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Contents
Introduction Challenges in large implementation projects 3
What we suggest to solve it? 3
How is it different? 3
Methodology Key concepts 4
Phases 6
Business Need Analysis (15%) 6
Full Featured Prototype (15%) 7
DataImport&SpecificDevelopment(50%) 8
Validation&Training(10%) 9
Deployment:Golive(10%) 10
Second Deployment 10
What to expect from your customers 11
Fullsupportfromtop-levelmanagement 11
Customer’s Project Manager 11
Integrate90%ofyourbusiness,not100% 11
How to set customer expectations? 12
Whatisthebuyingprocessforanewproject? 12
Shouldthecustomerwritedetailedspecificationbeforecontactingyou? 12
Howtonegotiate? 13
3
Introduction
Challenges in large implementation projects:Odoo isagreatsoftware.There isnodoubtaboutthehugebenefitsyour
customerwillgetfromusingit.Themainchallengeisintheimplementation:
deliver expected benefits on time and within budget.
Whatwesuggesttosolveit?Weencouragetokeepprojectssimple.Weknowhowtoavoidunnecessary
pitfallssuchascustomdevelopments;themainsourceofcomplexitiesand
risksofdelay.It’seasytosay,butveryhardtodo.
Weknowhowtomapspecificbusinessneedstofitthestandardfeatures,
youcansay“no”tocustomersandprovidealternativesolutions,inorderto
optimizeefficiencyandtogetthemostoutoftheproduct.
Thisdocumentisourpreferredmethodologyanditisforinformationalpurposes.
Weencourageyoutoreaditandapplyanybestpracticesthatsuittoyour
particularsituation.
Howisitdifferent?Thefocusistoselltheleastamountofservicespossibleinordertoletthe
customergetthebenefitsfromthesoftwareononehandandgiveyouasan
odoopartner,theopportunitytofocusonnewprojectsontheotherhand.
Inthissense,youarealignedwithyourcustomers’objectives:ontime,within
budget,andwithoutunnecessaryextras.Thismethodology isdesignedto
achievethisgoal.
4
Methodology
Key conceptsPRIORITIES:
• Thecustomerdefinesthebusinessneed,thewaytosatisfyitisdefined
bytheproduct
• Thepriorityisthesuccessoftheproject.Youcanchallengeusersde-
mand if needed
KEEPING THING SIMPLE:
• Deliverasoftwarethatcoversallbusinessflowsand80%oftheex-
pectedfeaturesinafewweeks,notmonths.Thisisthefirstdeliverable,
beforeanyspecificdevelopment.
• Projectmanagersshouldbeabletoconfigureandcustomizethesoft-
ware.Avoidintermediariesthatarenotexpertsintheproducttomake
productdecisions.
• Avoidcustomdevelopments ifpossible, launchingthemonlyasa
lastresort.
5
RESPONSIBILITIES:
• Theresponsibilityofaproject’sfailure/successbelongstoyou,nottothe
customer
• You assume this responsibility, and you do the implementation and
product design decisions to guarantee the success of the project and
tosavetimetotheclient’sbenefit.Refusetodosomethingthatgoes
againsttheseobjectives.
PROJECT MANAGERS:
• Thekeysuccessfactorofanyimplementationistheprojectmanager.
Gooddecisionscansaveyoudaysofwork.Ontopofmanagingproj-
ects,theymustbeproblemsolversandexpertsintheproduct.
• Invest in recruitingthebesttalentforthechallengeandtrainthem
extensively,retainingonlythetopperformers.
• Evenwhenyouhavethebestprojectmanagers,theycanstillmisscrit-
icaldetails.TopOdooexperts,externaltotheproject,canreviewand
challengeyourworkatcriticalstepsoftheproject(availablethrough
thepartnersupportpacks).
