Deltek First

Vision Essentials
Administrator Guide

July 22, 2019

While Deltek has attempted to verify that the information in this document is accurate and
complete, some typographical or technical errors may exist. The recipient of this document is
solely responsible for all decisions relating to or use of the information provided herein.
The information contained in this publication is effective as of the publication date below and is
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means, electronic or mechanical, or translated into another language, without the prior written
consent of Deltek, Inc.
This edition published July 2019.
© Deltek, Inc.
Deltek’s software is also protected by copyright law and constitutes valuable confidential and
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documentation, is provided for use only in accordance with the terms of the license agreement.
Unauthorized reproduction or distribution of the program or any portion thereof could result in
severe civil or criminal penalties.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Administrator Guide ii
Contents
Overview .......................................................................................................................................... 1
Information about Optional Components .................................................................................... 1
Description of Standard Cloud Services .......................................................................................... 2
Types of Environments................................................................................................................ 2
Production Environments ............................................................................................................ 2
Non-Production Environments .................................................................................................... 2
Configuration Databases (Sandboxes) ....................................................................................... 3
Disaster Recovery ....................................................................................................................... 4
Identifying Administrators ................................................................................................................ 5
Proxy Administrators ................................................................................................................... 6
Staying Informed.............................................................................................................................. 7
Cloud Solutions Support Site ...................................................................................................... 7
If You Need Assistance ................................................................................................................... 9
Customer Services ...................................................................................................................... 9
Support Center Site ..................................................................................................................... 9
Activate and Implement Vision Essentials ..................................................................................... 10
Welcome Email and Provisioning .............................................................................................. 10
New Customer........................................................................................................................... 10
Migrating from On-Premises Vision .......................................................................................... 10
Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory .................................................. 12
Important Considerations Regarding SSO Model ..................................................................... 12
Support for Multi-Factor Authentication..................................................................................... 12
Sign Up for a Microsoft Azure AD Account ............................................................................... 12
Complete Single Sign-On Configuration in Azure AD ............................................................... 13
Complete Azure AD Configuration in Vision Essentials ............................................................ 21
Complete User Configuration in Vision Essentials .................................................................... 21
Role Security and User Accounts .................................................................................................. 22
Creating and Configuring Roles and Accounts ......................................................................... 22
Password Policies ..................................................................................................................... 24
Providing Users with Access to Vision Essentials ......................................................................... 26
Alternative Interfaces — Flexibility and Accessibility ................................................................ 26
Smart Client System Requirements .......................................................................................... 26
iAccess System Requirements ................................................................................................. 27
Touch System Requirements .................................................................................................... 28
Distributing Vision URLs to Employees..................................................................................... 28

Administrator Guide iii

 Set Language ............................................................................................................................ 29
Set Up Vision Touch Apps ........................................................................................................ 29
Communicating with Deltek ........................................................................................................... 31
Service Requests ...................................................................................................................... 31
Submit a Service Request ......................................................................................................... 32
Exceptions to Annual Support Case Allowance ........................................................................ 33
Upgrades and Cumulative Updates .......................................................................................... 34
Process Server .............................................................................................................................. 35
Run Immediately ....................................................................................................................... 35
Schedule ................................................................................................................................... 35
Printing ........................................................................................................................................... 36
Print Preview ............................................................................................................................. 36
Print ........................................................................................................................................... 37
Email Considerations ..................................................................................................................... 38
Size Limit ................................................................................................................................... 38
Default Sender for Outgoing Mail .............................................................................................. 38
Batch Billing ................................................................................................................................... 39
Audit Trail Logging ......................................................................................................................... 40
Exchange Rate Updates ................................................................................................................ 41
Reporting ....................................................................................................................................... 42
Scheduling Reports ................................................................................................................... 42
Report Timestamps ................................................................................................................... 43
Deploying Custom Reports ....................................................................................................... 43
Vision Xtend API ............................................................................................................................ 45
Direct Database Access ................................................................................................................ 46
Manage ODBC Accounts .......................................................................................................... 46
Edit or Disable ODBC Accounts ................................................................................................ 47
Install and Configure the ODBC Driver ..................................................................................... 47
Connect to Your Vision Database ............................................................................................. 50
Use ODBC Connectivity with Linux ........................................................................................... 52
Vision Performance Management ................................................................................................. 53
Install VPM Desktop Tool .......................................................................................................... 53
Connecting VPM Desktop Tool to Data Sources ...................................................................... 53
Connecting Excel to Vision Analysis Cubes ............................................................................. 57
Additional Documentation .............................................................................................................. 60

Administrator Guide iv
Overview

Overview
Welcome to Deltek First Vision Essentials.
The Vision Essentials offering takes Deltek’s project-based ERP solution and delivers it via the
cloud to meet the ever-changing needs of small and mid-sized organizations. The cloud delivery
of the Vision application allows you to leverage its availability anywhere and at any time, while
reducing your total cost of ownership and maintenance.
As the Vision Essentials Administrator for your company, you are responsible for the following:
 Creating and configuring role security and user accounts.
 Distributing Vision access information to all company employees.
 Working with Deltek on service requests related to your Vision Essentials solution.
This guide provides you with the information necessary to perform successfully in your role as a
Vision Essentials Administrator.

Information about Optional Components

This guide also includes information about some optional components of Vision Essentials.

If your organization has purchased: Read:

Deltek First Flex Cloud option  Direct Database Access

 Deploying Custom Reports

Custom Report Add-on  Deploying Custom Reports

Vision Performance Management module  Direct Database Access

Administrator Guide 1
Description of Standard Cloud Services

Description of Standard Cloud Services

This section describes the services that are provided with Deltek cloud products. Certain services
are only available in premium offerings or with additional subscription fees. Check with your
account manager or your customer success manager if you are interested in adding any services.

Types of Environments
A number of different types of application environments are available with Deltek’s cloud
products.
An environment is the collection of software and infrastructure components necessary to operate
a product. This includes shared security services, monitoring, web and application servers,
database servers, operating systems, compute, storage, memory, and network. Each
environment can have one or more customer-specific database instances associated with it,
which may require an additional subscription fee. For certain offerings, additional non-production
environments or production or non-production database replicas may be purchased for a
minimum 1-year subscription.
Each of these environments has a specific purpose and is available with specific offerings.

Production Environments
All Deltek cloud services provide a production environment that is held to the highest operational
standards. These environment instances are highly secure and managed under strict control.
Only authorized Deltek Cloud Operations employees are allowed access to the infrastructure and
application layers of the solution. Customer access is provisioned only through the application
front-end or through very specific and tightly controlled methods, such as an application-specific
API layer.
These environments serve as the focal point for disaster recovery replication and backup
procedures. Customers generally have only one production instance, unless they have more than
one company or entity, running under separate subscriptions.

Non-Production Environments
Any application environment that is not designated for live production use is considered a non-
production environment. Service for non-production environments differs in several ways from
service for production environments. For example, Deltek considers a service incident to be
“severity 1” if it causes processing to cease. Because this would never happen in a non-
production environment, the highest level severity incident for a non-production environment is
severity 2.
Other aspects of service are also different or do not apply to certain non-production
environments, including practices for backups and retention, disaster recovery, access
management, access levels, performance, uptime, and service levels.
Common non-production environments are described here.

Implementation Non-Production Environments

This type of non-production environment is used during implementation. In Essentials and Flex
offerings, this environment is only available during implementation.
All non-production environments offer different availability and service levels than production
environments. See Non-Production Environments.

Administrator Guide 2
Description of Standard Cloud Services

Standard Non-Production Environments

Deltek Enterprise cloud offerings include an always-on test and development non-production
environment. Once you have gone live in your production environment, you can use this
environment to perform ongoing development or implementation/configuration work.
If you have a Foundations, Essentials, or Essentials Flex offering, you must upgrade your service
to Enterprise to have an always-on test and development non-production environment.
Deltek will refresh a test and development database with data from the production server up to 12
times per year, by request only.
All non-production environments offer different availability and service levels than production
environments. See Non-Production Environments.

