Deltek Ajera Software

I wish we had instead chosen another system, like quickbooks with a plug in for project reporting.

Pros

Aim was to be able to chart project status and KPI. In fact this is very difficult to use.

Cons

Security design & profile is very poor. There is no way to request password reset if you login a few times with wrong password other than going to the administrator, .. it will not allow password to be saved on your PC via another software, and it wants new passwords to be changed often. Our users are often locked out for days.

Pros

Not much to like, unfortunately.
It is easy to link projects and employees, and/or divide time for different phases, but I feel like you get that with any other app too.

Cons

Hard to use, ugly, and poor customer service.
Only runs on microsoft edge, will not remember your password, will ask you for permission to download and run something every single time.

Please upgrade your user experience.

Pros

It gets the job done. I mean, in terms of functionality, it works for project management, time management, etc.

Cons

It's ugly, it's convoluted, and users all seem to hate it. Navigating it is difficult, it sorts employees by first name (which sounds great except no other software does, so syncing is ugly), it doesn't play well with payroll software, which causes double entry.... And the interface looks like 1988.

Pros

Great project management tool in construction. Manages multiple projects at the same time. great construction management software.

Cons

Not available for smaller size companies who only want to use for one or two management task. Would like this software to be provided in modules with multiple tools available in modules.

Pros

The features that have been added over the last couple years have helped with the look and use of the software. I enjoy the dashboard shortcuts and options that they have provided.

Cons

We have many companies and unfortunately they don't have an easy way to go from one to the next. Have to keep logging in and out.

Go to workshops and events to learn from others

Pros

Customization is key to automation. Make sure you get the setup right, we used deltek Consultants and this was essential.

Pros

I like Ajera's time sheet capabilities, the time sheets are very easy to use for someone that does not use Deltek often. I also love this reporting capabilities.

Cons

Ajera's cons are, the system as a whole seems to be outdated, and it take a lot to steps to enter accounts payable and other general accounting information.

No

Pros

Ease of use, immediate updates of charts and data, widget reporting, inquiry and exports to excel. Support has always been great, and software updates come from the company frequently to keep our software up to par.

Cons

It does not "bug me", but having a working knowledge of SQL is helpful - not everyone has that. It can be a little intimidating at first for project managers, but with support, training, and reinforcement, they do come around and use it for their needs.

Pros

The widgets are my favorite feature of Ajera. They allow the company to decide how to present information to the users in graphs and charts. Timesheets and expense reports can be submitted on the employee's phone. The Project Command Center is a one stop shop for managing your project. I also love how the Deltek Ajera employees are always willing to help and listen to our ideas. I have seen many things we requested occur in updates.

Cons

I do not have complaints about the software. I will warn that sometimes after major updates there are glitches. However, every software that is constantly updating of this size has minor glitches after major updates. And Deltek usually releases fixes right away.

I would say if you know how to use Ajera, you will be really benefit from it because it is a magic tool with some limitation. Learning curve is there, but it is well worth the time to learn how the system works correctly.

Pros

Ajera not only can help to create tools for you to manage the projects well from tracking the budget hours, the worked hours, the project costs, forecasting the project probabilities, scheduling, etc. which the Ajera salespersons are mainly focused on (it is true), but also you could create a lot of additional reports - i.e. Forecasting the workloads for next few years which will provide the data to support HR making hiring decisions, the revenue projections, and the revenue capacity with the employees you have, etc. Even more, you could create the user-friendly accounting functions in Ajera to make the accounting side move efficiently than using the accounting software - i.e. Simply Accounting, Quick Books

Cons

1. Add more import options will be great especially if we could create the custom forms to submit the data to the fields including the custom fields in Ajera.
2. Allow the Vendor Invoices to be submitted by the vendor to the client side Ajera directly especially for the architecture firms
3. Allow sharing some info from Ajera to the company website

This is the most difficult system that we have ever worked with in the 40 years that I have been in business. We are switching to Quick Books

Pros

Project Management and Scheduling are great. Our project managers love the system. Scheduling is a real plus.

Cons

Financial Reporting. P&L statements are always off. We had to run two sets of books parallel in order to have correct financial reporting.

