Successfully Deploying Odoo: The NALIOS Methodology
A poorly scoped Odoo implementation project means above all wasted IT budget and frustrated teams. To avoid this kind of situation, you need to be aware of the implications of such a digital transformation… As an experienced and recognised integrator, we wanted to walk you through the steps of a controlled Odoo deployment, inspired by the methodology we apply with our own clients. Discover without further delay the 6 steps that guarantee a smooth implementation, delivering maximum value for your business!
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Odoo Scoping: How to Do It Without Budget Overruns?
The #1 cause of deployment failures is undoubtedly a vague scope and a specification document that lacks depth. For us, this "scoping" is far more than a formality; it is the structural starting point of the implementation project. As a result, it is impossible to begin an engagement without going through this requirements-gathering phase.
The different components of a pre-deployment scoping:
→ Requirements Definition Workshops (GAP)
For large-scale deployments, we generally start with collaborative working sessions with your business stakeholders to distinguish what is essential in your workflows from what is superfluous. We map the current state and identify the gaps (GAP) between your organisation and the Odoo standard (the way the ERP works and the options available without resorting to custom development).
→ Phasing Strategy
Rather than deploying everything at once and overwhelming users, we break the project down into coherent phases. Each phase delivers immediate value and serves as the starting point for the next.
→ Priority Modules Identified
CRM, Accounting, Inventory, Invoicing, Projects — we prioritise based on your immediate needs and your team's capacity to absorb the workload. Because yes, YOU are at the centre of the project, and your level of involvement largely determines whether the project is a success or not (we'll come back to this).
Agile methodology, without technical debt
At Nalios, we do not deliver six months after the starting gun. We work in short sprints, with visible milestones at each stage. Result: you see the tool taking shape in real time, and you can correct the course before it becomes expensive. This is precisely how every company should work to ensure that the deployment is smooth.
Here is the classic diagram of the different sprints that can occur during an Odoo deployment:
Odoo covers 80% of the needs of most SMEs with its standard. Each specific development creates technical debt: costly maintenance, blockages during annual updates.
This issue is often at the heart of concerns from the beginning of an Odoo migration, where one seeks to understand the real interest of the hundreds of lines of code already in place.
Our golden rule: if Odoo standard can meet your need with 90% satisfaction, we adapt the process, not the tool.
Our
expertise with Odoo
has allowed us
to stand out in our field
Did you know?
NALIOS has nearly 50 certified Odoo consultants, which is why we are Odoo Gold Partners in Belgium and France!
Hosting choice :
Odoo SaaS vs Odoo SH vs Odoo On-Premise
As you might expect, the type of hosting you choose necessarily impacts your maintenance costs, your autonomy and your ability to customise the Odoo experience. To explain this directly, here is a summary table showing how each solution responds to standard evaluation criteria:
Criterion | ODOO SAAS | ODOO SH | ODOO ON-PREMISE |
Infrastructure management | Odoo handles everything | Odoo manages the cloud, you keep control | You manage everything (or your IT department) |
Custom developments | ✗ Not possible | ✓Custom modules & personal additions possible | ✓ Total freedom |
Updates | Automatically suggested, managed by Odoo | Managed by your developers, not suggested | More complex to manage (the entire chain) |
Entry costs | Low (monthly subscription) | Medium (subscription + hosting + maintenance fees if developments) | High (own infrastructure) |
Data sovereignty | Odoo SA servers | EU data option available | 100% controlled but your responsibility |
Ideal number of users | VSE < 10 users, tight budget | SME / mid-size companies wanting to customise without managing servers | Large enterprises, regulated sectors, existing IT department |
OUR VIEW (NALIOS) | Suitable for small structures with very standard operations | Best flexibility/peace-of-mind compromise for projects with a large scope | Only justified if there are strong technical constraints |
The different hosting options Odoo
Fully managed cloud solution by Odoo. You have nothing to install or manage: Odoo takes care of the infrastructure, maintenance, and security.
Dedicated cloud platform optimized for Odoo, combining the benefits of the cloud with finer technical management.
Installation on your own servers, in your data center or on dedicated servers, for complete control over your infrastructure.
The import of historical data into Odoo?
Once the processes and workflows are correctly replicated in Odoo, it is time for your data to meet your new ERP. Many underestimate the importance of this step, yet it is often the source of errors.
The idea is to format all your data into Excel files so that they can be properly imported into your database. This requires a great deal of involvement and patience, in order to sort the various elements and bring them into line with the tool.
Why is it difficult? Because each part of a workflow has its own model, and each model has its relationships and fields. You therefore need to quickly find the correspondences and produce clean files. In this way, we typically carry out a data import in 2 stages:
Cleaning Source Files
Before importing anything into Odoo, we audit and clean your existing data (legacy ERP, Excel, business software). A good start means clean data.
- Deduplication of third parties (customers, suppliers)
- Normalisation of product references
- Validation of chart of accounts and balances
- Archiving of obsolete data
- Mapping of source fields → Odoo destination
The Importance of a Final Acceptance Test (Client & Integrator)
The import is always carried out first in a test environment. Your business stakeholders validate the imported data before any switchover to production.
- Test import on Odoo.sh staging environment
- Cross-validation between integrator and client
- Validation of opening accounting balances
- End-to-end flow testing with real data
What Happens Next?
The first weeks following go-live are in reality the most revealing phase of the project. This is the moment when real-world processes meet the theoretical configuration, and when gaps emerge that neither the GAP workshops nor the acceptance testing sessions had detected. Not through lack of rigour, but because certain user behaviours, certain business exceptions, or certain data volumes only manifest themselves under real production conditions. A billing workflow that functions perfectly at 10 lines per day may reveal accounting inconsistencies at 200. A replenishment rule validated in testing may generate erroneous purchase orders as soon as supplier lead times vary. This is not a configuration failure: it is the very nature of a living ERP.
This is why at NALIOS, we systematically include a post go-live stabilisation phase of 4 to 6 weeks, distinct from ongoing support. We therefore encourage all companies to do the same during their deployment.
Your Odoo Deployment Starts with a Conversation
Contact us to receive a mini-audit of your project!
Our consultants/sales team will get back to you to review your needs and propose a deployment model suited to your structure…