Additional Non-Production Environments

With Enterprise offerings, you can add other non-production environments for a minimum of 1
year, at an additional cost. You can use these environments for development, training, testing,
configuration, system integration, or other purposes.
Deltek will refresh an environment with data from the production server up to 12 times per year,
by request only.
All non-production environments offer different availability and service levels than production
environments. See Non-Production Environments.

Preview Environments
With Enterprise offerings, you can request a preview environment prior to the release of a new
version of the software. Use a preview environment to test your extensions or configurations with
the new software without disrupting your test and development non-production environment.
If you have a Deltek Flex offering, Deltek will provide a preview environment if your testing
scenarios require one. If you have a Deltek Foundations or Essentials offering, Deltek will not
provide a preview environment.
All non-production environments offer different availability and service levels than production
environments. See Non-Production Environments.

Additional Databases
Many of Deltek’s cloud solutions can support one or more database instances of the application,
to be used for non-production activates, such as reporting, configuration, testing, or development.
These additional databases are free of charge with some offerings, and available at an additional
charge with others.

Configuration Databases (Sandboxes)

Production Database Replica
With the Foundations, Essentials, Flex, and Enterprise offerings, you receive one additional
production configuration database replica, which is housed in the production environment and
treated as a production database only for backup and retention purpose. Use the production
database replica for reporting and configuration testing.
Production database replicas offer different availability and service levels than production
environments. See the availability and service information for Non-Production Environments.

Administrator Guide 3
Description of Standard Cloud Services

Additional Production Database Replica

With Foundations, Essentials, Flex, and Enterprise offerings, you can purchase an additional
production database replica, with the same characteristics as the first replica.

Additional Non-Production Database Replica

With Enterprise offerings only, you can purchase additional databases for your always-on test
and development non-production environments or any additional non-production environments
that you have purchased.

Disaster Recovery
Deltek provides a disaster recovery environment with all offerings. Unless otherwise specified, the
disaster recovery site is more than 250 miles away (DR250) from the production hosting facility.
On an annual basis, Deltek coordinates and executes a disaster recovery test of each cloud
offering, usually on a weekend between May and September. You will receive advance notice of
the testing and may be asked to validate the disaster recovery site once it has been brought
online.
After a successful test, the service is rolled back to the production environment.

Administrator Guide 4
Identifying Administrators

Identifying Administrators
All Vision Essentials customer accounts are required to have at least one active/valid Vision
Essentials Administrator at all times. Two additional Administrators can also be identified,
allowing for a maximum of three Administrators per company. When your Vision Essentials order
was processed, at least one Administrator was identified.
When more than one Administrator is identified for an account, they are treated equally. Each
Administrator has the same authority to administer your company’s Vision Essentials solution and
each receives the same communications from Deltek.
Deltek recommends that each company have at least two Administrators to ensure that
communications are always received and someone is always available to carry out service
requests.
You can manage the Administrators on your account through the Support Center site.

To manage Administrators:
1. Go to http://support.deltek.com.
2. Log in to the Support Center site using the credentials provided to you when your initial
Vision Essentials order process was completed.

If you do not have a username and password for the Support Center site, contact your firm’s
Vision Administrator.
If you forget your username or password, you can click the Need Help? button on the Support
Center login screen.

3. Select Manage Company Contacts in the Administer section.

4. Click on the name of any user who should have Vision Essentials Administrator rights.
This opens a window where you can update information about the user.
5. Click Yes in the SaaS Administrator field.
6. Click Update Contact.

Administrator Guide 5
Identifying Administrators

Proxy Administrators
Because you can have up to three Administrators for your account, you have the room to set up a
temporary “proxy” Administrator. For example, if you are working with a Deltek partner during
your implementation, getting help with data conversion, configuration, training, and so on, you
can make the partner an Administrator. Then the partner can act on your behalf when working
with Deltek Customer Care and Cloud Operations. This approach can help expedite many
implementation steps.
To use a “proxy” Administrator, add that person to your contacts via the Support Center site, then
designate him or her to be a SaaS Administrator, as described above.

Administrator Guide 6
Staying Informed

Staying Informed
Cloud Solutions Support Site
On the Support Center site, Deltek provides an area devoted solely to its cloud-based products.
This area includes guides, videos, and other resources to help you learn about Vision Essentials.

To go to the Cloud Solutions page:

1. Go to http://support.deltek.com.
2. Log in to the Support Center site using the credentials provided to you when your initial
Vision Essentials order process was completed.

If you do not have a username and password for the Support Center site, contact your firm’s
Vision Administrator.
If you forget your username or password, you can click the Need Help? button on the Support
Center login screen.

Administrator Guide 7
Staying Informed

3. Click the Cloud Solutions icon.

4. Select Vision Essentials from the product drop-down, and click Go.

Administrator Guide 8
If You Need Assistance

If You Need Assistance

If you need assistance using your Vision Essentials solution, Deltek makes a wealth of
information and expertise readily available to you through our Customer Care organization.
While many of the processes outlined in this document are available only to your company’s
Vision Essentials Administrator, support cases can be initiated by designated individuals within
your organization according to the standard support model. In addition, these individuals can
leverage the Deltek Customer Care offerings described in the following sections.

Customer Services
For over 20 years, Deltek has maintained close relationships with client firms, helping with their
problems, listening to their needs, and getting to know their individual business environments. A
full range of customer services has grown out of this close contact, including the following:
 Extensive self-support options through the Support Center site.
 Phone and email support from Customer Care analysts
 Technical services
 Consulting services
 Custom programming
 Classroom, on-site, and Web-based training

Find out more about these and other services from the Support Center site.

Support Center Site

The Deltek Support Center site is a support Web portal for Deltek customers who purchase
Vision Essentials.
The following are some of the many options that you have at the Support Center site:
 Search Deltek’s knowledge base
 Ask questions, exchange ideas, and share knowledge with other Deltek customers
through the Support Center Community.
 Display or download product information, such as release notes, user guides, technical
information, and white papers
 Submit a support case and check on its progress
 Transfer requested files to a Customer Care analyst
 Subscribe to Deltek communications about your Deltek products and services
 Receive alerts of new Deltek releases and hot fixes
 Read blogs for expert advice about Deltek products

If you need assistance using the Support Center site, the online help available on the Support
Center site provides answers for most questions

Administrator Guide 9
Activate and Implement Vision Essentials

Activate and Implement Vision Essentials

The process that you follow to activate and implement Vision Essentials depends on your current
situation:
 The process is fairly simple if you are a new Deltek customer, starting in Vision with a
blank database, or if you are migrating from a Vision on-premises instance to Vision in
the cloud. Follow the steps outlined below.
 If you are converting to Vision from a different system, Deltek highly recommends that
you work with Deltek Services or a Deltek partner on your conversion and
implementation.

Welcome Email and Provisioning

Immediately after your order is completed, you will receive a welcome email to let you know that
your new Vision solution is being provisioned.
When the provisioning process is completed, your Vision Essentials Administrator will receive an
activation email.

New Customer
If you are a new customer, the activation email contains the URL that you use to access your
empty Vision production database and begin implementation.
For security reasons, the activation email does not include credentials for accessing the Vision
database. Your Vision Essentials Administrator will receive two separate emails containing
credentials, one email for the ADMIN user ID and one for the ADMIN password.
The credentials for the ADMIN account are the only credentials that you will receive. It is your
responsibility to set up user accounts for others in your organization, as described in Role
Security and User Accounts.

Migrating from On-Premises Vision

If you are migrating from an on-premises instance of Vision, follow the same steps as a new
customer, plus steps to move your data to the cloud. The activation email sent to the Vision
Essentials Administrator includes instructions for uploading your current on-premises Vision
database for a test restoration, and then uploading a final database and going live.
Use the Deltek File Transfer Tool to upload your database. Follow the steps in the document,
Deltek File Transfer Tool. Make sure that:
 You upload both your transaction database and your FILESTREAM database.
 The database backups for both databases are in sync (taken from the same backup run).

Effect of Migration on Your Database

During both the test and live restore, the transaction database is left exactly as it is in your on-
premises instance. These are the only exceptions:
 System-wide Password Policies are updated, as described in the Password Policies
section. This may impact all current Vision users.