We are in the training phase of the software experience so my opinions may change with time. Initially, the software seems impressive. Our training executive is excellent. She truly has an understanding of the day to day operations of an architectural firm so our training is tailored for efficiency. My one experience with support was excellent as well. I received an immediate, understandable response which resolved our issue. Prior to purchasing, we received an unflattering review of a colleague's past experience with their Ajera support, but so far, we have had the opposite experience. I was hoping that the software was more user friendly, closer to the level of Quickbooks, but I've been told by our training exec that certain "editable" transaction features would render the software non FAR compliant, which I was not aware of.

Pros

The few project managers who were involved with the project set up training are very excited to see the level of detail available for project costing and time scheduling.

Cons

Not as user-friendly as I had hoped.

Advice to Others

We consulted with several colleagues in our field prior to purchasing Ajera and I believe it was valuable time spent. The program seems expensive for a small firm, but if you have FAR compliance needs, it is worth the money.

We began using Ajera shortly after the Deltek acquisition and have since gained vast insight into how to effectively manage projects through the use of Ajera's many project management features.

Deltek Ajera Project Management works well for less complicated projects and smaller organizations. Once you get into a larger and growing organization, it has its limitations and can be cumbersome to maintain a project using the tools available

Pros

Simplistic and fairly easy to learn

Cons

Limited for complex projects and organizations

Advice to Others

Look at if you're a small firm and utilize the Ajera Accounting software as well since they are completely integrated.

Ajera is a good software for smaller firms, under 100 employees. For the size of my firm, it just doesn't provide us with the flexibility and reporting that I require.

Cons

limited ability to "slice-and-dice" data for reports. limited to 5 tag fields for reporting.

Advice to Others

If your firm is a small firm and you want the project managers to be hands on, this is a good choice. However, widgets and dashboards are not the most pleasing to the eye.

Likes Best

The availability 24/7 support is what I like best. The technical support teams seems knowledgeable and is quick to respond to queries. I also like the fact that Deltek has included government reporting features into the software, making it very easy to prepare and file various quarterly and annual reports with government agencies. A recent feature that was added, the import credit card feature is also a nice to have on this platform.

Likes Least

It is difficult to customize reports and get the advanced forms of data. Some types of reports, such as revenue based on activity type are unavailable, so you will need to resort to exporting whatever data you can to excel and then sort through hundred of lines of information to get what you want. Also, there is no option to import data from excel files. This is definitely not the most user friendly software that I've used. Management reports are virtually non existent.

Recommendations

QuickBooks is a software that I have used in the past and I would recommend this software to anyone that asks. It was extremely easy to use and functions and operations were quite self-explanatory, unlike Ajera which needs assistance everytime you need to do something different or new.

Likes Best

The support people are great and the software actually has potential to be very good.

Likes Least

The software is difficult to use in many, many areas. It works as an accounting system and to some degree as a Project management System but there is no flow to it. You have to remember too many quirky little things to get it to do some of the most basic things.

Recommendations

Don't believe what the sales people are telling you. How great it is. Not true. Find a user in your area and go and spend a day watching them use the software.

Likes Best

Client support is terrific. It's nice to know that when questions arise, you're only a phone call away from talking and understanding someone who knows the software so well.

Likes Least

The available reports are good but trying to create a report can be very trying unless you have SQL experience.

Recommendations

It does a great job of tracking your project costs. Timekeeping is a breeze and the bookkeeping/accounting functions are easy to learn. I do highly recommend this software.

Likes Best

Ajera allows project managers to review and manage their projects with ease. The customization dashboards enable the company to structure numerous custom reports that suit their needs. The Deltek Ajera Team loves their software. They listen to their clients and try to improve the software with new updates. Ajera is great because of the customization. But in many cases, the defaults of the software are based on industry standards or best practices.

Likes Least

Because the software is powerful, there is a lot of knowledge to learn. I strongly recommend using consultants. There is a learning curve, but it is well worth the time to learn how the system works correctly.

Recommendations

Take your time selecting a software. Ask to see how it would work for your company. Always ask to see how all aspects of the software work. Bring IT, Administration, Finance, and Project Managers into the demos. Just because something looks like it works for you, may cause a problem for another member of your team.

Likes Best

Ajera allows our PM's to work in the software and have answers at their fingertips. With the dashboard and widget features, they get needed info quickly, without having to search through reports or run their own inquiries.

Likes Least

Cannot think of anything major. I have been a satisfied customer of Ajera and it predecessor products for over 25 years. Each update and product change has gotten better. Any issues are very minor and can be worked around, at least for our firm.

Recommendations

Make sure to see the dashboards, widgets, developing your own reporting tools, and instant access to data.