Frequently Asked Questions

ACEIT is not a closed (black-box) model or estimating tool. It is an open suite of applications to help you build models/estimates. ACEIT's cost model-building platform, ACE, has been designed to provide rapid answers to what-if questions, i.e., you can have an unlimited number of side-by-side estimates resulting from a different combination of input values or requirements. Pick your favorite excursion, and use the built-in time phasing, risk analysis, and documentation engines to ensure the annual budgets are achievable at some confidence level, and the rationale is fully-documented.

ACE, POST, CO$TAT, JACS, ACEIT Librarian, Inflation Utility, and ACEIT Admin.

Anyone can obtain the ACEIT software suite. There are four specific categories of ACEIT customers with different rules for each customer type. The following link provides more information on how to obtain ACEIT.

The ACEIT Customer Types are as follows:

• U.S. Federal Government Agencies
• U.S. Corporations, U.S. Institutions, and U.S. Non-Federal Government Agencies
• U.S. Government Support Contractors
• Foreign Corporations, Foreign Institutions, and Foreign Government Agencies
  

Since the U.S. Government has perpetual rights to the software, there are no license fees to use the software. However, to initially obtain the software; get bugs fixed; receive patches and improved versions, and receive ACEIT Technical Support, they must pay an annual distribution, maintenance, and support (DMS) fee. The following link provides more information on how to  obtain ACEIT.

To obtain the ACEIT software, these customers must purchase an ACEIT software "use" license. Pricing for an ACEIT license depends on the number of users (seats) at a single site or the number of site licenses (for unlimited users) purchased by a corporation. A license entitles all users at that site to receive distribution of software, documentation, and data updates; telephone support; and software/data maintenance (patches, etc.) for one year. The following link provides more information on how to  obtain ACEIT.

There are two ways to obtain and use ACEIT software and materials: buy a license, or request that a US Government Organization sponsor your site as a Government Support Contractor.

Purchasing a license allows the site to use ACEIT for any purpose, subject to copyright limitations. The annual license fee includes technical support and updates of software, data, and documentation for a one-year period.

Obtaining the software as a Government Support Contractor places tight constraints on how the software can be used. The contractor will be able to use the software only for the project, contract, and time period specified by the Government agency that sponsors the support contractor. This time period becomes the approved length of time for which the contractor can obtain the ACEIT software as a Government Support Contractor. Additionally, unless the sponsoring agency has an ACEIT support contract with Tecolote to cover all of their Government Support Contractors, the contractor must pay an annual distribution, maintenance, and support (DMS) fee. Failure to pay the annual DMS fee will cause the contractor to not receive updated software, documents, nor obtain ACEIT Technical Support. More importantly, the contractor will not be able to use their version of the software as their "use" rights are based on an annual renewable basis and this date coincides with their DMS expiration date. Renewal of the annual DMS extends the "use" rights for another year. The following link provides more information on how to  obtain ACEIT.

To obtain the ACEIT software, these customers must purchase an annual ACEIT software license. Pricing for ACEIT licenses depends on the number of users at a single site or the number of individual site licenses purchased by a larger organization. A license entitles all users at that site to receive software upgrades and updates.  ACEIT upgrades are new versions of the software that offer significant change or major improvement over your current version.  ACEIT updates include software hot fixes and service packs.  Software maintenance is also included in the form of the ACEIT help desk and access to the private user portion of the website which provides educational information through instructional videos, presentations, on-line help articles and whitepapers for one year.

Prior versions of ACEIT did require an Export version.  The following link provides more information on how to  obtain ACEIT.

Tecolote Research, Inc. restricts international sales of software licenses and software program support to countries which are either members of the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) or have been designated as Major Non-NATO Allies (MNNA) under the auspices of Section 517 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. This limitation is based upon (1) our predominant US Government defense customer base, (2) the nature of our primary product lines which are strongly defense technology based, and (3) the US Government philosophy that the US, NATO, and MNNA countries share the same security strategic goals and therefore there is close cooperation between the US and these countries on politico-security issues.