Administrator Guide 10
Activate and Implement Vision Essentials

 Vision Essentials does not support Windows Authentication (Integrated Security). You
must change user accounts that were set up to use Windows Authentication so that they
use native Vision security.
For all user accounts that are set up to use Windows Authentication, the migration
process disables the accounts and removes their passwords. The Administrator must re-
enable the accounts, assign temporary passwords, communicate this information to
users, and force users to reset their passwords during the next login.

Because Windows Authentication is not supported, before you migrate, you must
ensure that you have at least one user account that is:
 Set up to use native Vision security, not Windows Authentication.
 Has administrative rights.
Without this account, you will not be able to log into Vision after migrating. Be sure to
note the username and password of the account.

 Vision Essentials offers a single-sign-on solution using Windows Azure Active Directory
that closely mimics the Windows Authentication functionality. For more information, see
Providing Single Sign-On for Vision Essentials with Microsoft Azure Active Directory.

Timing
The standard timing for migration is this:
1. A company uploads its database after the close of business, prior to 8:00 PM ET.
2. Within one business day, Deltek makes the database active and available and sends the
Vision Essentials Administrator an email with login information. (Please consider
weekends and holidays when you plan your migration.)
If any problems occur during the migration process, Deltek Customer Care will contact
you. You may need to upload your database again.

Do not shut down your on-premises instance of Vision until your Vision Essentials database is
restored successfully and you have verified that it works.

Administrator Guide 11
Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure

Active Directory
This section applies only if you use Microsoft Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to provide
single sign-on for Vision Essentials.

If you use Microsoft Azure AD’s single sign-on feature, you will not be able to use the Microsoft
Office and Desktop Integration (MODI) feature. This feature lets you integrate Vision information
with Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Microsoft Outlook.

Microsoft Azure AD’s single sign-on feature lets Vision Essentials users log on to Vision
Essentials using their Windows usernames and passwords instead of using separate Vision
Essentials usernames and passwords. To set up single sign-on, a Vision Essentials administrator
must complete the following configuration steps, described in more detail below.

To configure single sign-on using Azure AD:

1. Sign up for a Microsoft Azure AD account.
2. In Azure AD, complete the single sign-on configuration process.
3. In Vision Essentials, complete the fields on the Azure Active Directory tab in
Configuration » General » System Settings.
4. In Vision Essentials, complete the settings on the General tab in Configuration »
Security » Users that are related to single-sign on.

Important Considerations Regarding SSO Model

Currently, the most common single sign-on model used by Vision Essentials customers is to
synchronize users and passwords to Windows Azure Active Directory.
An alternative method is to set up Windows Azure Active Directory to federate back to your local
Active Directory via ADFS (Active Directory Federation Services) to authenticate users via your
on-premises Active Directory. With this model, you do not need to synchronize users and
passwords to Windows Azure Active Directory. However, you cannot use this model if you use
the Vision Touch mobile applications or use electronic signatures with timesheet submittals. This
exception may be addressed in future releases of Vision Essentials.

Support for Multi-Factor Authentication

Windows Azure Active Directory supports multi-factor authentication. However, you cannot use
multi-factor authentication with single sign-on if you use the Vision Touch mobile applications or
use electronic signatures with timesheet submittals. This exception may be addressed in future
releases of Vision Essentials.

Sign Up for a Microsoft Azure AD Account

If your firm does not already have a Microsoft Azure AD account, you can sign up for a free
account at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/free.
Microsoft also offers an Azure AD Premium account for a cost at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-
us/trial/get-started-active-directory.

Administrator Guide 12
Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

The Premium edition is not required for using the single sign-on solution for Vision Essentials.

Complete Single Sign-On Configuration in Azure AD

Overview of Steps
Complete the following steps to configure single sign-on in Azure AD:
1. Configure Azure AD Connect.
2. Add and configure Vision Essentials applications in your Windows Azure Active Directory.
Use the directions in the following sections to complete these steps.

Configure Azure AD Connect

Overview
For more background information about Azure AD Connect, see Microsoft’s Integrating your on-
premises identities with Azure Active Directory. This describes what Azure AD Connect is and
how it works.

Prerequisites
Review and complete the prerequisites for Azure AD Connect as outlined by Microsoft’s
Prerequisites for Azure Active Directory Connect (Azure AD Connect).
This article also lists hardware requirements.

Deltek recommends that you do not install Azure AD Connect on your domain controllers.

Configuration Steps for Azure AD Connect

Complete these steps once you have the prerequisites in place.

To configure Azure AD Connect:

1. Download and install the Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant for IT Professionals
RTW (msoidcli_64.msi) from the following Microsoft web page:
Microsoft Online Services Sign-In Assistant for IT Professionals RTW
Refer to the installation instructions on the web page.
2. Download and install the Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell for the
64-bit version (AdministrationConfig-en.msi) from the following link:
Azure Active Directory Module for Windows PowerShell (64-bit version)
Download the latest version that is in general availability. Refer to Microsoft
documentation for help.

3. Download and install Microsoft Azure Active Directory Connect (AdministrationConfig-

en.msi) using the following Microsoft link: Azure Active Directory Connect.
 Review the account and permissions information at the following Microsoft web page:
Azure AD Connect: Accounts and Permissions.

Administrator Guide 13
Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

 You must set up the following required accounts with a username and password:
 Windows Azure Active Directory (Global Administrator)
 On-Premise Active Directory (Enterprise Administrator)

 For more information, see Managing Azure AD Connect.

 Depending on the size of your on-premises Active Directory, the installation
of Azure AD Connect can take some time, especially if you select the option
to synchronize users at the end of the installation.

4. Log into your Windows Azure portal and verify that users are synchronized with Windows
Azure AD.
5. Test a user on the Microsoft Apps portal at: https://myapps.microsoft.com.
 You will not see any applications, but you can test authentication.
 Use an existing user name and password for the test.

For troubleshooting information, see:

https://msdn.microsoft.com/library/azure/jj151834.aspx.

Add and Configure Vision Essentials Applications in Your Windows Azure

Active Directory
Follow four main steps to add and configure Vision Essentials applications in Azure Active
Directory:
1. Add and configure the Deltek Vision application.
2. Set up trust between the Deltek Vision application and the Deltek Vision client.
3. Add and configure the Deltek Vision client.
4. Complete the trust between the Deltek Vision application and the Deltek Vision client.

These steps assume that you are using the new Azure AD portal, which has replaced the classic
portal.
The new portal uses some new terminology:
• The portal has a left bar that you use to navigate and access resources and tools.
• When you click an item in the left bar to perform a task, the bar expands into a series of
windows called blades on the right.
• The blades list the steps/options that you follow on your journey to complete a task. In
this case, the journey is adding and configuring Vision Essentials applications.

Add and Configure the Deltek Vision Application

To add and configure the Deltek Vision application:
1. Go to https://portal.azure.com to launch the Azure portal.
2. Select Azure Active Directory from the navigation tree on the left.
3. Select App registrations from the Manage menu.
4. Select + New registration from the actions at the top of the screen.

Administrator Guide 14
Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

5. In the Name field, enter Deltek Vision.

6. Under Supported account types, select Accounts in this organizational directory
only.
7. Under Redirect URI (Optional), select Web from the drop-down list and enter your
customer URL (for example, https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineers).
8. Click Register to create and save the application.
The properties of the Deltek Vision application display.
9. Hover over the Application (client) ID and click the clipboard icon to the right to store
the ID for future use. You will enter this ID into the Server Client ID field of the Azure
Active Directory tab in Vision Configuration » General » System Settings.

10. Select Certificates & secrets from the Manage menu.

11. Click + New client secret.
12. In the Description field, enter DeltekVisionKey.
13. Under Expires, we recommend that you select In 2 years.
14. Click Add to generate the secret value.

Administrator Guide 15
Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

15. Click the clipboard icon to the right of the secret value to save the value for future use.
You will enter this value on the Azure Active Directory tab in Vision Configuration »
General » System Settings.

