The Odoo ecosystem: actors, incentives and realities
Odoo is not just software. It is a complex ecosystem made up of companies, partners, communities and clients, each with a distinct role.
Understanding this ecosystem is key to interpreting narratives, comparisons and recommendations.
Editorial note
Analysing incentives does not imply questioning anyone's professionalism. It helps understand why certain things are said.
Last revision: January 2025
What we mean by the Odoo ecosystem
When we talk about the Odoo ecosystem, we refer to the set of actors involved in the creation, sale, implementation and evolution of solutions based on Odoo.
Mainly:
Each actor has legitimate interests, but they are not always aligned.
The role of Odoo as a company
Odoo is responsible for
- Developing and maintaining Odoo Core
- Developing Enterprise modules
- Defining the official roadmap
- Offering services associated with Enterprise
- Driving the SaaS model
Odoo is NOT responsible for
- Complex implementation projects
- Custom developments by third parties
- Success or failure of a specific project
- Functional decisions of each client
The real role of Odoo partners
Odoo partners are independent companies that:
- Implement Odoo for clients
- Provide functional and technical advice
- Develop modules and integrations
- Provide ongoing support
Not all partners...
- • Work with the same model
- • Have the same level of experience
- • Pursue the same objectives
Grouping them as if they were homogeneous creates unrealistic expectations.
Partner ≠ Partner
A Gold partner focused on Enterprise and a partner specialised in Community can give completely opposite advice. Both can be right in their context.
Incentives and business model
In the Enterprise model, official partners usually have:
Licence sales targets
Volume-related metrics
Benefits for annual growth
These incentives are not negative in themselves, but they influence:
- Commercial discourse
- Initial recommendations
- The weight given to Community alternatives
In many cases, the message is not adapted to the project, but to the model.
The partner ranking: what it measures and what it does not
The official partner ranking is usually based mainly on:
Volume of licences sold
Annual growth
Certifications
The ranking does NOT directly measure:
- Actual client satisfaction
- Complexity of projects
- Quality of long-term support
- Technical sustainability of implementations
Using the ranking as the only selection criterion is risky.
Product support vs project support
Another common confusion is equating:
“I have Odoo support”
“My project is covered”
Official support covers
- • Product bugs
- • Enterprise modules
- • Core issues
Does NOT cover
- • Functional decisions
- • Design errors
- • Third-party modules
- • Custom integrations
Project success still depends on the implementer.
The role of OCA in the ecosystem
The Odoo Community Association (OCA) acts as an organisation for coordinating and standardising community development:
- Fosters open collaboration
- Raises quality standards
- Reduces dependence on the official roadmap
- Covers real functional gaps
OCA does not replace:
- • A consultancy
- • A project team
- • An implementation methodology
But it explains why the Community ecosystem is much broader than is usually shown.
Why such contradictory narratives exist
The contradictions usually do not come from bad faith.
They usually come from:
Different business models
Different incentives
Partial experiences
Commercial simplification
Choosing Odoo is not just choosing software. It is choosing who you are going to build it with and how.
Understanding the ecosystem helps interpret recommendations, filter narratives and reduce unnecessary risks.