Migrate from Nostromo to Microsoft Project

Nostromo Projects map to Microsoft Project plan files (MPP) or cloud-based Project Online/Project for the Web plans. We create the project header record with the project name, description, and any metadata fields present in the export. If the export includes project-level start or finish dates, these become the project scheduling start and finish baseline. Without explicit dates, the first task's start date drives the project schedule. Project-level custom fields map to enterprise custom fields in Project desktop or to columns in Project Online.

Nostromo task records with parent-child relationships reconstruct as Microsoft Project outline rows where Summary tasks represent the parent level and subordinate rows represent subtasks. The export's parent_task_id field determines the WBS hierarchy placement. Task name, description, start date, finish date, duration, and percent complete migrate directly where present in the export. We flag any tasks with missing parent references as orphaned rows and surface them in the reconciliation report for the customer to resolve before final import.

Nostromo user accounts (email, name, role) map to Microsoft Project Resource records. Email becomes the resource's unique identifier in Project Online; name populates the resource display name; role maps to the Resource's Group or Max Units field if the export contains a role designation. For Project desktop, we create a Resource Sheet with name, initials, material label, and any cost rate fields present. Owner assignments on Nostromo tasks migrate as Task Resource Assignments in Microsoft Project.

If the customer's export includes Sprint objects with names and start/end dates, we map these to milestone tasks with the sprint end date as the milestone date, or to a custom text field capturing the sprint name and date range. Without explicit sprint records in the export, we fall back to grouping tasks by their created_at or modified_at date ranges to approximate sprint boundaries. Microsoft Project does not have a native sprint/iteration concept; the customer rebuilds sprint cadence in the tool post-migration if needed.

Nostromo custom field definitions and values migrate as typed custom fields in Microsoft Project. Text properties map to Text custom fields; numeric properties to Number fields; date properties to Date fields; single-select options to Flag or Text fields with a lookup note. We preserve the original custom field name as the column header. If the export contains custom field metadata (data type, picklist values), we use that to configure the destination field type; if metadata is absent, we infer the type from the data values.

Nostromo comments attached to tasks migrate as Microsoft Project Task Notes. The note body includes the comment text, author name, and timestamp in a formatted block. If multiple comments exist on a single task, they concatenate in chronological order with author and timestamp headers. Microsoft Project does not have a threaded discussion model; comments flatten into a single note per task.

Nostromo tags and labels migrate to a custom Text or Flag field in Microsoft Project. If the export contains a single-label-per-record pattern, we use a Text custom field with the label value. If the export uses a multi-label format, we concatenate labels with commas into a single Text field. We deduplicate and normalise the label set during mapping and document the unique label values in the handoff report for the customer to configure as a picklist if desired.

Nostromo did not expose file attachments through its documented export mechanisms. Any images, documents, or uploaded assets associated with tasks or projects are not recoverable from the archived backup format. We flag this gap in the scope document and recommend that the customer re-attach documents from their local backups or SharePoint if those assets were stored there during Nostromo's active period. Microsoft Project can link to external files via Hyperlink fields, but the source files must be available separately.

Timestamps and creator attribution from Nostromo project records migrate as custom fields in Microsoft Project: Created By (text), Created Date (date), Last Modified By (text), Last Modified Date (date). These preserve the original audit trail for records management and compliance purposes even though Microsoft Project does not natively store this metadata on project records.

Nostromo task assignee relationships (user linked to task) migrate as Microsoft Project Task Resource Assignments. We resolve the Nostromo user reference to the corresponding Microsoft Project Resource record created during the User migration phase. Assignment units, if present in the export, map to the Units field on the assignment row. This mapping is configuration-dependent because Nostromo's assignment export format determines how many assignments exist per task.