6
Phases
First quotation
Phase 2
Implementation project + Enterprise contract
GAP analysis (5d)
Full featured POC (5d)
Data import & developments
Test & training
Deployment
Deployments
Deployments
GO LIVE
Business Need Analysis (15%)
Thefirststepallowstheprojectmanagertocompilealltherelevantbusi-
nessneedsofthecompany.Thiscomesintheformofaseriesofinterviews
withdepartmentmanagerstoanalyzetheirworkflows.Thefinaldeliverable
isaprototypespecificationandaGAPAnalysis.(cfrexample)
Beforebeingdeliveredtothecustomer, this analysis can be challenged by
a top Odoo expert that is external to the project (available through the
partners support packs). The goal is to reduce the implementation lead
timebysolvingspecificneedswithstandardfeatures.
DELIVERABLES:
•Listofallbusinessneedsbybusinessunit,andtipsfortheprototype
•Estimatedplanning,phasingandbudgetofthenextsteps
7
Full Featured Prototype (15%)
ThenextstepistofullyconfigureandcustomizeOdootocoverallbusiness
flows.Thescopeisdefinedas“the maximum you can get from a standard
solution, with customization but no development”.
Althoughnodataisimportedandnothird-partysoftwareisintegrated,the
softwareshouldbefullyfunctionalandthecompanyshouldtheoreticallybe
abletostartusingitasis(evenifsomestepsarestillmanual).Attheendof
thisphase,keyusersshouldhaveafulldemonstrationaswellasaccessto
testthesoftwareagainstallthenecessarybusinessflowsthecompanywill
need(withonly80%ofthefeatures).
DELIVERABLES:
•Afullyconfiguredsoftwarethatcoversallbusinessflowsand80%ofthefeatures
•Demoofthesoftwaretothekeyusers
•GAPAnalysiswithalistoftheremainingdevelopments
8
DataImport&SpecificDevelopment(50%)
WithafullyfunctionalPOC,thecustomerandtheprojectmanagershouldbe
abletodemonstratethefinalsolutiontokeyusers.Asaresult,youwillbeable
tovalidatetheremainingdevelopmentsthatareworthinvestingtimeon.
Splitremainingdevelopmentsintotwogroups:
1. Developmentsthatareabsolutelynecessarybeforegoingintoproduc-
tion(i.e.thecustomercannotoperatethebusinesswithoutthem).
2. Developmentsthatcanberolledout intheseconddeploymentphase,
after theproject goes live (i.e. the customercanoperate thebusiness
withoutthem,butit’snotefficient).
AtopOdooexpert,externaltothisproject,canreviewthissplitoffeatures
(availablethroughthepartnersupportpacks).
Atthisstep,youcanlaunchthreephasesinparallel:
• Import of data
• Specificdevelopmentsforfirstdeployment(onlythefirstoftheabove
twogroups)
• Third-partysoftwareintegration
Thesethreephasesarehandledbyateamofdevelopersandeverythingis
testedandvalidatedbytheprojectmanager.
DELIVERABLES:
•Completesoftwarewithcustomer’sdata
9
Validation&Training(10%)
Oncethesoftwareisready,youcantrainallusersinthecompany.During
thesamephase,thecustomerisresponsibleforallfinaltestsandshould
providethegreenlight,toallowyoutogointoproduction.
Writingthedocumentationistheresponsibilityofthecustomerasagood
documentation should match customer’s internal processes. Having the
customerwritethedocumentationisagoodwaytoensuretheyhavefully
testedthesoftwarein“standardpractice”beforegoingintoproduction.
DELIVERABLES:
•Customer:Finalvalidationbeforeproduction
• Project Manager: Training for all end-users
10
Deployment:Golive(10%)
Oncewegolive,theprojectmanageranddevelopersshouldhandleallis-
suesthatmayariseassoonaspossible.
DELIVERABLES:
•Fixissues
2Second Deployment
Aroundonemonthafterthefirstdeployment,youreviewthelistofremaining
developmentsthatwerenotlaunchedinPhase1(i.e.developmentsscheduled
forPhase2:youcanoperatethebusinesswithoutthem,butit’snotefficient).
