Odoo vs. SAP Business One

Odoo vs. SAP Business One: Which is best for my business?

SAP has been the market leader for ERP systems for many years, making SAP Business One the go-to solution for many SMEs. While SAP was initially known for building customised solutions for large companies, the arrival of SAP Business One in 2002 enabled small to middle-sized enterprises to benefit from the expertise of SAP.

By comparison, Odoo is a relative newcomer to the ERP market and has been playing catch-up since. While Odoo's popularity is growing, SAP Business One remains the fastest growing ERP on the market for SMEs.

ERP deployment

While SAP Business One and Odoo both deliver excellent functionality for SMEs, the way they are deployed is considerably different.

As the needs of every business differ, making your ERP work for your organisation is key. With SAP Business One, customisation tools allow the integration of additional features, so that the platform does exactly what you need it to, no matter what you throw at it. And, despite the level of customisation required, SAP Business One is quick to deploy, so you can have it up and running in no time.

In contrast, Odoo takes longer to set up initially. This solution does offer an extensive range of optional independent apps but, due to its modular approach whereby each business function is handled by a single app, you’ll have to allow more time to reach full implementation than with SAP.

Coverage of key business functions

Both SAP Business One and Odoo provide excellent coverage of key business functions, from accounts and HR to purchasing and procurement. For most SMEs, the customisation range of SAP Business One is sufficient for their needs – medium-sized enterprises who are anticipating rapid growth should consider an alternative solution, such as SAP Business ByDesign, instead.

As a newcomer to the market, Odoo has a low entry price point which may be tempting to SMEs on limited budgets, but some aspects are still being developed, such as backwards compatibility, while bug fixes are required on a regular basis. Overall, SAP B1 provides a greater potential for integration, better technical support, and better accessibility than Odoo for most SMEs, especially companies in the apparel and footwear sector.