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Is Odoo Freelancer a Better Choice to carry Implementation ?

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Odoo Freelancer or Odoo Partner – Who is better choice : Odoo has emerged as one of the Best ERP software available in the market today. Due to the fact that it consists of various apps and modules for specific industry needs such as Trading business, Manufacturing, Services or any industry specific verticals. These apps are paid that can be either purchased or downloaded free of cost. Odoo ERP implementation is increasing day by day as more companies are accepting the features and functions that are available in the community or Odoo Enterprise edition.

Many organizations feel today that ERP Implementation is a piece of cake, which can be implemented by a single freelancer / person with Technical python knowledge. In this blog post we will showcase you – Whar are the risk associated in Implementing Odoo ERP via freelancer. Before we go into the details first lets understand the basis of ERP implementation in your Business. Let’s take an example of Odoo ERP which you would like to implement for your business, ignoring the points about small business or large business. Any ERP software implementation requires a proper pool of expert resources who work with the client to understand the complex issues, workflows, processes, forms and working of every department including Sales, Purchase, Warehouse, Inventory Handling, Accounting and so on..

Understanding all these areas is necessary to ensure proper delivery of Odoo ERP software. There are people who are designated with Official partners such as Odoo Functional Experts, Technical Odoo Python Developers, Junior Developers, Trainers, Odoo support Team, Odoo Testing team etc. All these resources come together to ensure the undertaken project is delivered with utmost importance. This may not be the case with an Odoo Freelancer, as he/she is a single person working on your project where the work experience is limited compare to Official Odoo partners.

Who is an Odoo Freelancer and How they work ?

A Freelancer as a single person with an experience of Odoo implementation having knowledge of Odoo Technical and some what functional areas. The experience of freelancer can vary between 2 to 5 years in Odoo implementations. Odoo freelancer work either on Time and Material basis or via Fixed bid (Project implementation). They work through different online website where the bid are made by different freelancer and customer can choose the best freelancer for Odoo implementation.

Hiring Odoo Freelancer v/s Odoo Partners for your Project Development:

Being an Official partner of Odoo we will consider both the points which include Advantages & Disadvantages of Odoo Freelancer and Partner. Based on your project size you can make choices either to go with Freelancer or with Partners/Vendors.

Knowledge:

As far as knowledge is concerned, Freelancer experience may vary from 2 years to 5 years in Odoo implementation and development. Note: (Odoo Experience with 1 year or less should not consider themselves as Freelancer as minimum 4 to 6 months are required for a fresher to complete Python & Odoo Training. Therefore hiring 1 year experience freelancer is just waste of time and money.) A common Trading ERP implementation requires a completion time of 1 to 3 months, if there are complex workflows then implementation time can be more, or if it is Manufacturing implementation it may require a period of 3 to 6 months or more. With that you can calculate how much Project knowledge or Experience Odoo freelancer may have with an experience of 2 to 5 years.

Further knowledge in Technical Python language or Odoo coding is one part but understanding the functionality of your business and providing best processes in Odoo is another part. This you may not find in Odoo Freelancers. Even for complex customizations or 3^rd party integrations Odoo freelancer is not a viable option. On the other hand, Odoo partner consists of different employees on payroll with different implementation experience. They can provide you with more knowledge when you plan for Odoo implementation in your business.

Quality:

An Odoo partner ensure you with quality of coding that meet Odoo Standards so that there are no bugs in future, even if you work with any other Vendor/partner/Odoo providers (Companies). Odoo Official Partners while implementing any project ensure proper project plans, timelines, implementation area, customization, pain points, coding, debugging tools are in place to ensure quality of the code is maintained.

Whereas, with Odoo Freelancer quality may be an issue as there are chances where freelancer is handling other project too without any proper team in place.

Specialization

Partners work on specific verticals such as Trading business, Manufacturing ERP implementation, Service industries etc. Even these main categories are further divided in particular categories such as lean manufacturing, basic manufacturing, whole selling, retailing etc. Therefore Odoo Implementation Company provides you with specialization in verticals which you can choose from their experiences. Whereas; Freelancers are hired for specific task or module development which may not reap specialization in the long run.

Professionalism

We don’t say freelancers don’t carry professionalism in working but you only think with one single person allocation for an ERP implementation which is itself a vast area, how much you can expect from a freelancer. The main duty of freelancer is to produce the code as per your requirement without cross checking or Odoo coding standards. You may also need to pay extra for any kind of support you needed after the implementation. Whereas, with Odoo company/partner you get proper workflows, reporting of each task has done, communication with developers, knowing the team experience and knowledge.