16. Select Authentication from the Manage menu.

17. Under Redirect URIs, enter the following URLs, with a Type of Web. They are case-
sensitive.

 Your customer URL (for example,

https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineers)
 https://deltekvisionclient (needed to launch the desktop client application)
 http://localhost

Administrator Guide 16
Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

18. If you use iAccess, Touch Time, or Touch CRM, add the following URLs (replacing
abcengineers with your customer URL). They are case-sensitive.

 https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/iaccess/login/OAuth2AuthorizeReturn
 https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineers/TIME
 https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineers/TIME/visionshare/backend/o
auth2authorizereturn.php
 https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineers/TIME/visionshared/backend/
oauth2idtokenreturn.php
 https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineersTIME/visionshared/backend/
oauth2idtokennativereturn.php
 https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineers/CRM
 https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineers/CRM/visionshare/backend/o
auth2authorizereturn.php
 https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineers/CRM/visionshared/backend/
oauth2idtokenreturn.php
 https://abcengineers.deltekfirst.com/abcengineers/CRM/visionshared/backend/
oauth2idtokennativereturn.php
19. In the Advanced settings section, under Implicit grant, select the ID Tokens option.
20. In the Default client type section, select Yes in the Treat application as a public client
field.
21. In the Supported account types section, select the Accounts in this organizational
directory only option.
22. Click Save at the top.

Set Up Trust Between the Deltek Vision Application and Deltek Vision
Client
To establish trust between the Vision application and client:
1. Select Expose an API from the Manage menu.
2. Click + Add a scope.
3. In the Add a scope dialog box, click Save and continue to accept the Application ID
URI.

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Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

4. In the Scope name field, enter the text: user_impersonation

5. In the Who can consent? field, select Admins and users.
6. In the Admin consent display name field, enter the text: Access Deltek Vision
7. In the Admin consent description field, enter the text: Allow the application to access
Deltek Vision on behalf of the signed-in user
8. In the User consent display name field, enter the text: Access Deltek Vision
9. In the User consent description field, enter the text: Allow the application to access
Deltek Vision on your behalf
10. In the State field, select Enabled.
11. Click Add scope.
The new scope will appear under Scopes defined by this API.

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Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

Add and Configure the Deltek Vision Client Application

To add and configure the Deltek Vision client application:
1. Select Azure Active Directory from the navigation tree on the left.
2. Select App registrations from the Manage menu.
3. Click + New registration from the actions at the top of the screen.

4. In the Name field, enter the text: Deltek Vision (Client)

5. Under Supported account types, select Accounts in this organizational directory
only.
6. Under Redirect URI (Optional), select Public client (mobile & desktop) from the drop-
down list and enter the URL: https://deltekvisionclient
7. Click Register to create and save the application.
The properties of the Deltek Vision (Client) application display.
8. Hover over the Application (client) ID and click the clipboard icon to the right to store
the ID for future use. You will enter this ID into the Client ID field of the Azure Active
Directory tab in Vision Configuration » General » System Settings.
9. Select Authentication from the Manage menu.
10. In the Advanced settings section, under Implicit grant, select the ID Tokens option.
11. In the Default client type section, select Yes in the Treat application as a public client
field.

12. In the Supported account types section, select Accounts in this organizational
directory only.

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Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

13. Click Save at the top.

Complete the Trust Between the Deltek Vision Application and Deltek
Vision Client
To complete setting up trust between the Vision application and client:
1. Select Azure Active Directory from the navigation tree on the left.
2. Select App registrations from the Manage menu.
3. Select the Deltek Vision (Client) application.
4. Select API permissions from the Manage menu.
5. Click + Add a permission.
6. In the Request API permissions dialog box, select APIs my organization uses from the
choices at the top of the screen.
7. Use the search field to search for Deltek Vision.
8. Select the Deltek Vision application from the search results.

9. Under What type of permissions does your application require?, select Delegated
permissions.
10. In the Select permissions section, select user_impersonation (Access Deltek Vision).

11. Click Add permissions.

The new permission will appear under the list of API permissions.
12. Complete the Azure AD configuration steps in Vision Essentials.

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Providing Single Sign-On with Microsoft Azure Active Directory

Complete Azure AD Configuration in Vision Essentials

After you have completed single sign-on configuration in Azure AD, complete the following steps
in Vision Essentials:
1. From the Vision Essentials Navigation menu, click Configuration » General » System
Settings.
2. On the General System Settings form, click the Azure Active Directory tab, and complete
the fields on the tab:

 Domain Name (Tenant): Enter your on-premises active directory domain name (for
example abcengineering.com). If you do not have .com in your domain name,
contact your system administrator or a Deltek consultant.
 Client ID: Enter the Application ID that was generated when you added and
configured the Deltek Vision (Client) application in Azure AD. This is described in
step 8 of Add and Configure the Deltek Vision (Client) Application.
 Server Client ID: Enter the Application ID that was generated when you added and
configured the Deltek Vision application in Azure AD. This is described in step 8 of
Add and Configure the Deltek Vision Application.
 Server Key (Secret): Enter the key value that was generated for the key added for
the Deltek Vision application in Azure AD. This is described in step 11 of Add and
Configure the Deltek Vision Application.
 Authentication type: From the drop-down list, select the Windows Azure prompts
user for login credentials (default).
3. Click Save on the toolbar.

Complete User Configuration in Vision Essentials

When you set up users and passwords in Vision Essentials in Configuration » Security »
Users, you must enter the following for each user on the General tab:
 Select the Windows Authentication check box.
 In the Domain field, enter your domain name (example: abcengineers.com).

Administrator Guide 21
Role Security and User Accounts

Role Security and User Accounts

Creating and Configuring Roles and Accounts
When you are given access to the Vision Essentials environment, the Vision Essentials
Administrator account is already set up for you. The initial username and password for this
account are included in two separate emails sent to you. You will be asked to change your
password after your initial log in.
The Vision Essentials Administrator account includes full administrative permissions that give you
full access to all areas of the Vision software that have been licensed to your organization. As the
Vision Essentials Administrator, you then have the responsibility of creating user accounts and
assigning passwords to your organization’s employees.

If your organization is migrating from an on-premises instance of Vision to the Vision Essentials
offering, all existing user accounts and passwords remain unchanged and fully enabled after the
migration is complete. Only the password for the ADMIN account is reset, as specified in your
welcome letter.

User accounts that were set up to use Windows Authentication (Integrated Security) will
need to be changed to use native Vision security. The Deltek First Vision Essentials cloud
solution does not support Windows Authentication. Therefore, at the time of migration, all user
accounts that were set up to use Windows Authentication will have their passwords removed
and accounts disabled. The Administrator will need to enable these user accounts, assign
temporary passwords, communicate this information to the users, and force the users to reset
their passwords at the next login.

You establish role security parameters and set up user accounts in Vision by accessing
Configuration » Roles and Configuration » Users and Passwords from the Navigation menu.
You set up security roles based on your organization’s requirements and then create a user
account for each employee that needs to access the application. For more detailed information on
setting up security roles and user accounts, see the Vision Online Help system or check out the
many offerings from Deltek University.
You can grant full administrative permissions to any user account you create. However, only the
account set up for the Vision Essentials Administrator will have this level of permissions at the
time of your initial activation.
If you lose or forget your Vision Essentials Administrator password, you must submit a service
request through Deltek Customer Care to restore access to the Administrator account. The
process of resetting the Vision Essentials Administrator’s account is described in more detail in
the Service Requests section of this document.

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Role Security and User Accounts

Configuring Security Roles

Setting Up User Accounts

In Configuration » Security » Users, set up user accounts and passwords, and associate
accounts with employees.

Administrator Guide 23
Role Security and User Accounts

If you set up Microsoft Azure Active Directory for single sign-on for Vision Essentials, in the grid
on the Users tab, you must complete the following for each user:
 Select the Windows Authentication check box.
 In the Domain field, enter your domain name (example: abcengineers.com).

