Deltek Acumen: A must-have for managing complex projects?

MESLI Consulting is your partner for Deltek solutions including Acumen Fuse and Acumen Risk 

We are pleased to announce that MESLI Consulting is your Deltek partner for the implementation of solutions, support, and training for Deltek Acumen. Fuse and Acumen.

The Acumen tool suite: a real added value in the DCMA analysis of your projects and the optimization of your schedules 

Acumen Fuse is one of the preferred tools for producing a DCMA analysis. In 2005, the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) implemented a 14-point schedule assessment to help the Department of Defense evaluate the huge volume of contracts and schedules it was responsible for managing. DCMA’s 14-point schedule assessment has become a widely used guideline and has been incorporated into many software tools, such as Acumen Fuse and Primavera P6. But what exactly does the DCMA 14-point schedule assessment check? Essentially, it assesses whether a schedule is well-constructed and realistic and whether it adheres to a set of best practices that are considered important to the success and management of a project. These best practices are broken down into a list of 14 essential checks.

list of 14 essential checks

• Logic check: Is the logic complete? Are there any missing links? 
• Search for negative delays (links): Negative delays are often called “lead time”
• Searching for lags: DCMA is a little more lenient when it comes to positive lags 
• Relationships between tasks: It is recommended to use end-to-begin and end-to-end relationships as much as possible.
• Constraints: because constraints can seriously impact your Monte Carlo analyses, it is recommended not to use them too much. The objective is to work with a dynamic schedule. 
• Check the total margins 
• A negative margin is never a good option 
• Break down important durations to ensure feasibility 
• Check for invalid dates: avoid actual values in the future! 
• Set aside funds and resources for your projects.
• Avoid delays in tasks 
• Critical path integrity: check the integrity of the critical path of your schedule, looking for its fluidity through a good logical sequence 
• Critical Path Length Index (CPLI) 
• Baseline schedule execution index (BEI): The BEI index summarizes the number of activities ahead of or behind the baseline 

Acumen Risk is a preferred tool for managing project risks and uncertainties. It is compatible with Microsoft Project, Oracle Primavera P6, and other project planning tools. The Acumen Suite is available in both local and web-based modes. The suite allows you to generate multiple and varied scenario simulations.

Customized reporting with Deltek 

This project management solution allows the realization of personalized reports on the portfolio of your projects, the optimization of your deadlines in the case of an acceleration of your tasks with the multiplication of the teams, the management of the gaps between the progress schedules in different situations, …The tool is compatible with the tools for the import and export of the data as well as the installation of an architecture and processes for the validation of the assets. 

Deltek Acumen: a user-friendly tool 

For any trial attempt, MESLI Consulting can provide you with an environment for a limited period of time or present you with a product demonstration at your convenience. The return on investment is very quickly established given the multitude of functionalities and the relevance of the analyses for decision making. 

A more collaborative version of Deltek Acumen Risk…and therefore more effective for risk reduction 

The result is improved project management information and communication, which has a significant impact on reducing project risk. 

Deltek Acumen enables executive-level communication with project managers, project directors, and planners. Notes, the equivalent of virtual “Post-it” notes, can even be integrated into the software package to ensure excellent visibility of the highest priority messages. 

Powerful collaborative communication 

The Deltek Acumen software package, thanks to its rich functionality, allows for transparency of data and procedures at the customer’s site while relying on information shared between departments and project management. 

Acquire and train with the Deltek Acumen Fuse and Risk Suite 

For the acquisition of Deltek licenses, Deltek integration requests, or customized training, please contact us directly for a quote. MESLI Consulting will provide you with a temporary environment for the duration of the training. 

Get your session with Deltek Acumen 

A tool that allows to give the “lead” to the project collaborators and involve them more   

Deltek Acumen allows project collaborators to access multiple pieces of  information in real time. The various requests for information, whether internal or from the client, are all answered thanks to the multiple analysis possibilities of the Deltek application.   

Transparency in displays and data is one of the key success factors for project communication by Deltek users. 

For any clarification or advice on project planning, do not hesitate to contact our services. We will take the time to talk with you about your projects and help you find ways to manage them, or…