Please visit the NATO website at:  https://www.nato.int/en/about-us/organization/nato-member-countries to see a list of the member countries. The following countries are currently designated as MNNA and recognized by Tecolote Research as acceptable locations for use and distribution of ACEIT Software: Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Egypt, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, and Thailand.

Distribution of ACEIT to any other country is expressly prohibited. 

A license entitles a site/user to install and use the software for an annual (and renewable) time period according to the terms (number of users and number of sites) agreed to in the license contract. The following link provides more information on how to  obtain ACEIT.

A seat is not a user. A seat is either a PC (workstation or laptop) with ACEIT installed, OR a LAN with ACEIT installed on a file server but allowing ACEIT to be accessed by only a single PC. If ACEIT is installed on 3 PCs (or can be accessed by 3 PCs over a LAN/WAN), then that correlates to 3 seats, even if only one person uses the ACEIT software at any one time.

ACEIT does not sell "concurrent" user licenses. A 2-user concurrent user license means a company can make the software available to as many PCs as it wishes, but only two people can use it simultaneously. In the terms of an ACEIT seat, this would be an unlimited seat license with no constraints on the amount of users or seats.

It is the responsibility of the licensee to ensure full compliance with this license condition by limiting access to LAN-based systems or limiting the number of installations on stand-alone computers. 

A single worksite and operating division within a single geographic location consisting of a part of a building, a building, or a group of buildings. A single ACEIT Site is equivalent to a single organization at a single location.

For example:

• One major operational division in one location is considered one site.
• One major operational division in two locations is considered two sites.
• Two major operational divisions located in one physical site is two sites.

An ACEIT Site which purchases a license for an unlimited number of users (seats), may service any number of ACEIT users at their site. An ACEIT Site using the "per seat mode" which purchases a license for a limited number of users (seats), may service only the number of users identified within the license agreement.

Your site may obtain ACEIT as a Multi-Organizational Complex Site US Government Organization, which entitles you to install ACEIT on an unlimited number of workstations (seats) at multiple sites within your geographic location. If you would like ACEIT to be installed at more than one geographic location, then each site needs to request ACEIT separately.

Yes. There is a  price list for organizations who purchase unlimited user licenses for multiple sites under a Corporate License. 

ACEIT is a desktop application which is compatible with several Windows operating systems. Some of the ACEIT applications require the desktop version of Microsoft Excel, and optionally Word, PowerPoint, and Project. View the  ACEIT 8.2 System Requirements document for more information.

Contact [email protected] with any additional questions.

Yes, Tecolote Research, Inc. is the developer of the ACEIT software and is the sole source provider. No third party provider has been approved to sell ACEIT software or training. Tecolote is the only source for an ACEIT software license, DMS (distribution, maintenance and support) and training in the United States.

We currently have two 4-day courses (ACEIT for Model Builders and ACEIT for Advanced Model Builders) and four 2-day courses (ACEIT for Reviewers, ACEIT for CER Developers: CO$TAT, ACEIT for Schedulers: JACS, and Power BI). In addition, we can provide specialized on-site ACEIT courses tailored to the time and needs of the customer and Tutoring & Customized Support to assist you in specific implementation issues regarding ACEIT.

We regularly schedule open ACEIT training courses at our Washington, DC training facilities. Our ACEIT for Model Builders course is offered approximately every other month. Our ACEIT for Advanced Model Builders, ACEIT for Reviewers, ACEIT for CER Developers: CO$TAT, ACEIT for Schedulers: JACS and Power BI courses are scheduled intermittently throughout the year. Check the Training Schedule for currently scheduled classes and the Training Center for detailed descriptions of each course.

Our 4-Day open training courses are priced at $3,000 per student, our 2-day open training courses are priced at $1,900 per student. For on-site training prices, contact the ACEIT Training Coordinator for a quote at [email protected] or (805) 964-6963.

All open ACEIT classes are a standard fee with no discounts, but sites hosting an ACEIT class at their location can obtain classes at a reduced per-student cost.

Yes, we can conduct an on-site training class at your facility. The costs are typically lower than sending your students to an open class. Please contact our ACEIT Training Coordinator at [email protected] or call (805) 964-6963 for more information.