Password Policies
This section is not applicable if you set up Microsoft Azure Active Directory for single sign-on for
Vision Essentials.
Deltek works continuously to protect the security, privacy, and integrity of the data stored within
each customer’s instance of Vision Essentials.
As a result, when a new customer environment is activated, Vision Essentials is configured with
the following default password policies enabled:
 Minimum Password Length: 8
 Require at least one digit in all passwords: Yes
 Require at least one special character: Yes
 Passwords expire after 90 days.
 Do not allow password to be reused for 360 days.
 Disable users after 5 invalid logon attempts

If your organization is migrating from an on-premises instance of Vision to the Vision Essentials
offering, these password policies are enabled in the Vision Essentials environment regardless of
what password policies were in effect in your on-premises configuration.
As a result, some users in your organization may be required to reset their password during their
first log in so that their passwords comply with the default Vision Essentials password policies.

You have the ability to change the default password policies at any time. However, Deltek
strongly recommends that you retain the default password policies to maintain an adequate level
of security.
You can configure password policies in Vision by accessing Configuration » Security »
Password Policies from the Navigation menu.

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Role Security and User Accounts

Administrator Guide 25
Providing Users with Access to Vision Essentials

Providing Users with Access to Vision Essentials

Alternative Interfaces — Flexibility and Accessibility
Users can access the Vision Essentials solution in three different ways, so that they can access
what they need, when they need it, from anywhere. The interface a user chooses is based on the
person’s role, the functionality he or she needs to access, and the device he or she is using to
access Vision. The three interfaces are:
 Vision “smart client” — The Vision “smart client” (sometimes referred to as
“Vision core”) is a lightweight client that is loaded onto the user’s workstation the first time
the user launches Vision Essentials. The smart client provides full access to all Vision
functionality and can only be used on a Windows PC.
 Vision IAccess — iAccess is an additional interface through which users can access
commonly used Vision functionality. iAccess is targeted primarily at front office workers in
an organization (project managers, general employees, business developers,
executives). Currently, most iAccess functionality is focused on the project management
role, but the solution will expand over time to provide quick and simple access to key
parts of Vision for other roles. iAccess can be accessed from a browser (Internet
Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, or Safari), is platform agnostic, and can also be accessed
from a browser on tablet devices (iOS or Android).
 Vision Touch — Touch is the name for all of the Vision mobile applications, which are
available for iOS and Android devices. Each Touch application is targeted at a specific
Vision function, such as timesheet entry or CRM.

Smart Client System Requirements

The Vision “smart client” is a lightweight client that is loaded onto the user’s workstation,
automatically, the first time the user launches Vision Essentials using the company-specific URL
provided in your welcome email.
When enhancements and updates are applied to the Vision Essentials software, updates to the
“smart client” are sometimes required. In some instances, when a user logs in, a download and
installation of updated “smart client” software will start automatically.

Recommended Minimum Software Requirements for Accessing Vision via

Smart Client
Internet Connection
A broadband connection with at least 1,024 Kbps (1 MB) symmetrical throughput speeds is the
minimum recommendation.
Many factors contribute to the performance of any cloud-based software solution. When
determining the bandwidth necessary for your organization, it is important to consider that a
company’s Internet connection typically supports a broad range of functionality (email, Internet
access, other cloud software, and so on). The recommendations provided here are the minimum
required for Vision Essentials, without excessive resources competing for Internet bandwidth.
Additional bandwidth may be required, based on company size and Internet needs beyond those
required to run Vision optimally.

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Providing Users with Access to Vision Essentials

Operating System
 Windows 8 / 8.1 — 32-bit or 64-bit
 Windows 7 SP1 — 32-bit or 64-bit
 Windows Vista SP2 — 32-bit or 64-bit

Web Browsers
 Internet Explorer 9 or later

Business Applications
 Microsoft Office 2010 (32-bit only for MODI)
 Microsoft Office 2013 (32-bit only for MODI)

Other
The following components can be downloaded from their respective company’s websites:
 Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2
 Acrobat Reader 9.x

iAccess System Requirements

iAccess is a browser-based tool that is both browser and platform agnostic. No downloads,
installations, or plug-ins are required to run iAccess. All that is required is the URL provided at the
time of activation.

Recommended Minimum Software Requirements for Accessing Vision

iAccess
Internet Connection
A broadband connection with at least 1,024 Kbps (1 MB) symmetrical throughput speeds is
recommended.
Many factors contribute to the performance of any cloud-based software solution. When
determining the bandwidth necessary for your organization, it is important to consider that a
company’s Internet connection typically supports a broad range of functionality (email, Internet
access, other cloud software, and so on). The recommendations provided here are the minimum
required for Vision Essentials, without excessive resources competing for Internet bandwidth.
Additional bandwidth may be required, based on company size and Internet needs beyond those
required to run Vision optimally.

Operating Systems
 Windows 8 / 8.1 — 32-bit or 64-bit
 Windows 7 SP1 — 32-bit or 64-bit
 Windows Vista SP2 — 32-bit or 64-bit

Web Browser
 Internet Explorer 9 or later
 Chrome 18 or later

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Providing Users with Access to Vision Essentials

 Safari 5 or later
 Firefox 11 or later

Device
 Android Tablets
 iPad

Touch System Requirements

Touch is the name for Vision mobile applications, all of which are available for iOS and Android
devices. Each Touch application is targeted at a specific Vision function, such as timesheet entry
or CRM.

Recommended Minimum Requirements for Accessing Vision Touch

Applications
Mobile Operating System
 Apple iOS 5.0 or higher
 Android 2.3.3 and higher (excluding 3.x)
 Windows Phone 8.1 or higher

Devices
 All devices that support the mobile operating systems listed above
 Tablet devices are supported, but application screens are designed for smaller phone
screens

Distributing Vision URLs to Employees

Once you complete the Vision on-boarding process, you, the Vision Essentials Administrator, will
receive an Activation email that includes the URLs that all employees will use to access Vision
Essentials.
The email will include four URLs, formatted similarly to these:
 Vision “smart client” — https://companyname.deltekfirst.com/companyname
 iAccess — https://companyname.deltekfirst.com/companyname/iAccess
 Touch Time — https://companyname.deltekfirst.com/companyname/Time
 Touch CRM — https://companyname.deltekfirst.com/companyname/CRM

The Touch CRM application is available only if your organization owns a Deltek First Vision
Essentials bundle that includes the Vision CRM component.

You can distribute these URLs (along with each user’s credentials) to all employees in your
organization who need to access Vision interfaces. However, you should ensure that all user
accounts are set up in Vision Essentials prior to distributing the URLs.
For added convenience, users can bookmark the smart client URL and/or create a shortcut to this
URL.

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Providing Users with Access to Vision Essentials

Vision Essentials smart client must be launched using Internet Explorer 8 or later.
Vision Essentials smart client will not launch using Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
Users who have a browser other than Internet Explorer as their default browser can still create a
shortcut for launching Vision Essentials. This can be done using standard Windows shortcut
functionality, with the Target field entered as in the example below (with the paths and URL
replaced with those specific to the company and workstation).
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe"
https://companyname.deltekfirst.com/companyname

Set Language
If your organization uses multiple languages with Deltek First Vision Essentials, a user can select
a user interface language from the smart client login screen. This language setting applies only to
the user who sets it and can be re-set at each login. The last language selected is remembered
for the next login. Users can select only those languages that your organization is licensed to use.

Set Up Vision Touch Apps

Your Deltek First Vision Essentials solution includes access to all mobile applications associated
with the Vision modules for which you are licensed. URLs for the Touch application are included
with your Activation email.
Users need to install the applications from the appropriate application stores. Search for “Deltek”
in the application store to see the applications available to be installed on your users’ devices.

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Providing Users with Access to Vision Essentials

When a user installs and launches an application, the user is prompted for the URL provided in
the Activation email. The user enters the URL, clicks Connect, and enters his or her user ID and
password.

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Communicating with Deltek

Communicating with Deltek

Service Requests
As the Vision Essentials Administrator for your company, you can request additional services
from Deltek as part of your annual subscription fee.
Service requests must be submitted by a designated Vision Essentials Administrator. If Deltek
receives a service request from someone other than a designated Vision Essentials
Administrator, the request will be rejected.
Many of these service requests can be submitted via the Deltek Cloud Solutions self-service
page, available on the Support Center site. For those service requests that are not available
through the Deltek Cloud Solutions page, open a support case through the Support Center site.

