ERP projects rarely fail because of the software. They fail because the organisation was not ready for the work an implementation demands. This checklist lists the questions we ask in the first weeks of every project. If you can answer most of them before the project starts, you have removed the most common causes of delay. If you cannot, the answers are the first thing to work on, and they are worth doing before you sign anything.
Work through each section with the people concerned. Note the gaps. The gaps are your preparation plan.
Sponsorship and decision making
- Who is the executive sponsor, and do they have the authority to decide on budget, scope and priorities without a further approval round?
- Who will make the day to day decisions when the sponsor is not available, and does everyone know that this person has that authority?
- Has the leadership team agreed why the project is happening, in one or two sentences that can be repeated to staff?
- What are the three outcomes that would make the project a success, stated in terms the business understands: faster month end, accurate stock, one view of the customer?
- Is there a date the business must go live by, such as a contract ending or a season starting, and is it realistic?
- Who decides when a change request is accepted, and how quickly can they decide?
People and time
- Who is the internal project lead, and how many hours a week can they give the project? Fewer than two days a week is a warning sign for a project of any size.
- For each department, who is the key user who will attend workshops, test the system and train colleagues? Have their managers agreed to release the time?
- Is there someone who understands the current chart of accounts, tax set up and reporting well enough to explain it?
- Is there someone who knows the products, their variants and how they are structured?
- Who will own the system after go live: administer users, answer first line questions, and be the contact for support?
- Are there planned absences, peak seasons or other projects that will compete for the same people?
Processes
- Can each department describe its main processes from start to finish, including what happens when something goes wrong?
- Which processes are you happy to change to fit standard Odoo, and which are genuine differentiators you need to keep?
- Are there processes that only exist because of the limitations of the current system?
- Where are the current workarounds: the spreadsheets, the shared inboxes, the whiteboards?
- Are there approvals or controls that auditors or regulators require, and are they documented?
- Are there processes that span more than one legal entity?
Data
- Which systems hold master data today: customers, suppliers, products, chart of accounts, employees?
- How many active records are there in each, and how many are duplicates or obsolete?
- Who will decide what data moves to Odoo and what is archived?
- Is there transaction history that must be available in the new system, and for how many years? History that must be queried occasionally can often stay in the old system in read only mode.
- Are product codes, customer references and account numbers consistent, or will they need to be rationalised?
- Is there anyone whose job it will be to clean data before migration, and do they have time?
Technology
- What systems will remain after Odoo goes live, and what data must they exchange with it?
- Do you have a preference between Odoo Online, Odoo.sh and self hosting, and do you know the constraints of each?
- Are there security, data residency or compliance requirements that affect hosting?
- Who manages user accounts, single sign on and device access today?
- Are there hardware dependencies: barcode scanners, label printers, tills, shop floor terminals?
- Do you have reliable internet at every site where Odoo will be used?
Budget and commercial
- Is the budget for the whole project, or only for the software licence?
- Does it include your own staff time, data cleaning, training, hardware and the first year of support?
- Is there a contingency, and who controls it?
- Have you compared proposals on scope and approach rather than on price alone?
- Do you understand what is fixed price, what is estimated, and how changes are billed?
- Who owns the custom code and documentation produced during the project?
Reading the results
If you answered most questions confidently, you are in a strong position, and the discovery phase of the project will confirm the details rather than uncover them. If the gaps cluster in one section, that is where to invest before the project starts. Gaps in sponsorship and people are the most serious, because no supplier can compensate for a client team that does not have time. Gaps in data are the most common and the most fixable, provided somebody owns the work.
We are happy to go through your answers with you in a free call and tell you what we would do first.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an Odoo implementation take?
A focused first phase covering sales, invoicing or accounting, inventory and purchasing for a single company typically runs a few months from discovery to go live. Adding manufacturing, eCommerce, projects or several legal entities extends that. The largest factors are the number of processes, the state of your data and how much time your team can give the project. We give you a timeline with the roadmap and update it at every phase boundary.
Do we go live with everything at once?
Usually not. We recommend going live with the core apps first, because that is where the data flows connect, and adding further apps in later phases once the core is stable. For groups, roll out is typically entity by entity using the first as a template. A single big go live is possible when the business needs it, but it carries more risk and needs more preparation.
How much of our team’s time will the project need?
More than most people expect. A project lead needs at least two days a week. Each key user needs time for workshops, testing and training, which can add up to several days per module. We estimate these hours per role and per phase in the roadmap so that managers can plan for them.
Will you customise Odoo for us?
Where there is a clear business case, yes. Our default is to configure standard Odoo first, use existing modules second and write code last. Every customisation is documented with the reason it exists, because each one adds cost at every future upgrade.
How do you handle training?
Per module and per role, close to the point of use. Key users are trained as each module is configured and they in turn test it. End users are trained before go live with sessions, recordings and short written guides that you keep. We avoid a single large session a week before launch.
What happens after go live?
A hypercare period with daily contact for the first weeks, followed by handover to our managed service if you want ongoing support, or to your internal team with documentation and a knowledge base.