There's no turning back now: from here on, you’ll be sharing your life with Odoo (at least at work). Its intuitiveness, functional coverage, customisation possibilities and attractive price have won you over… what more could you ask for? Ah yes, you now need a matchmaker, someone who knows how to connect you (for the better, of course) to the Odoo ERP. In other words, you need an integration superhero, someone capable of fulfilling your wildest dreams and turning this new encounter between you and Odoo into a wonderful love story.
Here are a few tips to help you make the right choice...
Choose a hero with powerful allies
Being a superhero is good. But being a superhero with strong allies is even better. You’ve seen it before: the X-Men, the Avengers, the Incredibles... All of these teams chose to unite because they realised there’s strength in numbers. Just ask Deadpool who, in his second movie, finally had to change his mind and find some strong partners to defeat Cable (the villain)...
For your future integrator, the most important ally is the publisher. The integrator you choose MUST be an Odoo partner. Don’t hesitate! Having an Odoo partner as your integrator means you’re in the hands of someone with genuine expertise and in-depth knowledge of the Odoo ecosystem.
Test the hero's real-world knowledge
You know as well as I do that superheroes are great, but sometimes they can be a little out of touch with the real world. Superman, when he's half-awake, must think everybody can fly... ...and Batman, even on a hot day, walks around in his black cape... They don't always understand the problems of "normal" people and their small, everyday worries. ...so it's hard for them to respond to Mr and Mrs So-and-so's needs in a practical way.
It's the same with an integrator... choose a superhero, but more importantly, a superhero with real on-the-ground experience! The integrator must understand the context of the company they’re working with, its business specifics, and so on. When you meet your integrator, you should feel that you share the same values, that you’re on the same wavelength, that you speak the same language. That’s how you build a long-term partnership.
Make sure you choose a well-equipped superhero
Every superhero has their favourite set of tools for carrying out a mission: the Batmobile, eye-catching costumes (or not — Spiderman’s fashion sense is a bit questionable), lightsabers and so on. Take them away and they quickly lose their powers. It’s like Magneto without his helmet or Wonder Woman without her magic lasso – it’s just not the same story!
For your future integrator, this is also true. Whoever you choose has to be able to show their favourite tools, such as a tried-and-tested methodology or GDPR expertise, for example. Without these as proof, it’s hard to know whether your integrator will be able to lead your Odoo integration project to success.
Check Your Hero’s Track Record
It’s not enough to just call yourself a superhero. To be a superhero, you definitely need superpowers, but above all, you must have achieved genuine heroic feats. No, helping your grandmother cross the road doesn’t count (that’s just kindness and common sense). And of course, boasting about incredible feats that no one can verify doesn’t count either (even if fake news is getting bigger and bigger...).
As you can see, to be sure that your provider is truly an Odoo integration superhero, you need to be able to validate their claims. To do this, it’s essential that they can give you references you can call, customer testimonials you can rely on, or even e-books, webinar recordings, and so on. If they are able to provide all this and meet the criteria above, you can set aside your doubts and go for it! (Come, we’ll help you a bit: contact super Captivea)!