Why My ERP Thinking Has Shifted
For years, I was a strong advocate for integrating best of breed software into a central business intelligence solution. The goal was to create meaningful insights across the business by linking together the tools that handled key functions like finance, resourcing, timesheets, projects and sales.
Some of the tools I regularly worked with included Xero, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Float and Jira. While each system was great in its own right, the real value came from combining their data to understand what was actually happening in the business in real time, not just after the fact.
The reality for most small to mid sized businesses was this: they had powerful tools, but no single source of truth. Finance would operate in isolation from sales, and project teams rarely had real visibility into costs or forecasts. Leaders were left making gut decisions or poring over spreadsheets, chasing a picture of the business that was always slightly out of date.
This process of stitching everything together was not quick or simple. It often involved:
- Creating and managing a central table of unique identifiers to connect data across systems. For example, mapping invoices to the resources that delivered the work
- Building small web applications to plug gaps where no existing system captured the data we needed
- Pulling API documentation for each system, testing connections and confirming we could access the right data
- Setting up a SQL server to ingest, transform and structure the data in a way that made sense
- Rolling out a reporting suite using tools like Power BI or Tableau to visualise performance and make better decisions
There are now middleware platforms that simplify some of these tasks, especially for ETL processes, but the core challenge remains the same, stitching systems together to get clarity.
Why Traditional ERP Never Quite Fit
I always saw ERP systems like SAP, NetSuite and Dynamics as platforms built for larger enterprises. Their implementation costs, licensing models and complexity made them out of reach for most small to medium businesses. Even when companies could afford them, these platforms did not always offer the kind of real time insights that leadership teams actually needed.
A Turning Point: Discovering Odoo
Recently, while designing a solution for a client, I decided to revisit the market to see if any platforms had evolved. I went into the search expecting more of the same, fragmented platforms, dated interfaces or systems that only worked if you changed your entire business to fit their model.
That is when I came across Odoo.
What struck me was how different it felt. Odoo’s suite of applications did not just integrate, they were designed to work together from the ground up. The technology was modern and focused on usability. The interface was intuitive, and the level of integration between apps was deep.
Even more impressive was the pricing. Odoo encourages you to use as many of their apps as you need, without charging more as your stack grows. This model felt aligned with how real businesses operate and scale.
Initially I had doubts. Could one platform really offer the depth of functionality needed across different business types?
But as I dug deeper, I discovered something else. Not only does Odoo offer a broad suite of core applications, it also allows you to build on top of them. You can customise existing apps or create new ones to suit your unique business needs. That changed everything.
It was not just the features that stood out. It was the philosophy, a system designed to grow with you, not control you.
A New Way of Thinking
This shifted my entire perspective.
In the past, businesses were forced to choose systems that were a reasonable fit, and then bring their data together after the fact to get insights. With Odoo, the approach is reversed — you start with a single, unified platform. You adapt the system to your processes, not the other way around. And because it is all integrated from the start, the user experience is seamless and the insights are immediate.
For growing businesses, this shift is more than a technical decision, it is a strategic one. In a fast changing world, speed and clarity are critical. Having one platform that gives every team the data they need, when they need it, is no longer a luxury. It is becoming the new standard.
Final Thoughts
There will always be exceptions and situations that need custom solutions. But it is refreshing to see a platform that not only claims to bring everything together, but actually does, and at a price point that makes sense for SMEs.
The way we work is changing. Businesses no longer need to cobble together dozens of disconnected tools just to understand what is going on. Platforms like Odoo are showing that a fully integrated, customisable ERP can be accessible, powerful and genuinely transformative.
For me, this marks a paradigm shift. One I did not expect, but one I am now fully behind.