Deltek Open Plan is enterprise scheduling software built for large, complex programs. Schedulers use it to develop logic-driven plans, calculate critical paths, manage baselines, status progress, analyze resources and coordinate multiple projects within a controlled database environment.
Open Plan becomes especially useful when the schedule must connect with cost, earned value, risk or change-control systems. For example, its direct integration with Deltek Cobra supports an integrated cost and schedule process without forcing teams to maintain the same planning data in two separate applications.
However, the software does not create a reliable Integrated Master Schedule (IMS) by itself. The scheduler still needs sound network logic, realistic durations, consistent status practices and disciplined baseline control.
What Is Deltek Open Plan?
Deltek describes Open Plan as enterprise project scheduling software for large, complex and compliance-driven programs. It serves as the scheduling component within Deltek’s broader project portfolio management environment.
The application supports both stand-alone projects and integrated multi-project structures. It also stores schedule data in a database that authorized users can access. Therefore, an organization can establish shared calendars, coding structures, resource definitions, views and scheduling procedures across multiple programs.
Open Plan commonly appears in aerospace, defense, energy, engineering and government contracting environments. These organizations often need more than a basic bar chart. They need a scheduling system that can support controlled data, hierarchical program structures and integration with other program-controls tools.
Open Plan is not required by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) or EIA-748. A contract may require an Earned Value Management System (EVMS), an IMS or specific reporting data. However, the contract, data item requirements and approved system description determine those obligations—not the scheduler’s choice of software.
How a Scheduler Uses Deltek Open Plan
A scheduler’s core work in Open Plan follows the same Critical Path Method (CPM) principles used in other professional scheduling applications. The scheduler defines activities, assigns durations, builds relationships, applies calendars and calculates dates through time analysis.
Activities, logic and calendars
Activities represent the work or milestones required to execute the program. Relationships connect those activities into a network that models the intended sequence of work. Calendars then define when work can occur.
Open Plan supports project, activity, relationship, resource and reporting calendars. That flexibility helps on programs with different shifts, facilities, test windows or contractor workweeks. However, excessive calendar variation can make schedule behavior difficult to explain. A scheduling procedure should define when specialized calendars are justified.
The tool also supports corporate and project-specific codes. A program can use those fields to organize activities by Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS), control account, work package, Integrated Product Team or contract deliverable.
Time analysis and critical path evaluation
After the network is built, Open Plan performs time analysis to calculate early dates, late dates and float. The resulting dates help the scheduler determine whether the current plan supports contractual and internal milestones.
Open Plan also provides Schedule Driver Analysis. According to the Open Plan documentation, this feature traces the activities driving a selected target and can identify multiple controlling chains grouped by float.
This analysis is useful when a program has several major delivery milestones. Instead of reviewing only the path to final completion, the scheduler can evaluate the drivers to a design review, hardware delivery, test event or production decision.
Still, an automated path trace requires professional review. Constraints, incomplete logic, unusual calendars and out-of-sequence progress can distort the result. For a broader explanation of path validation, see how to perform critical path analysis in an IMS.
Status and forecast maintenance
Open Plan uses Time Now as the dividing point between historical performance and forecast work. During an update, the scheduler records actual starts, actual finishes, remaining durations and other approved progress information. The scheduler then reruns time analysis to calculate the current forecast.
A good update process does more than move Time Now. It verifies progress with responsible managers, resolves invalid future actuals, evaluates out-of-sequence work and documents major forecast changes.
Programs should define these rules in a scheduling procedure or schedule basis document. For a practical status workflow, see how to status an Integrated Master Schedule.
Baseline and Change Control in Open Plan
A baseline records an approved schedule plan for comparison with current performance. Open Plan can retain multiple baselines, although its documentation states that up to three can be selected for reporting at one time.
Baseline dates can appear in spreadsheets, bar charts and other views. As a result, the scheduler can assess start variance, finish variance and movement against the approved plan.
However, creating another baseline should not become a substitute for managing variance. The team should preserve the original or currently authorized plan and process revisions through its approved change-control system. Otherwise, routine forecast movement can erase performance history.
Before updating a baseline, the scheduler should confirm:
- The change has documented authorization.
- The affected activities, milestones and control accounts are identified.
- The schedule and cost impacts agree.
- Historical actual dates remain intact.
- The prior baseline remains available for traceability.
- The change is recorded in the applicable logs or workflow system.
This discipline becomes especially important in an EVMS environment. The schedule baseline and time-phased budget need to remain aligned. For additional guidance, see how to maintain baseline traceability.
How Open Plan Integrates With Deltek Cobra
Open Plan manages schedule data, while Deltek Cobra manages cost, budget, earned value and forecast data. Their integration allows activities to connect with control accounts and work packages through mapped schedule fields.
The Deltek Cobra integration documentation explains that schedule dates and detailed resource data can time-phase budgets in Cobra. Schedule status can also support earned value calculations. Open Plan provides additional bidirectional integration capabilities when compared with file-based schedule imports.
A scheduler should not treat integration as a simple file transfer. The program must first establish stable mapping rules. Common mapping elements include:
- Control account and work package identifiers
- WBS and OBS codes
- Activity or milestone identifiers
- Progress techniques
- Resources and resource structures
- Baseline and forecast date selections
Deltek recommends using code or user-defined character fields for important integration keys rather than relying on fields that may change when activities are inserted or reorganized.
Calendar alignment also matters. Cobra and Open Plan need compatible reporting periods if the team expects time-phased resource values to reconcile. Small differences in period boundaries can create apparent budget mismatches even when total values agree.
