In an era where data governance policies are everywhere, IT departments are on the front line. They are responsible for ensuring data quality within the organisation: managing infrastructure, raising awareness across the business, and reporting to management. They already handle a wide range of tasks, and their responsibilities will expand further with the introduction of the GDPR. How can you effectively manage a data management policy when your schedules are already packed? One part of the solution lies in standardising your IT systems. How? By integrating an agile, modern ERP solution like Odoo.
Start with the basics
An ERP project is a major undertaking for any business, even with the simplicity that is inherent in Odoo. It fundamentally changes existing processes and employees' working habits.
This is clearly not a project to be taken lightly. The challenge is that, very often, there is a lot of hype when new management applications are rolled out: business leaders may want to do everything at once. Big mistake. Major changes can trigger negative reactions from some employees, and low adoption rates would completely undermine the standardisation you are aiming for. A gradual approach is therefore the key to success.
To begin with, we recommend that you deploy only those Odoo modules that are essential to the customer life cycle: CRM, sales administration, customer accounting (invoicing and payment), logistics and procurement. This is already a major project that will lead to significantly smoother processes and substantial productivity gains. In addition, employees will get used to working with the new ERP solution and you will be able to manage the change more effectively. Finally, by getting to grips with the ERP software, you will identify the working methods that need to be redesigned. Following the deployment of Odoo, you will be starting from a solid baseline.
Extend the scope of your ERP gradually
Once this first stage has been "accepted" by all stakeholders (lines of business, management, IT, and the integrator, etc.) you can confidently consider the next stage of the deployment. Other departments, such as HR, marketing, and communications will then be able to take full advantage of the features that Odoo supports. Modules (or apps as Odoo refers to them) dedicated to managing the website, blogging, recruiting, and managing employees, etc. are genuine sources of additional productivity for employees and the IT department alike.
Indeed, these modules allow you to go even further in standardising your IT by centralising the majority of internal business processes. Data passes through a single software application; this makes things flow better thanks to the drastic reduction in the number of interfaces required and duplication of effort becomes a distant memory. In other words, these are significant benefits for the IT department and the business that cannot be overlooked.
Eradicate Shadow IT
Odoo ERP is now the main working tool for the vast majority of the company’s employees. Nevertheless, a few applications and Excel files will continue to exist in the background of various departments, whether due to resistance to change or because a highly specific feature has not yet been built into Odoothe system, there are still reasons for this shadow IT to persist. This phenomenon – defined as the use of applications without the approval of the IT department and without connecting them to the core IT system – is currently a challenge for many companies. Fortunately, Odoo makes it straightforward to tackle shadow IT effectively.
One of the distinctive characteristics of this ERP solution is its open-source nature, which means that if none of the 10,000 applications meets a specific requirement, it is entirely possible to carry out customised development. With support from a capable integrator, it is possible to connect almost any application and meet 99% of the organisation’s needs. Employees will therefore no longer have any valid reason to bypass official processes. With Odoo, sprawling IT systems are a thing of the past!