From past many years SAP has ruled the enterprise software market with its amazing products called ERP software. But the rise of open source software a decade ago had to have it’s inevitable impact on the enterprise software market as well. And thus we saw the rise of OpenERP, launched in 2010, which went on to become Odoo. And interestingly the reason why OpenERP became Odoo is an indication of where the business software market is moving. Business software isn’t just about ERP anymore, More and more players are creating a suite of business app that helps manage all areas of business from manufacturing process to sales and marketing, from inventory and warehouse management to accounting management.

Odoo is a relatively new entrant in the enterprise software market and a challenger to the dominance of SAP when it comes to big enterprises, but has it’s own huge customer base amongst SMEs and is slowly becoming a viable alternative to SAP. So if you are planning to implement an ERP system for your organization should you consider Odoo as well along with SAP? Yes, definitely! In this blog we will provide some comparison between both the software packages to help you make a decision.

Knowing SAP and Odoo

SAP is an Enterprise Resource Planning software which has been created by a German company known as SAP SE. It includes modules for all the business functions that are required by an organization. Odoo is also an all-inclusive suite of business applications that has modules for Manufacturing, Financial Management, Human Resources, Project management, Warehouse management and much more. SAP has more than 650 K customers/users (mostly bigger enterprises) and 670 partners. Odoo has more than 2M users (mostly SMEs and few big enterprises) and 730 partners.

Comparing the functionalities

SAP ERP is a built-to-suit enterprise software which has to be customized as per each business systems and processes. SAP also has a product offering called SAP Business One which is meant for SMEs and is quick to deploy with minimal customizations. Odoo, on the other hand has a modular structure and each module handles a particular function or process and user deploy modules based on their requirement. Both SAP and Odoo can cater to the requirements of business of all sizes. Its just that SAP requires more customization.

Backward Compatibility

When SAP products are created, they are developed by keeping the backward compatibility in mind. Whereas, when it comes to Odoo, migration of code and data is required every time there is a release of new version.

Resolving Bugs

SAP is a mature ERP and so it has few or no bugs at all. These bugs are removed at regular intervals. Odoo started resolving the bugs after its 8th version was released. Odoo is technically sound but it still requires lot of fine tuning.

The Cost Factor

When it comes to the prices, Odoo definitely is a cheaper alternative. If you can manage your own server infrastructure, the Odoo core software is free. However even Odoo online, where you just have to pay for services per user based, is much cheaper than SAP Business One which is a comparable service. To give you an idea the 5 year cost of SAP Business One for 50 users would be roughly USD 280,000 but the same for Odoo online would be USD 75,000.

To Conclude

SAP is one of the world’s largest enterprise software provider and its product are mature enough to handle the most complicated requirements of large enterprises. SAP Business One its offering for SMEs is good, but not flexible enough to handle complex manufacturing processes. On the other hand Odoo, is not mature enough to handle custom and complicated requirement of large enterprises, but Odoo is a better alternative for SMEs who don’t have much budget for customization and want to deploy the software quickly. It’s modular structure is a winning point here. And if you consider the cost factor as well, you should go with Odoo if you are a SME and looking to have a cost effective, easily deployable ERP software for your business.

About Author:

A content developer from Biztech, having a team with good experience in Odoo development services. Our team can customize and deploy Odoo for your business as per client requirements.