Odoo: Open Source ERP and CRM

In this section, including an illustrative video, we will talk a little about Odoo, a versatile open source ERP that has gained great popularity in the market for development and systems for managing internal processes in companies.

Odoo is an ERP (Enterprise resource planning) software made up of different modules that allows you to manage all the areas that make up a company from the same place. It is a way of having at hand all the data that a company's work team needs, whether in accounting, sales, or marketing.

Odoo modules

Sales

The Odoo integration is so efficient that it unifies the work of two essential areas in a company: customers and sales. Being able to efficiently manage both aspects greatly speeds up the sales flow and the company's ability to respond to any incident.

OdooCRM

"Track leads, close opportunities, and get accurate forecasts," explains Odoo on its website about the usefulness of this CRM module. It is a tool to organize everything related to sales, managing each prospect according to the stage of the sales flow in which they are. You can organize meetings to make calls from this module, making life easier for sales teams.

Timesheet

It allows you to track the time that employees spend on their tasks, thus monitoring the performance and productivity of the team. It has a planner that allows you to organize the tasks and the estimated times for each one. And at the end of the day, week, or month, the module displays team working time statistics.

Billing

This module is of great help to streamline and automate many of the procedures related to billing. "Invoice automatically based on sales orders, delivery orders, contracts, or time and material," Odoo says on his website.

Inventory

Another of the most complex tasks within a business is inventory management. And what better if it can be done online, through software like Odoo ERP. This Inventory module enables a better organization of your company's warehouses, keeping the inventory of existing products updated.

What are the alternatives for Odoo ERP and ERPNext?

A company is like a gear: it is made up of different parts that make all operations work as efficiently as possible. The Accounting area is in charge of the accounts, in Inventory, they are monitoring that all the parts or products are correctly listed, as well as in the Customer Service area they are attending to the requirements they may have.

But these and other operations can be complicated if you do not have software that allows you to organize all these procedures, digitizing and automating all the data. To take care of this, there are ERPs, whose acronym stands for Enterprise Resource Planning, they are platforms that facilitate the management of resources in a company.

The best known are ERPNext and Odoo ERP, but are there other alternatives?

SAP Business By Design

SAP Business ByDesign is enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for fast-growing small and medium-sized businesses to scale and compete well in the market. The software offers pre-built processes for every procedure, from finance and sales to product management and purchasing on a single platform.

Acumatica

Acumatica is a complete enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in the cloud that addresses the management needs of small and medium-sized organizations. Its industry-specific editions and inter-module workflows help companies achieve high levels of efficiency.

Deskera

Deskera is a business management software that helps different small-scale organizations improve their revenue. It offers a host of features like accounting, CRM, payroll, and human resources. Owners can track the overall status of their business in real-time through the advanced dashboard that the software presents. Customized financial reports, on Deskera, help owners make better business decisions.

How much does ERP software cost?

The ERP Focus portal revealed that a 2020 ERP report showed that the average budget per user for an ERP project is $8,265 "When you consider how many users your system can have (especially for larger companies) and the additional costs, You'll find that an ERP implementation can cost anywhere from $150,000 to $750,000 for a midsize business."

Factors Influencing Cost

In the same specialized portal, they explained the factors that can be included in the implementation of ERP software within a medium and large company.

"While not all of these factors will apply to every implementation, they all need to be considered so you can decide which ERP is right for your business." Here are some of the key components in ERP cost planning:

Software license fees
Additional servers and network hardware
Data conversion and transfer to new ERP
Customization if necessary
Tests
Training
Provider/consulting support position implementation

These are the most tangible costs to include in your budget, but you should also think ahead about budgetary banana skins and make room for contingencies.

What are the benefits of mobile ERP software?

These are the main benefits of implementing mobile ERP software in your company or business:

Leverage existing skills

Use your existing web development skills (HTML, C#) to create mobile business solutions without worrying about a specific brand and device requirements. Write the app once and let it run on any mobile device, including desktop and Windows 8.

Empower your collaborators

All the workers of your company will be able to access secure information and customer data from anywhere in the world and at any time they want to do so.

Empower customers

Your customers will be able to choose the device that best suits them and they will have the security of always having the same user experience, without losing any benefits. You can provide them with real-time sales information.

Optimized supply chain

All your suppliers will be able to have the data they need always at their fingertips, just a click away. This is a huge benefit as it streamlines the entire supply chain.

Odoo: Open Source ERP and CRM