Service Request Purpose

Admin Password If you lose or forget the password for your Vision administrator account, you (the
Reset Vision Essentials Administrator) can use the Support Center site to submit a
request for a password reset. When you submit a password reset request, you
must include the user ID of the account that needs the password reset. These
requests are typically completed within 2 business hours.

Analysis Cube If you own the Vision Performance Management module, your analysis cubes
Refresh are refreshed automatically every night. You can submit a service request to
have your cubes refreshed at another time, typically within 4 hours after you
submit the request. Once you submit the request, stop all transactional activity to
prevent data integrity issues in the cubes.

Database Upload If you are moving to Vision Essentials from on-premises Vision or a different
product, you must upload your migrated or converted database as part of the
implementation process. Submit a service request to initiate this process. You
will be directed to the Deltek File Transfer Tool and related instructions.

Production You can request a backup copy of your Vision database, which will be sent to
Database Backup you via secure FTP. When you request a backup, be sure to specify the point in
Download time that the backup should reflect. You are allowed 4 backup copies of your
database annually. Database backup requests are typically completed within 3
business days.

Production A production database replica is a copy of your production data that you use to
Database Replica test new configuration settings. When you request a new production database
(Sandbox) replica, Deltek makes a copy of your existing database and adds it to your
Creation/Refresh instance of Vision, where it appears as a separate item in the Database drop-
down field on the Vision login screen.
You can maintain only one production database replica. You can request a
production database replica refresh, which replaces your existing replica data
with your latest production data. You are allowed to refresh your production
database replica 6 times annually.
Creations/refreshes are typically completed within 3 business days.

Production If you need to restore your database to a previous point in time, submit a backup
Database Restore restore request. Vision Essentials customer databases are backed up every 24
hours. You are allowed 4 backup restores annually. Backup restores are
typically completed as soon as possible.

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Communicating with Deltek

Service Request Purpose

SQL Script Upload If you need to run a script against your transaction database, create the script
and use the SQL Script Upload service to upload and run it. You might do this,
for example, to run a batch update to clean up a large number of records, or to
deploy a stored procedure to the database. This process cannot run SQL scripts
that return data, only those that make changes to the database. You are
responsible for writing SQL scripts and stored procedures that maintain the
integrity of your database.
These requests are typically completed within 1 business day. Deltek Customer
Care will notify you when the process is completed.

Upload If you own the Vision Performance Management (VPM) module and would like to
Performance use a custom image in VPM workbooks, submit a service request to upload the
Management image file to the Vision Essentials environment. Once the image is uploaded,
Dashboard Image you can reference it by filename in your VPM workbooks.

VPM Analysis If you own the Vision Performance Management (VPM) module, you can give
Cube User employees the ability to access analysis cubes via the OLAP data pump. You
Access/Removal can also take this access away from an employee. Submit a service request
listing the employees to be added or removed. This request is typically
completed within 5 business days.

Changing an If all of your Vision Essentials Administrators are no longer with your company
Absent and a new Administrator needs to be designated, you must submit a request to
Administrator Deltek Customer Care. This request must include a formal letter on company
letterhead and have the signature of an officer of your organization. The request
should include the new Administrator’s name, email address, title, and phone
number. You can submit your request via the Support Center site, or you can fax
your request to Deltek at 1.339.469.8970. This request is typically completed
within 2 business days.

Submit a Service Request

To submit a service request:
1. Go to http://support.deltek.com.
2. Log in to the Support Center site using the credentials provided to you when your initial
Vision Essentials order process was completed.

If you do not have a username and password for the Support Center site, contact your firm’s
Vision Administrator.
If you forget your username or password, you can click the Need Help? button on the Support
Center login screen.

3. On the Home page, click the Cloud Solutions link.

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Communicating with Deltek

4. Select Vision Essentials from the product drop-down list, and click Go

5. Select an option from the Service Requests list, supply any additional information that is
requested, and click Submit.
If the service request that you need is not listed, return to the home page and click the
Submit a Case link. Enter information about your request.

Exceptions to Annual Support Case Allowance

The following cases do not count against your annual support case allowance:
 Cases that identify a defect in Vision
 Cases that result in a request for an enhancement to Vision
 Cases initiated by a Deltek consultant
 Cases related to early adoption of a version of Vision that is not yet generally available
 Requests for access to the Support Center site

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Communicating with Deltek

In addition, if you are a Deltek First (cloud) customer, your case allowance is not affected by:
 Cases related to hosting or infrastructure
 Requests for system administration procedures that you cannot perform without Deltek
assistance, such as backups and restores

Upgrades and Cumulative Updates

Deltek will apply software upgrades and cumulative updates to the Vision Essentials environment
on a regular basis, during planned maintenance windows. You will receive messages in the
Vision application and via email to alert you to these maintenance windows. These
communications will include details and reference information for each upgrade and cumulative
update.

If an upgrade or cumulative update has any significant effect on functionality that could change
how you use Vision, Deltek will communicate information about the change prior to the planned
installation date of the maintenance package.

For Enterprise Cloud Customers

Special policies apply to Vision Enterprise Cloud customers:
 Cumulative updates: Deltek will deploy cumulative updates based on your needs.
Deltek will work with you to determine which cumulative updates are applied to your
environment and when they are applied. This process includes determining maintenance
windows and performing testing in a non-production environment. In some cases, Deltek
will require that you take a cumulative update and will work with you to manage its
deployment.
 New versions: Deltek will use your input to plan the deployment of version upgrades.
Prior to the upgrade, Deltek will deploy a preview environment for you, using the new
version. Use this environment for testing and custom/integration rework. Once your
testing is completed and you feel comfortable with the version upgrade, Deltek will work
with you to determine a maintenance window and schedule a time to upgrade your
production environment with the new version.
Deltek requires that the version that you are running in your production environment is
either in the Active or Maintenance support phase. You cannot run a version that is in the
Sustaining support phase. This requirement will be considered when planning for version
upgrades.

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Process Server

Process Server
In Vision Essentials, the time it takes to execute certain transactional processes (Batch Billing,
Transaction Posting, Revenue Generation, Payment Processing, and so on) varies greatly
depending on the type of transaction and the amount of data processed. Vision Essentials
provides two ways to execute these types of processes: run immediately or schedule.

Run Immediately
When a process is run, it happens interactively and executes immediately. While the process is
running, you cannot work in the Vision Essentials interface until the process is completed. The
Vision Essentials interface waits for a completion response from the server before additional
actions can be taken.
For processes that take a very short period of time to complete, this method is typically
acceptable. When you use this method, a timeout error can occur if a process takes a very long
time to complete (15 minutes or more). If a report is very large and takes longer than one hour to
run, the reporting process will time out and stop. In this case, you receive an error message.

Schedule
For processes that take an extended period of time (10 minutes or greater), Deltek strongly
recommends that you use the schedule method. When you use the schedule method to execute
these processes, the execution is offloaded to the backend process server. This means that you
can continue to work in Vision Essentials while the process executes, making for a better, less
disruptive, user experience.
When a process is scheduled, you can still run it immediately by setting the Start After date/time
on the Schedule dialog box to the current date and time. Use the Send Process Status Email
Alert to Submitter check box to receive a status email when the process completes.

Administrator Guide 35
Printing

Printing
When you run a report in Vision you have two printing options—Preview and Print.

If a report is very large and takes longer than one hour to run, the reporting process will time out
and stop. Consider scheduling such reports.

Print Preview

When you choose the Preview option, the report opens in a report preview window.

From the preview window, click the Printer icon to open a standard Windows Print dialog box
from which you can select any printer (local or network) configured in your Windows environment.

