Deltek Acumen 8.6 Online Help

Using the Help Search
Using the Help Search
  • Phrase:Returns all topics that contain the exact phrase in the search criteria. Use quotation marks around the phrase.
    Ex."system administration"
  • And:Returns all topics that contain all the words in the search criteria, in any combination. Insert a plus sign between all words in the search criteria.
    Ex.system + administration
  • Or:Returns all topics with any combination of words in the search criteria. This is the default.
    Ex.system administration
For more information:Searching Online Help

Microsoft Project Platform Integration

Acumen allows you to link to and import data from Microsoft Project, Microsoft Project Server, and Project Online (the hosted version of Project Server).

With Microsoft Project, Acumen links to Microsoft Project (MSP) files using your installed copy of MS Project or by directly reading an .MPP file (without needing MS Project installed on your computer).

With Microsoft Project Server, Acumen downloads the project data from the Project Web App (PWA) site into Acumen. With Project Online, Acumen downloads the Project Server project data from the hosted (Office 365) server. After you import the data, you can view the original file path on the S1 // Projects tab Activities view General tab.

MS Project / Microsoft Project Server linking supports:
  • Cost, schedule, risk, and earned value integration by default.
  • Custom field mapping (normal, code, and user-defined fields).

When you import a project from Microsoft Project, Acumen also imports the Estimated and Manual fields.

Note: Every calendar from Microsoft Project Server is imported into Acumen with 8am - 12pm and 1pm - 5pm, Monday through Friday working shifts.

Exporting an Acumen Project as a Microsoft Project XML File

When you export an Acumen project as a Microsoft Project XML file, any existing user-defined fields are included in the export and are available for use in MSP.

Exporting a Master Project Scenario as a Microsoft Project MPP File

You cannot export a master project scenario as an .MPP file.

Microsoft Project Platform Options

Use the Deltek Acumen Options dialog box Platforms (Microsoft) page to set specific options for Microsoft Project. Some of these options include the following:
  • Web Service Timeout : Set the number of seconds before the Microsoft Project Server web service times out. The default is 300 seconds.
  • Return Project Codes in Project Picker : When you import Microsoft Project Server, importing the code assignments can take additional time for a large project. In order to improve performance, you can specify whether the system should retrieve project code assignments when you import an MSP Server project list. If selected, the code assignment columns display in the grid on the MSP Server Project Selection dialog box (used when importing a project). It is not selected by default.
  • Number of Rows per Server Request: Use this option to set the number of rows that Acumen will request each time from the server. For example, if you set the number to 10, Acumen requests the first 10 rows and then goes back for 10 more, and so on.

    If you set the number too high, you may get timeouts on the server. If you set the number too low, the system may become too slow and unusable.

  • Hide Unpublished Projects: Select this option to only display published projects in the project picker when you import Microsoft Project server projects.
  • Server Type: Select the server version that you are using. If this version is different from the Project Server version that you import, you may have some data discrepancies.

    If you change this setting, you must close and restart Acumen for the change to take effect.

Standard Field Mappings

  • Physical % Complete: The Physical % Complete field is auto-mapped to the Microsoft Project Physical % Complete field.

Deltek Acumen Versus Microsoft Project (MSP)

The way Acumen works with activities differs from Microsoft Project in several ways:

  • MSP allows planned activities to remain in the past (prior to Time Now). Acumen, Primavera P6, and Open Plan do not allow that so if you had planned activities in the past they will be pulled forward at least to Time Now and maybe later if they have planned predecessors that are also in the past.
  • MSP allows activities to have actual dates in the future (beyond Time Now). Acumen, Primavera P6, and Open Plan do not typically treat these as valid actual dates meaning that the activity is treated as if it does not have the future actual date. This typically shifts the activity in some way. P6 and Open Plan have options to honor future actuals. Acumen does not have this option.
  • MSP allows activities and summary activities to be manually calculated meaning that they do not participate in CPM calculations and you can enter any dates and durations. This is not supported by any other scheduling tool. Summary's do not need to summarize their child tasks or have durations that match the dates.