selection area touches only the attribute values you want. Illustration

To focus the chart on a more restricted analysis period, do either of the following:

It is much easier to make selections on the chart itself if you first maximize the chart.

If you use any of the above actions to change the chart, Costpoint Analytics applies the same changes, as appropriate, to all other analytic objects.

Display Data Point Information

To see the actual at-risk amount as of a specific fiscal period, position the mouse pointer over the intersection of the attribute value's trend line with the vertical grid line for the fiscal period or, for the Mekko chart, on the attribute value's segment of the bar for the period. When you do, Costpoint Analytics displays the exact at-risk amount in a data box, along with the fiscal period and attribute value. Illustration

It is much easier to position the mouse pointer over a data point if you first maximize the chart.

Send the Chart Data to Excel

Click to send the data underlying the chart to Microsoft Excel. More...

Other Chart Actions

In addition to the actions described above, you can also do the following:

For more on these actions, see Print, Email, or Export Analytic Data and Attach Notes to Analytics.