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Printing

Print

When you choose the Print option, the report does not open in the report preview window.
Instead, the Vision Print dialog box opens. From this dialog, select <local printer> in the Printer
Name field and Vision creates and opens a PDF version of the report. You can print the PDF
from your PDF viewing software or you can save it and manipulate it as needed.
When using the direct print option from anywhere in Vision, the <local printer> option is the only
choice for printing. Access to your Windows printers is only provided when printing form the
report preview window.
There are several areas in Vision (for example, posting logs when transactions are posted) for
which there is not an option to preview a report, which means the direct print method is the only
available method for printing. In these areas, the <local printer> PDF method is the only way to
print the associated report.

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Email Considerations

Email Considerations
Size Limit
Throughout Vision Essentials, the limit on email size is 10 MB. In general, the only time you might
exceed this limit is when emailing large reports.
You will receive an error message when the limit is exceeded.

Default Sender for Outgoing Mail

When Vision Essentials sends an email, it uses the email address in the Default Sender field on
the Email tab in Configuration » General » General System Settings. Vision Essentials also
uses this address if an employee sends an email message from within Vision Essentials and
that employee does not have an associated email address.
As part of implementing Vision Essentials, make sure that the Default Sender field contains an
appropriate internal email address. Keep in mind that recipients may reply to emails sent from this
email address, so use the email address of someone who can monitor these responses.

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Batch Billing

Batch Billing
When you use Vision’s Batch Billing feature, you must select the <local printer> option to
generate invoices. When you select this option, you may receive a message indicating that you
cannot print invoices using the <local printer> option; you can ignore this message.
After you run the batch bill, click the Previously Run Batches tab to print/preview the invoices via
PDF.

You can control how long previously run batches are available using the Retain Invoices for up
to field on the Billing Session Options dialog available from the Batch Billing form.

Administrator Guide 39
Audit Trail Logging

Audit Trail Logging

When you use the audit trail logging feature in Vision Essentials, you can maintain audit trail
history for up to 30 days, as determined by this setting:
Configuration » General » System Settings » Number of days to retain audit history
You cannot enter a value higher than 30 for this setting.
If you are migrating to Vision Essentials from an on-premises implementation of Vision and you
currently maintain history for longer than 30 days, the migration process will:
 Set the Number of days to retain audit history value to 30.
 Purge any audit trail history that is greater than 30 days old.
If you need to retain audit history for greater than 30 days, you have two options:
 Run audit trail reports, download them, and store them locally.
 Request database backups and store them locally.

Administrator Guide 40
Exchange Rate Updates

Exchange Rate Updates

If you use the Vision multicurrency feature, you can schedule and automate the updating of
exchange rates. Deltek partners with XE.com, a popular online foreign exchange tools and
services company, to supply up-to-date exchange rates to Vision users.

It is up to you to contact XE.com, pay for their exchange rate services, and configure Vision to
work with their data.

To set up a data feed from XE.com to Vision:

1. Send an email to [email protected] containing the following information:
 Your company name and address.
 The full name, email address, and phone number of the primary billing contact at
your company.
 That you want to use exchange rate information with Deltek Vision in the cloud.
2. Establish a contract and payment process with XE.com.
3. Follow XE.com’s instructions for configuring and activating your account.
4. Configure Vision to use XE.com data:
a. In Vision, click Configuration » General » System Settings » XE.com Rates
tab.
b. Follow the instructions in the Vision online help.

Administrator Guide 41
Reporting

Reporting
Scheduling Reports
If a report is very large and takes longer than one hour to run, the reporting process will time out
and stop. Consider scheduling such reports.

Use the Email/Schedule function to schedule a report to run at a later time.

To schedule a report:
1. Click the Email/Schedule button to open the Email Report dialog box.
2. Enter the recipient’s email address and click Schedule.

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Reporting

3. Enter information on the Schedule dialog box and click OK.

Report Timestamps
The report servers for the Vision Essentials environment are hosted in various locations and time
zones. As a result, the timestamp that appears on your Vision reports may not represent the time
for the time zone in which you are running the report. Instead, the timestamp will reflect the time
for the time zone in which the report server running the report is located.

Deploying Custom Reports

If you purchased the Deltek First Flex Cloud option or the Custom Report Add-On, you can
deploy your own custom reports to your production environment.
Upload custom reports via the Custom Reports tab in Utilities » Report Administration. Use the
following syntax to name the RDL, where XXXXX is your 5-digit client ID:
00000XXXXX_ReportName.rdl
If a custom report has sub-reports, each sub-report must be uploaded and named using this
syntax.

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Reporting

Each report listed in the grid on the Custom Reports tab should have a status of Synchronized.
 If the status is Missing in report server, that means that the report definition is present
in the database but is not loaded on the report server. This problem can occur if your
production database gets out of synch with the report server. Click Synchronize from the
toolbar to resolve the problem.
 If the status is Missing in database, that means that the report has been loaded on the
report server but is not present in the database. Re-upload the RDL file to resolve the
problem.

Be sure to retain backups of all of your custom report RDL files. Deltek is not responsible for
retaining the RDL files used to create your custom reports. However, you can download an RDL
from the database using the Download button on the Custom Reports tab.

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Vision Xtend API

Vision Xtend API

All subscribers to Vision Essentials have access to the Vision Xtend API, which they can use to
interact with Vision.
Your URL to access the Vision Xtend API is based on the URL that you use to access Vision. The
format is:
https://<customer name>.deltekfirst.com/<customer name>/visionWS.asmx.
For example, if your URL for accessing Vision is https://cohenassoc.deltekfirst.com/cohenassoc,
then your URL for the API is:
https://cohenassoc.deltekfirst.com/cohenassoc/visionWS.asmx.

For more information about how to use the Vision Xtend API, see the Knowledge Base
on the Support Center site.

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Direct Database Access

Direct Database Access

If your organization subscribes to the Deltek First Flex Cloud offering, you can use ODBC to
establish a secure, read-only connection to your Vision transaction database. You can connect
tools such as Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access, or the Business Intelligence Development Studio
directly to your database.

Manage ODBC Accounts

Before you can use the ODBC connection, you need to set up the accounts you will need for
ODBC access. Use Vision security configuration (Configuration » Security » Users) to enable,
edit, and disable ODBC accounts. You can have up to five active ODBC accounts.

To enable a user to have ODBC access:

1. Go to Configuration > Security > Users and find the user who needs ODBC access.
2. On the General tab, select the Enable Cloud ODBC Connectivity option, enter the
user’s email address, and enter a password. (Email addresses are used to ensure that
usernames are unique across all organizations that use Vision.) Click Save.

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Direct Database Access

You will receive two notifications:

 One now, saying that the account was created and that the Deltek Cloud Operations
team will need to complete the process.

 Another later, from Deltek Customer Care, when the configuration is completed.

Edit or Disable ODBC Accounts

To edit or disable an account, go to Configuration > Security > Users and find the user. You
can change the password or deselect the Enable Cloud ODBC Connectivity option to disable
the account.

Install and Configure the ODBC Driver

You must install and configure a driver on every workstation that will be used to connect to the
Vision database.

The user who installs the ODBC drivers must, at a minimum, have local administrator privileges.

To install and configure the driver:

1. Download the ODBC driver installer from the link below:
https://dsm.deltek.com/DFVE/ODBC/HDPDriver.zip
2. Extract all the files in the downloaded zip file to a folder on your computer.
3. Execute either the 32-bit or 64-bit .EXE installer file. Execute the file that corresponds to
the application from which you will be connecting via ODBC.
4. Launch the appropriate ODBC Administrator (32-bit or 64-bit).
5. From the ODBC Data Source Administrator dialog box, create either a User DSN or
System DSN. User DSNs are for a single user; System DSNs are available to all users of
the workstation. Select the User DSN or System DSN tab, based on your needs.

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Direct Database Access

6. Click Add. In the Create New Data Source dialog box, select DataDirect HDP 4.2 and
click Finish.

7. In the ODBC Cloud Driver Setup dialog box, enter a name in the Data Source field. This
can be any name that helps you identify the data source.
You do not need to add a value in the Description field.
8. In the Hybrid Data Pipeline Source field, enter the database name and service URL that
you received from Deltek Customer Care when you requested the ODBC accounts. The
Port Number field should be left as is.

