Odoo is an adaptable ERP, which makes it ideal for companies with custom requirements or highly specialised workflows.
Yet sometimes, companies don’t know which processes to optimise or how to do it in Odoo. Others might realise they need complex customisations and integrations, or that they don’t have set requirement lists per department.
In such cases, it’s impossible to move straight into implementation. Instead, we need to begin with a concept phase.
Discover what an Odoo concept phase looks like, when it makes sense to conduct a concept phase before implementing, and how it benefits companies planning a large-scale Odoo implementation.
What is an Odoo concept phase?
An Odoo concept phase is a smaller, self-contained project that comes before the main ERP implementation.
More so than a separate project entirely, we consider it a pre-project within your Odoo implementation journey. It sets a baseline from which your project will be built.
This approach is made for organisations with complex workflows and complex process steps across various business areas or even entities.
These companies might not know how to move their processes to Odoo, or how to best optimise them ahead of an implementation project.
The main goal behind a concept phase is to bridge that gap.
This concept phase targets their current processes, outlines potential optimisations to their system, and sets final goals to what their future Odoo setup will look like.
We use the concept phase to redesign these processes and spot necessary adjustments before building a realistic implementation plan that meets a company’s goals.
To do so, we support our Odoo concept phase customers with:
- Workshops
- Process diagrams
- GAP analysis (i.e. needs assessment, or needs gap analysis)
- Implementation plan
- Cost estimations
- Final content presentation.
This is how we make sure the main Odoo implementation project won’t lead to surprises, spiralling costs, or process misalignment.
Key stages of an Odoo concept phase
Kick-off
- SPOC introductions
- Scope alignment
- Workshop planning
Workshops
- Odoo demos
- Process analysis
- Carving the way forward
Process diagrams & GAP
- Put together process diagrams
- Conduct GAP analysis
- Share deliverables & feedback
Final decision
- Key findings in final presentation
- Implementation plan
- Timeline alignment
- Cost estimations for implementation
When is an Odoo concept phase advisable?
We typically recommend an Odoo concept phase for organisations that meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Have an extensive list of requirements across various business areas
- Are medium to large organisations
- Have a complex system with multiple integrations
- Do not have a requirements list
- Have an unclear project scope.
For medium-sized businesses (30-100 employees), a concept phase often takes 5-12 days.
For larger clients, it can span up to 20 days, depending on integration and analysis depth.
For larger projects, we always recommend a concept phase before implementation and always ensure that a customer’s decision-making is informed.
Our guide to a successful Odoo concept phase
The concept phase ahead of a final Odoo implementation can be considered a pre-project.
It should be considered as a wider part of your Odoo implementation, as a way to solidify your processes and optimise your future system.
Our concept phase is intended to guide you through this. We start from your process pain points, analyse what’s missing in your setup and what must be done to get to the optimal system you aim to have post go-live.
We may also conduct an Estimated Cost of Ownership for a transparent estimation of the overall project scope before committing to the concept phase.
To design the best implementation plan, we break our concept phases into four stages:
- Kick-off
- Workshops
- Process diagrams & GAP
- Final concept presentation.
1. Kick-off
Ahead of a concept phase kick-off, customers will have already signed an offer where the scope and cost of this phase has been defined.
On the kick-off, customers will:
- Be introduced to SPOCs (single points of contact) from both sides, to be eventual project sponsors
- Align on the project scope (e.g. business areas that need process restructuring, integrations)
- Plan workshops (e.g. schedule organisation, preferred communication, decision making process & stakeholders)
- Clear out any doubts and ask any questions at this stage.
The main goal of a kick-off is to make sure that all expectations are aligned going forward.
2. Workshops
Workshops are the main part of a concept phase.
This is where we get hands-on with your existing processes and begin to sketch out what your ideal Odoo will look like after implementation.
Our consultants’ goal is to guide and challenge the customer to make sure we’re focusing on key requirements instead of edge cases.
