Engineering and architecture
Deltek Vision to Vantagepoint: what to do with historical data
By SourceX Editorial · Updated
Short answer
In a Deltek Vision to Vantagepoint migration, sort historical data into three buckets before cutover: migrate what active projects and reporting need, archive the full Vision database in readable form, and assess linked project history for licensing. Make those calls before the old server or hosted environment is retired, because lost history is rarely practical to rebuild.
Key takeaways
- Migration scope follows what the new system needs to go live, so closed-project detail often stays behind in Vision.
- Keep both a full Vision database backup and flat exports with lookup tables; either one alone is hard to use later.
- Write down what each custom field and screen means, because that knowledge often sits with a few long-serving staff.
- Project history that links fees, phase budgets and actual hours is the part most worth assessing for licensing.
- Employee pay, HR records and client billing rates stay out of any license by default.
What usually moves to Vantagepoint and what stays in Vision?#
A Deltek Vision to Vantagepoint migration usually moves the records a firm needs on day one: active projects with their phase and task structure, clients and contacts, employees, vendors, open receivables and an agreed range of financial history. The scope is set by what the firm and its implementation team decide is needed for go-live and reporting.
Closed projects are where history thins out. Firms often carry over summary balances or a limited window of detailed transactions and leave older timesheet lines, expense detail, project notes, marketing records and custom fields behind. That is a reasonable go-live choice, provided someone decides deliberately what happens to the rest.
Get the agreed scope in writing from your implementation partner, listing each record type and the period it covers. Anything missing from that list needs an archive plan.
Migrate, archive or assess: sorting Vision records#
Sort each Vision record family into one or more buckets. Nearly everything belongs in the archive whether or not it migrates, and a smaller set is worth assessing for licensing.
Billing records show why the buckets overlap. Invoices migrate only as open items, are archived in full for audit and claims, and are rarely assessed for licensing, because client rates and payment terms are commercially sensitive.
| Record family | Migrate | Archive | Assess for licensing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Projects, phases and tasks | Active and recent | All, with original project numbers | Yes: scope structure over time |
| Timesheets and labor detail | Recent, as agreed | All lines | Yes, with employee names replaced |
| Budgets, fees and estimates to complete | Active projects | Every saved version | Yes: planned versus actual is the signal |
| Billing and invoices | Open items and an agreed history window | All | Rarely, because client rates are confidential |
| Clients, contacts and opportunities | Active | All | Selectively: win and loss reasons without contact details |
| Employee and HR records | Current staff | Under HR retention rules | No |
| Custom fields and screens | Those still in use | All, with a data dictionary | Depends on contents |
Pre-migration checklist for historical data#
The checklist below is for the CTO or digital practice leader to run before the cutover date is fixed, not after the old environment is already scheduled for shutdown.
Two items are missed most often. Attached documents, such as signed agreements and proposal files linked to project records, do not come out with a table export, and custom fields added by a former administrator are easy to drop because nobody on the current team uses them.
- Check Deltek's current support notices for your Vision version, rather than relying on secondhand end-of-life dates.
- Confirm how long the firm keeps access to Vision after cutover, and in what form, under its Deltek agreement or hosting arrangement.
- Take a full database backup and record the Vision version it came from.
- Export flat files for each record family with record IDs, project numbers and dates, plus every lookup table.
- Write a data dictionary for custom fields, grids and screens, naming who added them and what they mean.
- Save the definitions of reports the firm relies on, along with sample outputs.
- Collect documents attached to Vision records, which may need a separate export.
- Flag projects with restrictive client terms or sensitive project types before any record is assessed for outside use.
- Name an owner for the archive and set a review date.
How to keep a Vision archive readable#
A Vision archive stays readable when it has two layers: the full database backup, which preserves everything, and documented flat exports, which someone can open without restoring a database. Either layer alone tends to fail. A backup with nowhere to restore it is a locked box, and exports without lookup tables are columns of codes.
Store both layers in firm-controlled storage with access limited to finance, IT and leadership. Then test the archive before the old environment is retired: pick a closed project and confirm you can rebuild its phases, hours, budget history and invoices from the exports alone.
Record counts are the simplest completeness test. Note how many projects, timesheet lines and invoices each export holds and compare them with counts run inside Vision before shutdown, because a mismatch discovered after retirement cannot be fixed.
Which Vision history is worth assessing for licensing?#
The Vision history worth assessing for licensing is the part that shows how projects were planned and how they turned out. Fee proposals tied to phase budgets, budgets tied to actual hours by labor category, and estimate-to-complete revisions across a project's life record judgment that is hard to find anywhere else.
Consistency matters more than volume. A long run of projects with stable phase codes is more useful to a developer of planning or staffing tools than a larger set whose codes changed with every reorganization. Opportunity records with win and loss reasons can add context once contact details are removed.
Some history stays out by default: employee pay and HR records, client billing rates, and any project under restrictive client terms or for a security-sensitive owner.
Illustrative: a multidisciplinary firm plans its cutover#
Illustrative: a fictional multidisciplinary A/E firm runs Vision on an on-premises server and is moving to Vantagepoint. The implementation scope covers active projects, current employees and a recent window of detailed transactions.
The digital practice leader adds an archive workstream: a full backup, flat exports with lookup tables, and a data dictionary for the custom fields that tracked market sector and delivery method. While building the dictionary, the team finds an old custom field that once marked security-sensitive work and reuses it to keep those projects out of any outside use. After cutover, the firm runs a metadata-only fit check on phase budgets and actual hours for private commercial projects, with employee names replaced by labor category codes. The old server is retired only after a test rebuild of a closed project succeeds.
The CFO signs off on the record counts before retirement, and the data dictionary is stored with the archive so a future controller can read the custom fields without asking the people who created them.
How SourceX treats legacy ERP history#
SourceX treats a migration as a natural moment to assess an archive, not a deadline to act on. The Supply step of the SourceX five-step transaction starts from a description of the Vision archive, such as record families, years covered and custom fields, and no exports are requested at that stage.
If a package proceeds, the Rights and Preparation steps handle client terms and employee details, and a SourceX Evidence Packet records provenance, licensing rights, permitted use, the privacy record and release authorization. Large archives stay in the firm's own storage, and nothing is delivered until the firm approves it.
Frequently asked questions
Can we keep Vision running just for read-only access?
Possibly, but check with Deltek and your hosting provider, because read-only arrangements, extended access and their costs vary by agreement. Many firms choose a database backup plus documented flat exports instead, so the archive does not depend on keeping an old version and server alive.
Should historical data be cleaned before migrating?
Clean what migrates, archive what does not, and leave the archive copy as it was. The archive should reflect the system at cutover so later questions about billing, claims or rights can be answered from original records. Any cleanup for licensing happens on a separate working copy during preparation.
Who should own the Vision archive after cutover?
Usually the CFO or controller for financial records, with IT holding the technical copy. Name one owner, record where the archive lives and who may open it, and set a review date so the archive is not forgotten when staff move on.
Will Vantagepoint records have the same licensing potential later?
They can, if the firm keeps the same discipline: stable phase codes, saved budget versions and hours linked to projects. Planning history becomes more useful as more years can be compared, so consistency after the migration matters as much as what was kept from Vision.
Is project data in Vision covered by client confidentiality terms?
Some of it may be. Fee and billing records, client names and project descriptions can fall under confidentiality clauses in client agreements. Internal labor and budget records are usually less sensitive, but they still need a project-by-project check against client terms before any outside use.
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