Time Consumption

If you are going with Freelancer you may need to give your own time to showcase what exactly you require, Time consumption in communication, documentation, analysis, issue resolution & completion of project may be higher due to lack of experience of the freelancer. Even your cost may increase as freelancer work on time and material basis.

With Odoo partners you don’t need to run behind every requirements as the Odoo partners consists of experience functional team and Technical team who has handled similar kind of requirements which you may have for your business.

Availability

There may be chances if a freelancer gets a new project he may disappear without your notice; therefore risk in hiring a freelancer for Odoo development is higher as there are many companies who are looking out for Odoo development. Also freelancer may not have pool of people who can be shuffle during the projects on new projects. This is not the case with official partners as they consist of employees working in their office premises and are available to ensure timely delivery of projects.

Confidentiality Issues

Any ERP implementation requires data, forms, processes, user information, server details etc. You may face confidentiality issues with Freelancer for sharing all these details after all you just have a Skype id or an email address of your freelancers. Although you can create a non-disclosure-agreement with freelancer but again the risk is higher compare to Odoo partners who ensure the reputation are maintained in the market with proper care of data and other details.

Odoo Trends

Every year Odoo release new version with powerful features and new functionalities. Odoo Partners are provided with proper documentation with the changes in new version therefore they are up to date from Odoo technical as well as functional perspective. Odoo partners also suggest you which are better version for your business. Whereas, Odoo Freelancer may have professional experience on old version and may not have access to latest Odoo trends or functionality changes.

Working Relationship

With Freelancer you may not have long term working relationship as a single freelancer may feel monotonous working on a particular project for months and you may feel lack of support during the mid of the project, which is not the case with Odoo development company who work on single project for years in different phases with different group of Employees. Working Relationship is stronger as you put in more and more phases in the development. Even after completion of project you don’t need to worry with Odoo Company as they provide you with Support and Maintenance.

Deadlines:

You may miss and mess your deadline if freelancer are not good in their work. Further planning and organizing work processes is not done by freelancers. With Odoo Vendor and partner you have complete control on the payments and the timelines of the project. This ensures you with proper delivery of the project. If you can manage your freelancer and have good relationship you can maintain the deadlines of the project.

Cost:

Here comes the important point because of which client look out for Odoo Freelancer rather than Odoo Partners “Cost” sounds simple if you compare Freelancers with Odoo partners. But; before deciding the Cost factors let’s detailed about Odoo Cost which you may incur for your Odoo project.

Cost involved in Odoo Projects

As mentioned in our old blogs that Odoo Projects consist of various cost these include Implementation cost, Customization Cost, Paid app cost, Training, Support Cost, Server cost etc. Based on your verticals and requirement the cost may differs some cost such as Paid app costs or Server cost are constant whereas implementation and customization cost are based on the time require to complete the requirements.

It is a fact, that with Freelancers you get cost effectiveness as they charge very few dollars compare to Odoo partners. But low cost also comes with different number of risk which cannot be taken for ERP implementations as they are tricky compare to stand alone applications which are readily available in the market. Example: CRM software, Accounting software or HRM software.

Another reason freelancer charge less is that all the money earned is not used for team building, project management tools, employees and other specialized professionals which is the case with partner. Odoo Partnership has certain criteria such as team, number of implementation, Quality control, Successful clients, Years in business etc.

Selecting Odoo Partners for your Odoo Project

There are many partners you can see on Odoo website which are implementing Odoo software. Selecting partners also require a proper audit on the number of projects done, Experience of team, Complicated Project handled, Verticals or similar industry, Client references, Cost associated with the Project, etc. There are Odoo partners who showcase different references on Odoo website partner list – Check with the customers if really the partner thrives to implement Odoo Successfully of left the project due to cost factor or support Factors.

Another important benefit of Partners is that they have access to Odoo Enterprise Edition source code. which is not the case with Odoo freelance developer. You can check enterprise edition features and understand the functions that are available and compare quickly with community edition of Odoo.

Conclusion : Odoo Freelancer vs Odoo Partner

We don’t say freelancers are not good but the risk associated with freelancer is high whereas; the cost associated is less compare to Odoo Official partners and vendors. One can go with Odoo Freelancer if there is little number of points which requires customizations. Full-Fledged Odoo Implementation cannot be kept on the shoulders of freelancer as Odoo itself is very vast and half knowledge of freelancer can be hazardous for the project. After all as a customer or IT Manager you will be putting all your time, preparation of document for ERP implementation, Getting demo of different ERP software and selecting Odoo as final product for your Business.

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