How to Prepare Yourself for Odoo Customization?

Posted by Maulik Shah on December 2nd, 2020

Not every lock has the same key. Similarly, not every Odoo-out-of-the-box solution fits all. Every business has different requirements based on their size, services, and working strategies. And thus, they need Odoo customization to tailor the readily available solution.

An Odoo development company can easily customize the solution by analyzing your customization requirements and needs of the modules, but it’s not just the developers’ efforts that are required. As a business, you need to prepare thoroughly before hiring an Odoo developer to customize your ERP solution.

Here’s what you should do:

1. Align it to your business process

Odoo out-of-box solution will come up with its set of functionalities, modules, and apps. But only having it doesn’t make it useful. You need to align it with your business process. Make your staff use the ERP solution to carry out the necessary business processes. Take feedback about the solution and features that could further simplify their work. If you didn’t get your team to use the solution or couldn’t get on to the term that it’s not helping your business, there would be no use of customization.

Do you know Avon, a door-to-door makeup giant, witnessed a 5 million ERP project failure in 2013? All because it realized the technology was adding up the number of sales tasks instead of easing it.

2. Create a Detailed Specification

Next, list down all the functionalities you would like to integrate into your ERP solution. The best way to do so is to create a document and mention all your requirements, such as process-related, security, functionalities, timeline, modules, and data samples. The document will help you while discussing it with the developer. And remember, the more precise and transparent you are, the better your Odoo customization will be.

Suggestion: If you are unsure about integrating or customizing a module, talk to your development team. They can help you make the right decision.

3. Communicate Clearly

Waste Management sued a leading ERP firm for duping them with functionalities that didn’t materialize. The counter hit from the ERP team was that the WM never interacted adequately and didn’t provide relevant data and employees to help.

Therefore, it is advisable to communicate with the development team. Get a timeline, ask developers about the development process, and put together during all the stages. If you are having difficulty getting in touch with them, make an internal team of experts that will be in constant contact with the developers.

4. Provide Data

Provide your Odoo developer with the proper data for testing. Real data or a replica of the same will help developers test the application thoroughly and if any issues occur in the process. It will also help you and your team know about the solution’s functionalities if the data input is incorrect.

5. Train your Staff

The developer needs to guide the team that was involved in the development process. But the team involved may or may not heavily use the ERP solution. So if you want to make the best use of your customized solution, train every employee who uses the Odoo ERP. For this, you can ask the development team or the trained team of experts to conduct a training session. A one-day training session would not harm the business process, but no training would affect it in the long go.

Suggestion: To avoid challenges in your customization process, hire odoo developer that’s well-versed with the development and industry process.

Conclusion

It’s undeniable to say that every business decision incurs risk, whether going with a ready solution or customizing it. But if you follow these five steps on your end, you can reduce the risk of ERP failure or curb it.