For a deeper look at the overall process, see Deltek Cobra and the Integrated Master Schedule.
Resource and Multi-Project Scheduling
Resources are optional in Open Plan, but the application provides extensive resource-management capabilities. Teams can define resource availability, assign resources to activities and perform resource scheduling.
Open Plan can use resource files across more than one project. Therefore, an organization can model shared engineering, test, production or facility resources rather than creating inconsistent resource definitions in every schedule.
The application supports time-limited and resource-limited analysis. Resource-limited scheduling can reveal when resource availability pushes work later than its logic-based early dates. Meanwhile, histograms help the scheduler identify over-allocation and periods of peak demand.
These calculated results require interpretation. Resource leveling can change dates significantly, and priority settings influence which activities receive scarce resources first. Therefore, teams should document resource assumptions and review the results with functional managers before accepting a leveled forecast.
Open Plan also supports hierarchical multi-project schedules. A master project can coordinate external subprojects while individual teams maintain their assigned detail. This model can work well for a large IMS, but only when interface milestones and cross-project relationships receive strict configuration control.
Schedule Quality, Risk and Reporting
Open Plan includes schedule-quality checks, customizable calculations, filters, layouts and reports. Deltek also promotes automated checks aligned with common government schedule assessment criteria.
However, passing an automated check does not prove contractual compliance or schedule credibility. A metric can identify missing logic, high float or a hard constraint. It cannot determine whether the remaining logic reflects the actual technical plan.
The GAO Schedule Assessment Guide provides a useful independent framework. It describes reliable schedules as comprehensive, well constructed, credible and controlled. Those characteristics depend on planning quality and management processes rather than the software brand.
For advanced schedule diagnostics and quantitative schedule risk analysis, Deltek positions Acumen as a companion product. Teams should verify their installed Open Plan version, licenses and approved tool architecture before defining the risk-analysis workflow.
Fictional Program Example
Consider the fictional Northstar sensor development program. The program has separate engineering, software, prototype manufacturing and flight-test teams. Each team owns a detailed subproject, while the lead scheduler maintains the master project.
The scheduler uses shared WBS and control account codes across all subprojects. Interface milestones connect software releases, prototype deliveries and test readiness events. Open Plan then calculates the integrated path to the first flight-test milestone.
During the monthly update, the prototype team reports a three-week delay in environmental testing. Schedule Driver Analysis shows that the delay affects hardware qualification but does not yet drive first flight because software integration has less float.
The scheduler sends the updated schedule data to Cobra. The integration updates work package forecasts and time-phased estimates. The program-controls team then reviews whether the cost Estimate to Complete (ETC) reflects the revised test plan.
This example shows the value of Open Plan in an integrated environment. The software connects detailed execution logic with the broader cost and management process. However, the result still depends on accurate status, valid relationships and consistent coding.
Where Open Plan Fits Best
Open Plan is a strong candidate when a program needs:
- A database-centered, multi-user scheduling environment
- Large or hierarchical multi-project schedules
- Shared corporate calendars, codes and resources
- Direct integration with Deltek Cobra
- Controlled baseline access and schedule governance
- Detailed resource scheduling and reporting
- Consistent schedule structures across a program portfolio
A smaller team may not need that level of infrastructure. Microsoft Project may be sufficient when the schedule is less complex, collaboration is limited and direct Open Plan-to-Cobra integration is unnecessary. The selection should consider the program’s scale, customer deliverables, existing systems, administration resources and user experience.
For a comparison point, review Microsoft Project for integrated master scheduling.
Common Open Plan Failure Modes
- Using unstable integration keys: Renumbered or repurposed fields can break the connection between schedule activities and Cobra work packages.
- Creating too many calendars: Excessive calendar variation makes date calculations and float difficult to explain.
- Updating without a defined status process: Inconsistent actuals and remaining durations weaken the forecast.
- Accepting automated checks as proof of quality: Metrics support analysis, but they do not replace a technical logic review.
- Leveling resources without reviewing priorities: Resource calculations can delay critical work in ways the execution team did not intend.
- Changing baselines to hide variance: Uncontrolled baseline revisions destroy performance history and cost-schedule traceability.
- Ignoring cross-project interfaces: A multi-project IMS can appear integrated while relying on missing or outdated interface milestones.
Deltek Open Plan FAQ
Is Deltek Open Plan an earned value management system?
Open Plan is primarily a planning and scheduling application. Deltek Cobra provides the cost and earned value functions within the integrated Deltek environment. Together, they can support an EVMS implementation, but the full management system also includes processes, procedures, organizational responsibilities and controls.
Does the government require contractors to use Open Plan?
No general FAR or DFARS rule requires Open Plan specifically. For example, FAR 52.234-4 addresses use of an EVMS and contract reporting, not a particular software product. Always review the solicitation, contract, Contract Data Requirements List and agency tailoring for program-specific requirements.
Can Open Plan create an Integrated Master Schedule?
Yes. Open Plan can develop and maintain an IMS with detailed activities, milestones, logic, calendars, codes, baselines and multi-project structures. The schedule must still reflect the program’s technical plan and contractual scope. See the complete guide to the DoD Integrated Master Schedule for the underlying planning principles.
Is Open Plan only useful with Cobra?
No. Open Plan can operate as a stand-alone scheduling system. However, integration with Cobra is one of its main advantages for organizations that manage schedule, budget, earned value and forecast data within the Deltek product suite.