This stage has to cover three key objectives:
- Closing the gap between the current processes and desired future workflows
- Aligning on the way forward, like the implementation plan and next steps
- Developing a new process that accurately reflects a customer’s business needs.
Each workshop is tailored to the needs of a customer and adapted throughout the concept phase. To understand a customer’s way of working and design future processes, we:
- Align on the scope of the workshop: We cover what’s relevant for the customer, what needs to be covered in the concept phase and which topics are meant for an implementation phase
- Conduct an Odoo demo: We tailor a demo to a customer’s key business areas and needs to show what Odoo standard processes look like, how they work, and can be adapted. This is meant to highlight gaps between the Odoo standard and customers' workflows
- Dive into current processes: We hear how customer processes are currently conducted to understand what’s the flow, what are the pain points and what are the key requirements and areas to target
- Collaborate on building the way forward: Together with our customer, we sketch out a process diagram to create an optimal process and guarantee that we’re completely aligned going forward on the project.
3. Process diagrams & GAP
The third stage is where we share the resources we put together for our customer. We collect their feedback and adjust anything that needs to be changed. This includes:
Process diagrams
These diagrams were designed based on the workshop phase in accordance with our customer.
Example of a P2P (purchase-to-pay) process development diagram based on a concept phase workshop with a customer.
GAP analysis
A GAP analysis refers to the gap between the "current state" of the business and the "target state" (goal state) and is used to conceptualise the final Odoo project.
This analysis covers:
- User requirements: Breakdown of all the needs of the customer from general system settings like a multicompany setup to information specific to business areas like sales workflows, accounting localisations, or warehouse configurations
- Project implementation phases: Phases that outline when each requirement will be implemented based on business and project priorities
- Priority: Based on the MoSCoW scale, how important is each requirement to implement from must-have, high priority, but not crucial, lower priority nice-to-haves, and wishes for future requirements or could-haves
- Complexity: How difficult it is to implement each requirement: standard Odoo setting, possible with partner modules, needs custom development, or impossible to implement
- Risk: How high is the probability of a schedule or cost overrun, from <1% to 50%
- Time estimation for the whole project: A breakdown of how much time our consultants or engineers will spend supporting the implementation of each requirement
- Cost estimation for the whole project: This is a breakdown per requirement, and an overview per phase is also available.
We conduct it to help the customer answer the following questions:
- What are the most important requirements needed to run their business?
- Which of the requirements poses the most risk to overrun cost or schedules?
- How complex is each requirement to implement, from standard to highly customised?
The GAP will indicate what steps we should take to meet the customer’s needs.
From here, we provide our customers with a breakdown of costs and resources for the full implementation project, as well as an expected timeline.
4. Final decision
The final stage of the concept phase is where we share a summary of the project as well as any action points.
Before the final presentation, all deliverables like process diagrams and GAP analysis will have already been shared with the customer.
In the final presentation, we’ll present our customer with:
- Key findings
- Implementation plan
- Timeline for the next steps
- Cost estimations for the implementation project ahead.
The final concept presentation also introduces more technical requirements such as:
- Integrations with your existing IT stack
- Data migration strategy and requirements.
The concept phase offers a solid foundation for your Odoo implementation
An Odoo concept phase is an ideal way to turn complex requirements into a structured implementation plan.
It closes the gap between your current processes and your ideal future setup before implementation even begins.
Done right, an Odoo concept phase results in:
- Optimised workflows and processes tailored to your needs
- A realistic scope and budget to implement your Odoo
- A GAP analysis that highlights priorities and risks
- A clear implementation plan to optimise your business operations.
For organisations with custom needs or unclear scope, the concept phase gives your Odoo project a defined implementation trajectory to avoid surprises later on.
Plan your Odoo concept phase with us
Custom requirements, unclear scope, or multiple teams involved?
An Odoo concept phase helps you turn complexity into a clear, actionable plan before implementation even starts.
Our experts can work with you to define your priorities and give your project the structure it needs to succeed.