With Costpoint 8.1 entering Maintenance Support in June 2024 and transitioning to Sustaining Support by April 2026, it’s time to start thinking ahead. After this date, Costpoint 8.1 will no longer receive new features or enhancements, meaning your business could miss out on vital improvements. Upgrading to Costpoint 8.2 isn’t just about staying up-to-date—it’s about seizing an opportunity to unlock a powerful suite of new features, capabilities, and tools that will elevate your organization's productivity, efficiency, and compliance. In this article, we’ll delve into the key reasons why making the switch makes sense and how these impactful changes can benefit your operations.
1. Enhanced User Experience Costpoint 8.2 introduces a number of improvements to the user experience, emphasizing efficiency and ease of use. The new UI enhancements and personalization options enable users to work faster and more comfortably. For example, the enhanced My Desktop interface provides customizable widgets, giving you quick access to the information that matters most to you. This level of personalization not only saves time but also ensures that important tasks stay front and center.  | 2. Time and Expense Management Made Simpler One of the most impactful upgrades in Costpoint 8.2 lies in the Time and Expense module. The enhancements include an improved mobile experience for both time tracking and expense submissions, as outlined by Deltek’s blog. This improvement simplifies data entry, with a more intuitive interface and advanced features such as voice command capabilities for creating entries. The geofencing feature ensures that employees are accurately logging time based on their location, thus helping maintain compliance and reducing errors related to incorrect time reporting. The Time and Expense improvements also extend to a new approval workflow, which streamlines approvals for supervisors and finance teams, ultimately reducing processing time and speeding up payroll. |
3. Compliance and Audit Readiness For government contractors, compliance is non-negotiable. Costpoint 8.2 introduces several features aimed at simplifying compliance management. The Audit Management module has been enhanced to make regulatory compliance more transparent and accessible. With these updates, contractors can easily track and report on data required for audits. In addition, updates to the Business Intelligence (BI) and Reporting tools allow users to create detailed reports on wage determinations, labor category mappings, and other compliance-critical information in real time.  | 4. Advanced Business Intelligence and Analytics With the transition from 8.1 to 8.2, Deltek has significantly upgraded Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities. According to Deltek’s advanced help documents, new features include enhanced dashboard visualization options and expanded data fields available for report customization. These updates help you derive deeper insights from your data, allowing your team to make more informed decisions faster. Moreover, the integration of BI with other Costpoint modules ensures a seamless data flow across your entire organization, promoting a unified approach to data-driven decision-making.  |
5. Streamlined Project and Financial Management Costpoint 8.2 introduces additional functionalities to the Project and Financial Management modules, focusing on improving oversight and control. Enhancements include expanded options for managing indirect rates, allocations, and billing processes. The automated rate calculation features reduce manual workload for finance teams, and with additional configuration capabilities, users can better tailor these functions to match their organizational requirements. The added financial dashboards offer a holistic view of project profitability, helping organizations stay on track with budgets and forecasts.  | 6. Security and Scalability As cybersecurity threats evolve, so must your ERP system. Costpoint 8.2 offers upgraded security features, including multi-factor authentication (MFA) and enhanced encryption protocols to ensure data safety. These upgrades are particularly important for organizations dealing with sensitive government data, as they add another layer of protection against unauthorized access and data breaches. Additionally, the 8.2 version is designed for greater scalability, enabling businesses to grow and expand their use of the platform without performance slowdowns.  |
7. Integration with Emerging Technologies Deltek continues to integrate emerging technologies to offer cutting-edge tools in Costpoint 8.2. The Robotic Process Automation (RPA) capabilities have been expanded to allow for the automation of more repetitive tasks, saving time and reducing errors. From invoice processing to report generation, RPA in Costpoint 8.2 can handle various mundane processes, freeing up your employees to focus on higher-value tasks. The expanded support for AI-driven analytics helps organizations predict potential project risks and opportunities, empowering proactive management.  | 8. Improved Collaboration Tools Collaboration is crucial for efficiency, and Costpoint 8.2 has made notable strides in this area. The Document Management System (DMS) enhancements include increased storage limits, more advanced file-sharing options, and a smoother integration with project workflows. Additionally, the collaborative workspaces allow teams to communicate within the platform, reducing the need for third-party communication tools and helping to keep project discussions centralized and secure.  |
Upgrading with CRI
Now that we’ve discussed the benefits of upgrading, let me show you why CRI is the perfect partner to guide you through this process. Our systems team doesn’t just specialize in upgrade procedures—they bring deep industry expertise that allows us to provide valuable guidance and tailored recommendations you won’t find elsewhere. With years of experience, they have the skills to thoroughly analyze your organization and develop a customized upgrade plan that meets your specific needs. Below are the steps CRI takes to ensure that your transition to Costpoint 8.2 is comprehensive, seamless, and successful:
Project Management & Planning – CRI will help establish the timeline accounting for all phases of the upgrade process and provide the resources needed to include coordination with any external resources required to complete the upgrade.
Assessment & Analytics – Conduct a current system review as it relates to customizations, extensions, interfaces, and integrations with 3rd party systems being used. Review New Features and help identify any additional functionalities your organization might leverage.
Data Backup & Migration – Ensure your current system is backed up before starting the upgrade process and work on a detailed plan for address data validation and/or clean up processes needed for the upgrade.
Test Upgrade – Set up a test environment to test the upgrade to help identify any potential problems so that your production system is not negatively affected during the production process.
Data Validation & Verification – Post upgrade CRI will perform validations on data discussed during the project planning phase. An example of this is Employee data.
System Testing – CRI will work with your team to determine the level of testing required for the upgrade. This could be as simple as making sure records can be enter, modified, and saved, processes like update report table run without error, and verification of financial statements, or complete lifecycle testing of various modules or complete systems.
Training and End User Support – Support your team in determining the training needed to familiarize them with Costpoint 8.2 new user interface and any new features being added during the upgrade.
Production Upgrade – Complete the Costpoint 8.2 Production Upgrade as planned.
Conclusion
Upgrading from Costpoint 8.1 to 8.2 offers a wealth of benefits that can transform your organization’s performance and productivity. With an upgraded user experience, simplified compliance management, advanced analytics, enhanced security, and greater automation, this update empowers your business to operate more efficiently and make informed decisions with confidence. As government contracting requirements become more stringent and real-time insights are increasingly critical, Costpoint 8.2 provides the tools you need to stay ahead.
With CRI by your side, you can maximize the value of your system and ensure that your operations are both efficient and future-proof. To learn more about our Systems Management & Development Services, or to start your upgrade journey, reach out to us today to schedule a discovery call and let’s elevate your operations together.