Odoo ERP Implementation — Best Practices

A new ERP system is a big alternative to transform your organization digitally. You will be capable to transfer past the hindrance to enterprise caused by outdated technology with limited functionalities. Moreover, it is possible for you to to leverage ERP system capabilities to achieve new enterprise opportunities.

Odoo ERP implementations that aren’t achieved correctly run the risk of accruing extra costs and risks. This article will assist you to keep away from frequent issues faced by many throughout an ERP implementation to make sure yours goes easily.

Firstly, it is very important acknowledge that many begin their Odoo ERP implementation project based on their desired technology and potential new features. However, new technologies or features won’t remedy the issue. Businesses require fashionable enterprise processes with a view to develop. It is simply with efficient enterprise processes {that a} enterprise will be agile and aggressive.

Many times, current processes are outdated, rigid and do not fulfil company needs. Even in circumstances where processes are cost-effective, they should be mapped and regularly updated or enhanced to fulfill changing company needs, e.g. business intelligence (BI), mobile access, and so on. This is the place the ERP implementation journey begins (or a minimum of, that is the place it ought to start!).

During an ERP implementation, your biggest success issue is your implementation team. This has been confirmed quite a few times in a mess of case research. No matter how good a software is, it is just great if a terrific team implements it. Projects with workforce members who don’t have the skills or time to carry out the implementation successfully won’t be successful. It might suffer from additional costs and delays and end up failing to fulfill enterprise needs. A great way to forestall that is by assigning individuals to the project that ‘you can’t do without,’ not just employees who had been available to work on it on the time.

Staff assigned to Odoo ERP implementation tasks need to have a great understanding of the enterprise processes, work properly in groups and have the respect by higher management. Leading ERP provider, SAP, recommends that employees ought to only be assigned to work on ERP implementation projects if they will spend at the very least 25% of their time on the project. Team members who spend less than 25% of the time on ERP projects won’t be able to keep up with project tasks and can simply fall behind.

Lastly, it’s important that ERP implementations have the support of higher management. ERP projects require companies to make decisions about priorities and manage trade-offs with staffing. The dedication should be strong from the top in order for the ERP implementation to go smoothly. Remember that this ERP project will affect your CORE enterprise processes…that could be a pretty huge deal!

Planning an ERP implementation

Here is a list of activities you should carry out with a view to have a successful implementation. You will need to create a plan and decide on KPI’s based on your individual enterprise requirements, as every enterprise is completely different. However, these suggested activities are elements of all successful ERP implementations.

1. Select a reliable software as a service partner
2. Detail all duties in an activity plan
3. Estimate working hours/man days for staffing
4. Develop a schedule
5. Carry out a pilot
6. Cleanse all data and consolidate into one database as much as possible
7. Maintain good communication along with your team

It is necessary to prioritise your needs and begin with the processes which can be a very powerful. All enterprise have totally different needs but a few areas are listed below for your consideration.

1. Business intelligence
2. Customer relationship management (CRM)
3. Finance and accounting
4. Supply chain management
5. Human resources
6. Mobility

Minimising implementation dangers

As talked about before, ERP implementations have a risk of going south. So how can you mitigate these dangers? Here are some methods of boosting your possibilities for a successful implementation on time and within budget.

1. Always choose an implementation partner with industry experience, and get references too!
2. Get rid of outdated technology and systems. Collect all of your data in a single database with in-built BI.
3. Make certain that you’ve the potential for cloud integration. In the digital world, companies regularly must combine systems across service areas and with customers and suppliers.
4. Be prepared to manage change and manage it successfully! It isn’t unusual to find enterprise needs during an Odoo ERP implementation.
5. Ensure that you’ve experienced in all locations — you’ll need training, implementation and support — many times this shall be from a mixture of software distributors, management, consultants and your software as a service partner.

Avoiding extra costs

An ERP implementation project requires you to maintain costs in management. Your enterprise’ time, your enterprise processes, consultants, software, cloud services and equipment (laptops, tablets, telephones etc.) are all part of the project. Below are some important areas to keep track of. Don’t overlook that an ERP implementation can have a big impact across your enterprise.

• Focus on managing your total costs of ownership (TCO) and advantages — this can assist minimise bills whereas maximising the return.
• Work with the enterprise direction in thoughts. Do not really feel pressured to alter your working model to suit the brand new software — making pointless process changes can result in higher implementation and working prices.
• Focus on enterprise processes which are routine and create worth to your company, e.g. onboarding new purchasers, managing customer services and orders, including new merchandise, etc.
• Limit customisation to cut back prices. Instead, take advantage of a configurable user interface (e.g. BI, workflows, mobile capabilities, dashboards etc.). This will let you make cost-effective modifications and streamline processes throughout departments.
• Use a safe cloud solution to avoid data breaches and hacks. This requires you to first make sure that your software as a service partner offers a variety of safe software deployment choices.

An Odoo ERP system has been implemented — is the project done?

Yes and No! You still need to maintain flexibility so as to add capabilities to your enterprise relying on modifications and future events e.g. new products, a brand new location, acquisitions, etc.

You will need to proceed being versatile on the subject of adopting new technologies e.g.ML and AI and IoT. Every implementation has sudden issues but they can be minimised by following best practices to avoid extra costs and risks.