Migrate from Workfront to Asana

Workfront Portfolios are top-level grouping units. Asana has no native Portfolio object, so we represent Portfolios either as top-level Projects with sub-projects (Asana's nesting allows projects inside projects) or as a Portfolio tag applied to all child projects. We agree on the strategy during scoping based on the customer's reporting needs. If the customer uses Portfolio-level financial metrics, we migrate the aggregate figures as a custom field on each child project.

Workfront Programs sit between Portfolio and Project. Asana has no native Program object. We represent Programs as either separate Projects grouped under a Portfolio-level project, or as a top-level Section within each project with the Program name as the section header. The choice depends on whether cross-project Program reporting is needed; if so, we use the project-nesting approach with a Program Tag for filtering.

Workfront Projects map directly to Asana Projects. Project status (CUR, DED, CPL, ONH, DFD) maps to Asana project status (On Track, At Risk, Off Track, Complete). Start Date and Target End Date map to Project Start Date and Project Due Date. The Project owner maps to the Asana project member with Admin-level access. Projects are created before any child tasks to maintain the hierarchy.

Workfront Tasks map to Asana Tasks within a Project. The task name, description (rich text), planned start and completion dates, and status (NEW, INP, CPL, DED) map to the corresponding Asana fields. Assignee maps from the Workfront assigned user to the Asana assignee by email resolution. Priority from Workfront maps to Asana Custom Field if the customer uses priority ranking; otherwise it drops.

Workfront Subtasks are child tasks with the same field schema as Tasks but inheriting project context from a parent Task. Asana supports subtasks natively as Tasks nested under a parent Task. We flatten the Workfront subtask structure into Asana subtasks, preserving the parentID reference so that the hierarchy is visible in both List and Board views. Dependencies between subtasks are preserved as Asana dependencies.

Workfront predecessor dependencies (Finish-to-Start, Start-to-Start, Finish-to-Finish, Start-to-Finish) map to Asana dependency arrows. Note: Asana's dependency handling has known bugs with complex dependency chains and finish-start types, as reported in Asana community forums. We flag dependency accuracy as a post-migration validation item and recommend the customer test critical path dependencies in Asana after cutover.

Workfront custom field names, types, and picklist values vary by customer instance. We discover the custom field schema via the Workfront API before migration and create matching Asana custom fields per project. Asana custom fields are project-scoped (not org-wide), so we either pre-create them on every destination project or migrate them to a Portfolio-level template project. Picklist values exceeding Asana's limit (100 per field) require splitting into multiple fields or using text fields. Calculated custom fields in Workfront have no Asana equivalent and require manual formula recreation in Asana's reporting layer.

Workfront Documents attach to Projects or Tasks and support versioning. We extract document content via the Workfront API, preserving file name, version history metadata, and file content. Documents migrate to Asana Attachments linked to the corresponding task or project. Version history is preserved as a comment on the Asana task referencing the original Workfront version number. Large file attachments (over 100MB) may require chunked upload handling.

Workfront proof approval status (Approved, Rejected, Pending, Changes Requested) is attached to document proofing workflows. Asana has no proofing layer or Automated Workflow equivalent. We extract the proof approval status and last action timestamp from Workfront and write it to a read-only custom field on the corresponding task or project in Asana. The customer's review workflow administrator recreates the equivalent approval cycle using Asana's basic approval request feature.

Workfront Issues track blockers or change requests attached to a Project or Task. Request Queue intake forms expose Issues as a public submission. We migrate Issues as Tasks with a custom Issue tag in Asana. Open issues carry status OPEN; closed issues carry status CLOSED. The original submission date and submitting user migrate as custom fields.

Workfront Users map to Asana workspace members by email. Job Roles (which carry billing rates in Workfront) have no direct Asana equivalent; billing rate data migrates as a read-only custom field on the User record if needed for reporting. Workfront users without an email match in Asana are held in a reconciliation queue for the customer's admin to provision before task assignment migration.

Workfront Notes are the conversation thread attached to Projects or Tasks. We extract the full note history including author, timestamp, and rich text body. Notes migrate as Asana Comments on the corresponding task or project, preserving the original timestamp and author. Inline images in Workfront notes are extracted as file attachments linked to the comment.

Workfront Timesheets record hours logged against Tasks or Projects. Asana has no native timesheet object. We migrate timesheet entries as hours logged in a custom numeric field on each task, or deliver them as a separate financial extract for import into the customer's preferred time-tracking system. Planned hours from Workfront task assignments migrate as an Asana Custom Field.

Workfront Billing Records capture billable revenue per project. Once marked Billed, they are permanently locked and cannot be edited. We extract all Billing Records before migration cutover, including Billed records, and deliver them as a separate financial extract (CSV or JSON). The destination Asana workspace receives the project-level financial summary as a custom field for reference. We flag this as read-only data that the customer's finance team validates against their billing system of record.