The Backlog Evolution report is a standard report available in Zendesk Support. We include this report because it is a great way of seeing how you are handling your incoming ticket volume, which will allow you to allocate your resources more efficiently.
The simplest way to think of the backlog number is that it represents the number of unsolved tickets at the end of each day. There are two parts to the report, the graphical representation on top, and the numerical below.
Graphical Representation
Let's make some sense of the sample below. The first thing to notice is the consistency of the New tickets and Solved tickets. This shows a pretty standard five day per week cycle where tickets do not get solved on the weekends, and there are very few new tickets on the weekends. The backlog is the red line along the top and it shows the trend in the number of unsolved tickets you have. Between Aug 16 and Aug 24, the red line dips to its lowest point, due to a huge spike in solved tickets while new tickets remained fairly steady. To see how it's calculated, you can take any given backlog number, add the new tickets from the next date, and subtract the solved tickets from the next date (there's an example of that calculation below).
The Numerical Report
The bottom section of the report contains the numbers that correspond to the graph above. This allows us to see the exact calculations, as well as retrieving specific numbers for any given day on the report.
Let's take a look at a specific range of days from the example above.
We'll take the backlog at the end of the 12th (155) add the new tickets from the 13th (34) and subtract the solved tickets from the 13th (24).
155 + 34 - 24 = 165
This gives us the backlog on the 13th. To calculate the backlog at the end of the 14th we do the same process.
165 + 26 - 14 = 177
What does Backlog Evolution tell me?
The best way to look at backlog evolution is to analyze the trend. If the red line is trending upwards, it means that your current resource allocation is not sufficiently getting through all of your incoming requests. This could mean you need more agents or a workflow adjustment to get through more tickets with the agents you already have. If the backlog is trending downwards, it means that your agents are consistently solving more tickets than come in each day and that your backlog should eventually fall to low levels.
Why do the numbers change?
To generate these reports, Zendesk Support checks the current status of all your tickets. This means that if you generate your report on Monday and a solved ticket is re-opened and solved again Wednesday, the report you generate that Friday will have different numbers because the date of the solve is considered to be the latest solve date for the ticket. This will change your backlog and your solved tickets. Your new tickets for a given date will never change unless you delete them.
8 Comments
how do I access this report?
Hey Mark!
This article shows you where to find those pre-made native reports. Bear in mind, though that if you started using Zendesk after April 2015, you won't have this functionality.
Zendesk Team - I have a very confusing situation (there's a ticket going on, but I don't see the solution happening). I have a report of # Tickets in New and Open state. We are on Professional plan, so it syncs every day, and I get this report scheduled to me every day, which essentially acts as a backlog count. However, when I create a report for #Backlog Tickets, the numbers are not matching.
Hi Aswin,
# Backlog Tickets is defined as the total number of backlog tickets throughout history and is calculated by the sum of the backlog ticket count. The Ticket Backlog History dataset functions a little differently than other datasets in Insights. While the Tickets dataset will show you the current state of the tickets in your Zendesk, and the Ticket Updates dataset can show past events that are viewable within a ticket's event log, the Ticket Backlog History dataset will show you a snapshot of unsolved tickets at the end of any given date. It can be a little confusing, but we have a resource that goes into a bit more detail I hope can help that I've listed below. Otherwise, in the current ticket you have open with us, feel free to provide us with specific links to your reports so we can take a look!
Using the Backlog Dataset in Insights (Professional and Enterprise)
Thank you for this brief look at Backlog numbers. I have to pull a backlog report that looks like this:
Any helpful B) insights B) are appreciated.
Cheers,
Lorran
Hey Lorran!
I'm checking with our Community Moderators to see if they can help you out here!
Hey,
Is this report exist in Zendesk Explore? Where can I find it?
Thanks,
Chen
Hey, Chen!
Thanks for the question. While we don't have the exact same tool in Explore as is shown in this article, but we do have a couple of Backlog options for you.
The Default Support Dashboard included Explore has a Backlog tab. You can see the exact reports and more details on them in this article. This feature is available on Explore Lite and Explore Professional.
If you're using Explore Professional, you can also create your own queries using the Backlog dataset! For example, you could create a trend line that shows unsolved tickets over time, broken down by status:
In this query, I've used the following parameters:
Obviously that's just one example, but you can use this dataset to create your own queries as needed!
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