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Direct Database Access

9. On the Security tab, ensure that the Enable SSL checkbox is checked.

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Direct Database Access

10. Click Test Connect and enter the credentials that you received from Deltek Customer
Care when you requested the ODBC accounts. Click OK.
A Connection established! message displays. Click OK.
11. Click OK in the ODBC Cloud Driver Setup dialog box and click OK in the ODBC Data
Source Administrator dialog box.
12. The final step is to add two entries to the registry. If you need help doing this, see your
system administrator. Follow these steps:
a. For a User DSN, go to:
\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ODBC\ODBC.INI\<datasource>
For a System DSN, go to:
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\ODBC\ODBC.INI\<dat
asource>
The <datasource> value is the name that you entered in the Data Source field
in Step 7 above.
b. Add a new String Value with the name WorkArounds and a value of 16777218.
c. Add a new String Value with the name WorkArounds2 and a value of 8192.

Connect to Your Vision Database

Once the ODBC driver is installed and configured, you can make a connection between the
workstation and the Vision database, using any application that supports ODBC connectivity.

The instructions below use Microsoft Excel as an example. The process for other
applications may not be exactly the same, but will be very similar.

To connect to the Vision database:

1. Go to the application from which you want to connect to the Vision database and initiate
an ODBC connection.

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Direct Database Access

2. Select the data source that you entered in the Data Source field in Step 7 above.

3. Enter your credentials for the database connection.

4. Build a query.

5. Execute the query.

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Direct Database Access

Use ODBC Connectivity with Linux

This guide focuses on setting up ODBC connectivity on the Windows platform. However, you can
also set up Vision Essentials ODBC functionality using Linux. Here are some general instructions.

To set up ODBC connectivity with Linux:

1. Set up ODBC accounts in the same way that you would using Windows.
2. Download the ODBC driver installer for Linux from this link:
https://dsm.deltek.com/DFVE/ODBC/HDPLinuxDriver.zip
Select either the 32-bit or 64-bit .BIN file. Select the file that corresponds to the
application from which you will conect via ODBC.
3. Follow the same general steps for installing and configuring the driver that are described
here for Windows. Specify the service URL, data source name, port number of 443, and
encryption method of 1.

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Vision Performance Management

Vision Performance Management

Vision Essentials customers who subscribe to the Vision Performance Management (VPM)
module have access to additional dashboard and data visualization functions.
If you are a VPM user, you should:
 Learn about some basic concepts, which are covered in the Vision online help system.
Launch online help from Vision, go to Reporting Overview > Performance
Management Overview, and browse through the topics there.
 Download and install the VPM Desktop Tool, which lets you create custom data
visualization maps. You can see these visualization maps in the Desktop Tool or publish
them to your Vision Essentials environment.

Daily Downtime for Maintenance

The cube data that powers VPM is not live data but a snapshot of your transaction database at a
single point in time. Every day, the Deltek Cloud Operations team refreshes your data and
performs general maintenance. During this time, VPM content is not available.
Downtime occurs between 20:00 and 3:15 daily, based on the local time of the data center that
hosts your Vision instance. Deltek currently has data centers in Europe (Germany), the United
States (East Coast) and Australia (Sydney). Your Vision instance is typically hosted by the data
center closest to the highest concentration of your users.

Install VPM Desktop Tool

Install the VPM Desktop Tool on the Windows computers of all VPM users. You can install it on
as many computers as you wish.

To install the VPM Desktop Tool:

1. Click the appropriate link below and download the
DeltekVisionPerformanceManagementDesktopTool_##.msi file:
 VPM Desktop Tool Download – 32-bit
 VPM Desktop Tool Download – 64 bit
2. Double-click the file to the start the installation process.
3. Follow the installation steps, accepting all of the default settings.

Connecting VPM Desktop Tool to Data Sources

The VPM Desktop Tool allows you to connect to two data sources – the Vision Analysis Cubes or
the Vision transaction database. To connect the Desktop Tool to the Analysis Cubes you will use
the OLAP data pump connectivity information you were provided by Deltek Customer Care when
your VPM was provisioned within your cloud instance of Vision.
To connect to the transactional database, you will use the ODBC connectivity described in the
previous section of this document. Instructions for establishing each of these connections are
provided below.

Connecting to the Analysis Cubes

When VPM was provisioned for your organization, you were provided, via email, with an OLAP
data pump URL and associated credentials. This information is required to complete the steps

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Vision Performance Management

below. When VPM is provisioned, only a single OLAP data pump account is configured. To
request additional OLAP data pump accounts, see KB article #80746.

To connect to Analysis Cubes:

1. Launch the Desktop Tool.
2. On the Connect menu, select Microsoft Analysis Services.

3. On the Microsoft Analysis Services dialog box, enter the OLAP data pump URL and the
associated credentials and click OK.

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Vision Performance Management

4. Select the cube with which you would like to work and proceed to build your workbook.

Connecting to the Transaction Database

Connecting to the transaction database from the Desktop Tool requires the DataDirect ODBC
driver described in the previous section of this document. The steps below assume that the driver
has been successfully installed and that a DSN that connects to the Vision database has been
setup and tested.

To connect to the transaction database:

1. Launch the Desktop Tool.
2. From the Connect menu, select Other Databases (ODBC).

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Vision Performance Management

3. On the Other Databases dialog box, select the DSN that you have set up for ODBC
connectivity to your database. Click Connect.
4. Enter the necessary credentials. Click OK.
5. On the Other Databases dialog, click OK to finalize the connection.

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Vision Performance Management

6. Once you are connected, you can build a SQL query to extract the desired data.

VPM for Deltek First Vision Essentials does not currently support publishing workbooks that use
a direct connection to the SQL transaction database so that they can be viewed from / included
on the Vision dashboard. Workbooks developed using a connection to the Vision transaction
database can only be viewed in the VPM Desktop Tool.

Connecting Excel to Vision Analysis Cubes

As an organization using VPM, you have the ability to not only connect to the analysis cubes form
the Desktop Tool but from any tool that supports connections to Microsoft Analysis Services.
One such tool is Microsoft Excel and the steps below describe how to make this connection. This
example uses Microsoft Excel 2013 – exact commands and screenshots might differ slightly for
other versions.

To connect Excel to Vision Analysis Cubes:

1. Launch Excel from within the desired worksheet.
2. On the Data ribbon, select From Other Sources and then select From Analysis
Services from the menu.

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Vision Performance Management

3. On the Connect to Database Server page of the Data Connection Wizard, enter the
OLAP data pump URL and the associated credentials. Click Next.

4. On the Select Database and Table page, select the desired cube. Click Next.

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Vision Performance Management

5. On the Save Data Connection File and Finish page, adjust the data source filename if
necessary.
6. Select the Save Password in File check box if you want to store the password for the
data connection in the file, preventing the need to enter the password each time the
workbook is opened. Consider the security implications of storing the password in the file.
Click Finish.

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Additional Documentation

Additional Documentation
The following table lists additional related Deltek documentation that can help you get started with
Vision Essentials. All the documents listed in this table are available from the Knowledge Base
section of the Support Center site.

Document Name Description

Getting Started Guide This guide provides all the basic information necessary to
get started using Deltek First. You’ll find information on
navigation tools, lookup lists, online help, reporting, and
other system-wide features.

Quick Reference Cards Quick Reference Cards are single page documents that
provide basic information on commonly used areas of Deltek
First.
The following titles are available:
 Create Client from Vendor Utility
 Create a Standard Purchase Order
 Create a Voucher from a Purchase Order
 Dashboard
 Desktop and Microsoft Office Integration (MODI)
 Expense Report
 Generic Resource Assignments and Resource
Utilization
 Navigation Tree Designer
 Project Planning
 Screen Designer
 SF330 Proposals
 Template-Based Emails
 Timesheet
 User Options
 Visualizations

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Deltek is the leading global provider of enterprise software and information solutions for government
contractors, professional services firms and other project- and people-based businesses. For decades, we
have delivered actionable insight that empowers our customers to unlock their business potential. 20,000
organizations and millions of users in over 80 countries around the world rely on Deltek to research and
identify opportunities, win new business, recruit and develop talent, optimize resources, streamline
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