As a firm grows, the necessity for a system to handle and oversee all of the company’s various business processes becomes more obvious. An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system’s involvement becomes crucial at this point. An ERP system enables firms to combine all of the tools required to manage various business activities into a single unified system, resulting in increased efficiency.

Odoo is one of the most prominent ERP system suppliers. The Belgian firm has quickly evolved and expanded its capabilities beyond standard ERP systems such as a website development services and an eCommerce platform. Since it was first published in 2005 as TinyERP and rebranded to OpenERP in 2010. As a result, in 2014, it changed its name to Odoo to highlight this growth.

Features of Odoo

Odoo is a distinctive ERP system provider because it is open-source, which means that its source code is available to the web developer community and may be updated upon. Although it switched to an open-core business model starting with version 9, with some capabilities only available in a premium enterprise edition. It still preserves the majority of its basic functionality in its open-source community edition.

The system is highly adaptable, as it can be adjusted to meet the specific demands of each business. It uses a modular structure, which starts with the most basic capabilities and allows organisations to add functionality through modules, in addition to adjustable database configurations. These can be built by a qualified Odoo 9 developer or selected from modules already available.

Projects and Assignments of Odoo Developers

Odoo developers work on a variety of projects. Let’s look at the simple ones:-

System Configuration

Installing Odoo on a server for users to access is the first and possibly most basic operation for an Odoo developer. The specifics may vary depending on the server being used.

Existing System Enhancement and Modification

Odoo developers’ main responsibilities would include customising and improving current systems to meet the company’s needs. This could entail using commonly accessible modules, creating custom modules, or modifying code to offer more functionalities.

Assimilation with External System

Integration of the system with external elements such as eCommerce and ticketing systems would be another job.

Consultation

Specialists in Odoo and ERP systems in general may also be recruited to answer queries or offer analysis relevant to the system.

Skills and Expertise to Look For While Hiring Odoo Developers

Comprehensive Background with Odoo

The first quality you should look for in an applicant is significant familiarity with and development of Odoo systems. A competent Odoo developer should have at least 2 years of experience with the system and be capable of installing, customising, and designing custom modules and added features.

Python Programming Language

The most significant language in this technology stack is Python. Odoo’s scripting language is Python, hence Odoo specialists must have a thorough understanding of Python programming. In order to create or alter modules for the system, a lot of Python coding is required. The majority of Odoo development is done in Python.

Knowledge of SQL and PostgreSQL

Because the mentioned system employs PostgreSQL as its database management system, some knowledge of PostgreSQL is required while creating or altering the company’s database tables and records. Knowledge of other database systems, such as Odoo MySQL, may be useful in addition to Odoo PostgreSQL because this system can be linked with them. As a result, changing or implementing data transformation functions in modules requires a strong understanding of SQL query formulation.

Knowledge of Business Operations and ERP Systems

A great Odoo developer should have a deep awareness of the landscape he will be operating in, in addition to strong technical skills. Being a great coder isn’t enough; he also needs to be able to integrate the features he creates with their real-world applications in order to provide the greatest possible user experience, and ultimately, the best possible experience for the entire company.

Tasks You Can Allot To Test The Expertise of Odoo Developers

  • Simple Python Programming Task
  • PostgreSQL Data Management Task
  • Business Demonstration and Understanding of ERP Systems

Questions to Ask in Interview for Odoo ERP Developers

Apart from the sample assignments you would present while screening or looking for a potential Odoo developer, it’s also a good idea to ask a few technical questions. Asking technical questions allows you to assess an expert’s comprehension and depth of knowledge. Some of the questions you would want to ask potential Odoo developers for your projects are listed below:

  • What is the purpose of key “data” in the manifest file?
  • Which type of models are used for wizards?
  • What is the purpose of record rules?
  • What different types of model inheritance are used in Odoo?
  • Describe the developer mode of Odoo.

These are just a handful of the many technical questions you might ask to assess a prospective developer’s level of expertise. One of the most effective techniques to filter and select the best possible candidate for your development project is to test potential applicants’ technical abilities and knowledge. Now that you know what constitutes the best Odoo developer and how to test a possible Odoo developer’s technical skills and expertise, the next step is to figure out where and how to get these Odoo developers for your team.

Ways to Find and Hire Odoo Developers

Direct Hiring

You may employ freelance Odoo developers from a variety of freelance portals. Due to severe worldwide competition, rates might drop to extremely low levels, making this a cost-effective choice. This, however, carries considerable risks. Hiring low-cost Odoo developers can involve hiring from a different nation, which means there will be a big time difference and possibly some language problems, making scheduling, cooperation, and communication difficult. Furthermore, responsibility is harmed because freelancers might quickly drop out of the project or cease replying to you for a variety of reasons, leaving you with little recourse.

There are several ways to contact Odoo coders working as freelance experts or Odoo developer teams using social media and online networking sites. In addition to contacting these professionals, a review of Odoo developer CVs becomes a must. Finding skilled developers is difficult because programming in this system has become a thriving market.To address this issue, reputable Job Boards such as Indeed.com and LinkedIn have become increasingly popular in compiling information on experts eager to provide their skills. These websites offer a wide range of information to assist you in making your decision, ranging from basic information to whole CVs for your review.

Outsourcing

You can also use outsourcing companies to handle the complete project development process for you. This relieves you of a lot of work because they will be the ones to give developers and handle the project. Outsourcing charges, on the other hand, can be fairly expensive, especially when additional personnel such as project managers are involved. Furthermore, it gives you very little control over your project, so minor misunderstandings in the specifications might lead to major errors, which can cause the development to take longer and spend more money.

Time to Hire The Best Odoo Developer

Enterprise resource planning systems provide several benefits to organisations, and the aforementioned system is one of the most popular platforms for ERP solutions. Because each organisation is different, one-size-fits-all software isn’t appealing; instead, each ERP system should be adapted to the individual demands of each firm, which an Odoo programmer can achieve.

After reading about what an Odoo developer is and the talents and experience they provide to the development team, it’s safe to say that hiring Odoo programmers and ERP developers is a wise investment. However, we haven’t mentioned the cost of hiring these experts; given the competitive market for their services, finding an Odoo developer for hire can be pretty costly. However, because of advancements in technology and communication, you can now find and hire Odoo developers remotely or offshore.