Migrate from OpenProject to Microsoft Project

OpenProject Projects map directly to MS Project files (MPP) or Project Online projects. Each OpenProject project carries its activated Modules (Gantt, Boards, Calendar, etc.) which we cannot preserve in MS Project since it has no module activation concept; we document which modules were active as a configuration note for the customer to recreate manually. Project-level custom fields map to the project summary task's Text fields if the destination is Project Online, or are recorded in an accompanying schema document for manual entry.

OpenProject Work Packages map to MS Project Tasks. The Work Package subject becomes Task Name. Start and due dates map to Task Start and Task Finish. Estimated hours map to the Work field. The parent-child hierarchy in OpenProject (parent Work Package with child Work Packages) becomes the MS Project outline structure with Summary Tasks and subtasks. Type (Task, Bug, Feature, Phase, Milestone) requires mapping: Phase maps to a Summary Task, Milestone maps to a Milestone task (flag1 = yes), and Task/Bug/Feature map to regular tasks.

OpenProject Versions (called Milestones in the UI) group related Work Packages and carry a target date. We map each Version to an MS Project Milestone task — a task with Duration = 0 and Mark Task as Milestone set to Yes. The Version's target date becomes the Milestone task's Finish date. Work Packages associated with the Version via the Versions field are linked with Finish-to-Start dependencies to the Milestone task so that the milestone reflects the latest downstream work package date.

OpenProject Status values (New, In Progress, Closed, etc.) are configurable per project and per Type. MS Project has no native Status field on tasks. We map Status to a custom Text field (Text1) on each task. For Status-to-percentage-complete mapping, we configure a lookup table during scoping so that Closed status sets percent complete to 100%, In Progress maps to 1-99% (we use the Work Package's progress % if available), and New maps to 0%.

OpenProject Type is a per-project configurable field (Task, Bug, Feature, Phase, Milestone, Epic). Phase maps to MS Project Summary Task (outline level 1 or higher). Epic maps to a top-level Summary Task grouping related Phases. Milestone maps to a Milestone task. Task, Bug, and Feature all map to regular tasks; we preserve the original Type name in a custom Text2 field for traceability.

OpenProject Users map to MS Project Resources of type Work. We extract each User's name, email, and admin/global role during discovery. Resources are created from Users during migration with the Resource Name set to the user's full name and email recorded in the Resource Notes field. Resources without assignments in OpenProject are imported as inactive resources to preserve the audit trail.

OpenProject Members (User-Role assignments per Project) map to MS Project Resource Assignments on tasks. The Work Package's Assignee becomes the assigned Resource on the corresponding Task. Estimated hours on the Work Package become the Work field on the Assignment. If the OpenProject Member has no Work Package assigned (project-level membership with no task ownership), we create an Assignment on the project summary task with zero hours.

OpenProject Time Entries log hours against Work Packages with a cost type and rate. We aggregate Time Entry hours per Work Package and add them to the Task's Work field in MS Project, setting the Assignment's Actual Work to the logged hours. Cost entries from OpenProject require a Resource Cost Rate on the MS Project Resource; we map OpenProject cost types to MS Project Resource cost rates during the Resource setup phase. Note: OpenProject logs time in hours only; day-based reporting requires post-migration calculation.

OpenProject custom fields (text, number, list, user, date, boolean, float) per project or globally require explicit mapping to MS Project's 30 available custom fields (Text1-30, Number1-20, Cost1-10, Flag1-10, Date1-10). Text and list custom fields map to Text fields. Number and float map to Number fields. Date custom fields map to Date fields. Boolean maps to Flag fields. List fields with predefined options can alternatively map to a Text field with a dropdown hint. We document the complete mapping during discovery and create it in the MS Project file before data import.

OpenProject Wikis, Documents, and Forums have no native equivalent in Microsoft Project. MS Project Desktop, Project Online, and Project for the Web do not have built-in wiki, document repository, or discussion forum functionality. We export these objects to a structured folder of Markdown/HTML files and plain-text forum exports respectively, packaged alongside the MS Project file as a companion archive. The customer manually recreates the knowledge base in SharePoint, Confluence, or another wiki platform of their choosing.

OpenProject Kanban boards are derived from work package queries with column-to-status mappings stored as view metadata. Microsoft Project has no board view. MS Project Online and Project for the Web have task boards in Planner but these are separate products, not linked to MS Project files. We preserve board structure as a written configuration document describing each board's name, column definitions, and which Work Package statuses populate each column, so the customer's admin can recreate equivalent board views in Planner or a third-party tool.

OpenProject attachments on Work Packages, Wiki pages, and Documents are stored either in the database (small files) or on disk (large files). MS Project tasks can carry a single attachment via the Attachments tab in Project Online, but not in the desktop MPP format. We extract attachment metadata (filename, URL path, uploader, date) during discovery and export it as a CSV alongside the MS Project import. The customer maps the OpenProject file storage path to a SharePoint document library or OneDrive folder, and we document the cross-reference for manual file relocation.