With the feedback fromtheusers, theprioritizationofdevelopmentswill
usuallychange(typicallyyouwillnoticethat50%ofthedevelopmentswere
notnecessaryand25%ofnewdevelopmentshavebeenadded).
DELIVERABLES:
•Iterationon:developments,deployments
11
Whattoexpectfromyourcustomers:
Fullsupportfromtop-levelmanagementImplementationprojects aredifficult.They require adaptations toa lotof
changesbytheusersandatransformationwithinthecompany.Therewill
bechallengesanddifficultdecisionstomake.Inordertosucceed,youneed
thefullsupportofthemanagementofthecompany.
Trustandcommitmentfromtop-levelmanagementisarequirementinorder
toacceptanyproject.
Customer’s Project Manager:Thecustomermusthaveaninternalprojectmanager.Thispersonmustbe
dedicatedtotheproject,musthaveauthority tomakedecisionsontheir
own,andmusthavetheleadershipandautonomytotrainandenforcepol-
iciesformostdepartments.
Thispersonshouldhavedirectaccesstotheexecutivecommitteeifneeded.
Integrate90%ofyourbusiness,not100%:YourcustomerprobablychoseOdoobecausenoothersoftwareallowsforsuch
ahighlevelofautomation,featurecoverage,andintegration.Butdon’tallowthe
customertojourneyinthisdirection.
Customizationscosttimeandmoney,aremorecomplextomaintain,add
riskstotheimplementation,andcancauseissueswithupgrades.Beflexible;
useOdoothewayitwasdesignedtoachieveoptimalresultsfast.Learning
12
how itworkswithout trying to replicateold system(s) andworkflowswill
yieldasimplifiedandfunctionalresultthatprovideslong-termefficiency.
Howtosetcustomerexpectations?
Whatisthebuyingprocessforanewproject?ThefirstquotetoanynewcustomerisacombinationofPhase1and2(Pro-
totypeSpecification+FullFeaturedPrototype).Alternatively,thecustomer
cancommitonthePrototypeSpecificationonlyiftheirbudgetislow.Ade-
tailedquoteforthenextphasesisprovidedasadeliverableofPhase1.An
initialbudgetisaround10days;neverasktocommittoabigbudgetorbuy
thewholeprojectatthisstageofnegotiations.
Tohelpthecustomertodecideifheisreadytoworkwithyou,youcanpro-
videaroughestimationoftheTCOanddifferentdemosoftheproduct.
Shouldthecustomerwritedetailed specificationbeforecontactingyou?Don’tletthecustomerwastetimeonwritingdetailedspecifications.Andnever
commitonfullanddetailedspecificationssolelywrittenbythecustomer.This
methodology is efficientbecause theprojectmanagerhave theflexibility to
solvebusinessneedstheirownway.Ifspecificationsarefrozen,servicemight
notbeasefficient.
Ifthecustomerwrotedetailedspecifications,youcanuseitasasourceof
informationtounderstandtheirbusinessneeds.Butnevercommittosuch
specifications.
13
Howtonegotiate?Trytoavoidnegotiationonrate/dayunlesstheprojectislarge(ourestimation:
largeproject>100days).
Thebestwaytoreducebudgetistosolvespecificneedsusingstandardfea-
tures,whichisthegoalofPhase1and2.
OnOdooEnterprise,slightflexibilitycanbeprovidedonthepriceifitisacontract
ofmorethan100users,ormorethanayearasinitialcontract.
Odoocontractshave conditions that aredesigned tobe fair for the cus-
tomer.We cannot handle different SLAs or guarantees per customer.We
haveonewayofworking,wedoitwell,butwearenotorganizedtomanage
exceptionspercustomer.So,ourlegaltermsandcontractsarenotnego-
tiable.Thatway,weallsavetimeonlegaladvicesexpenses.
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