All classes start at 8:30 AM and run until 4:30 PM each day, unless otherwise indicated. Students traveling on the last day of class should make evening rather than afternoon travel arrangements.

The class dress code is casual to business casual. Please wear something comfortable as you will be seated and in front of a computer during the class time. The facility is part of an office suite where employees dress at a minimum of business casual. If you are traveling to one of our training facilities you should check are weather and park accordingly.

If you notify us at least 15 business days before a class begins that you cannot attend, you will not owe the registration fee. If you have paid for the class, we will refund 100% of your tuition or you can transfer to another class with no penalty. If you cancel your registration less than 15 business days before a class begins, you will owe the full registration fee. If you have paid for the class, we will not refund your tuition. If you notify us and provide a substitute student to fill your seat, your substitute can use your tuition payment with no penalty.

ACEIT Tutoring & Customized Support is offered 2 ways, onsite or remote, providing a one-on-one training environment on ACEIT features/techniques to directly solve your specific problems. Through this offering we can provide hands-on training to first-time users in implementing an ACE cost model, help convert Excel (or other) models to ACEIT, provide guidance on how to use the ACEIT API, and provide advanced training on key concepts to make your model sensitive to input parameter changes. 

This type of training is offered in blocks of 40 hours. If on-site, additional charges will be included to cover travel expenses. Travel time will be deducted from hours purchased. The hours for each block are available for 6 months at which time the hours expire. ACEIT Tutoring & Customized Support is the most effective way for users to get a quick start in using ACEIT. For a training quote that best fits your needs, contact [email protected] or by phone (805) 964-6963.

Yes, ACEIT training courses qualify for the International Cost Estimating and Analysis Association (ICEAA) CEU credits. You will receive 28 hours of CEU credits for a 4-day course and 14 hours of CEU credits for a 2-day course.

Course completion certificates are emailed to students approximately one week after the course. The certificate includes the CEUs earned and provides summary of the course syllabus suitable of submission to various credit programs. Tecolote does not share credit information with any other organization or individuals.

If you are a registered ACEIT user and your site has paid its license or annual DMS fees, you can access ACEIT Technical Support via email or telephone. To obtain issue correction services, customer must notify Tecolote immediately of any suspected issue and must provide Tecolote with reasonable detail of the nature of and circumstances surrounding the problem. For all support requests the following information is required: (1) application, (2) version/build number, (3) OS platform, (4) serial number, (5) site name, (6) Point of Contact (POC), (7) description of the Issue.

Telephone support at 805-964-6963 (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time). ACEIT support questions can be sent to [email protected].

ACEIT Distribution, Maintenance, and Support (DMS) provides for:

Software Distribution

Tecolote will provide customer with updates, access and distribution of latest software releases and product documentation.

Software Maintenance

Tecolote will provide engineering support to diagnose and resolve errors and to design and develop enhancements for future releases. Tecolote will only fix issues deemed extremely critical to the latest version of the impacted software application.

Technical Support

Tecolote will provide technical support inclusive of (1) electronic support, (2) remote internet support (e.g. Net Meeting), (3) issue identification/isolation, (4) Workaround identification, (5) Service pack access, (6) Utility files access, (7) WBS library update access, (8) Access to ACEIT.com support Web site. Tecolote will attempt to resolve any support questions posed by Customer. If Tecolote determines that it would be appropriate to do so, Tecolote may defer resolution of a support question until a later time. At its discretion, Tecolote may provide customer with technical support during times other than the Support Time.

View, download or print an explanation of the ACEIT Software Support and Maintenance Policy

Yes, in addition to the time period allowed for running the ACEIT software, an ACEIT licensee is entitled to DMS-type services as defined in their Support Agreement.

The site POC is responsible for coordinating all ACEIT information to all users at their respective site. Additionally, the site POC will receive all ACEIT software and documentation releases. POC's are responsible for the installation of the ACEIT software for all site users and the distribution and control of the ACEIT software and documentation. Additionally, Site POCs are responsible for alerting all site users to ACEIT support alerts and distributing/installing software patches.

Yes. Tecolote offers ACEIT specialized support through our ACEIT Tutoring & Customized Support. Details about the services are available in the Training Center.