At the end of last year, Deltek unveiled their latest WorkBook update, version 13.6. Dubbed as the “productivity upgrade you’ve been waiting for,” this release promises to streamline workflows, enhance usability, and introduce new tools designed with agencies in mind. Our Tangram team of consultants have taken the update for a test-drive, exploring its features, benefits, and potential pitfalls. We’ll break down what’s new, what stands out, and what could be improved, giving you a clear picture of what these updates mean for your agency.
New Jobs User Interface
Usability is a key focus for Deltek in 2025 as they narrow in on incremental UI improvements for users. “We want to make WorkBook easy to use, intuitive to navigate, and pleasing to look at” they announced in their Glimpse into Deltek WorkBook Innovations.
The updated Jobs UI in 13.6 simplifies navigation, making actions more intuitive and accessible. The Jobs module now uses a horizontal navigation bar with text labels, replacing the vertical sidebar for better clarity and efficiency.
What does this mean for agencies?
The new layout makes navigating the Jobs module smoother and more intuitive, with features like session-based memory ensuring you can pick up right where you left off. While the changes bring a fresh, user-friendly experience, it might take a little time to get used to the horizontal menu and new placements for some tools.
Job Schedule Updates
There have also been improvements to the user experience in Job Scheduling. The View in Task Matrix button provides a shortcut between the job schedule and the task matrix improving resource visibility and simplifying task management.
Previously, switching between a Job’s Schedule and the Task Matrix required multiple windows and manual navigation to check resource availability across tasks. With this update, you can now access the Task Matrix directly from the List view or Matrix view in the Booked Resources panel.
What does this mean for agencies?
This improvement streamlines workflow by reducing the need to switch between views. It’s a faster, more efficient way to check resource availability and manage task assignments. So, one that Resource Managers are going to love!
Suggest Resource on a Task Booking
This feature is designed to simplify resource management by automatically recommending the ideal person for a task. Whether you’re assigning someone new or replacing a current resource, this feature leverages key data points to ensure the best match is suggested.
What does this mean for agencies?
If you are an agency with well maintained and meaningful teams, positions and/or activities, this feature could be really handy. The functionality helps identify the best-suited resource for a task based on skills, availability, and workload. This helps save time, keeping projects moving and on track.
A potential pitfall of this new feature is its reliance on the accuracy of the underlying data you have in the system.
Replacing a Resource
When replacing a resource, WorkBook now recommends the most suitable replacement by evaluating key criteria to ensure the best fit for the task. The Optimal option shows the top recommendation, allowing you to quickly choose the resource that best matches your needs based on your preferred criteria.
What does this mean for agencies?
Replacing a resource, especially mid-project, can be a difficult and time-sensitive challenge. This feature makes the process much easier by automatically suggesting the best replacement based on key criteria like skills and availability. With the Optimal option highlighting the top match, you can quickly choose the right person to step in, keeping the project on track with minimal disruption, helping reduce onboarding time and maintain project momentum.
Depending on your data architecture, you may be best to skip the Optimal section and skip straight to the most meaningful section, such as teams, positions or activities. For example, if your positions are generic or job title based rather than based on project role, it might be better to just use Activity to identify the nearest available resource.
New Batch Billing
One of the major additions in 13.6 is the release of Batch Billing, designed to automate the creation of many invoices at once, either by using an agent* or by manually triggering the batch invoice process.
What does it mean for agencies?
For those agencies religious about their billing plans and/or T&M settings, batch billing is a great feature. It reduces duplication and speeds up the billing process.
For agencies who are not consistently billing from billing plans and/or partial invoices based on T&M, the new feature may not be useful because the system will try to invoice old and out of date billing plans (automatically created on every quote). If this is the case, it’s worth reviewing your billing processes first to make sure they’re aligned with the system’s capabilities.
Overall, the 13.6 updates reflect Deltek’s commitment to enhancing usability and creating a more intuitive product tailored to the needs of agencies. To read more about the update, check out Deltek’s release notes about key features and installations.
