Odoo, a leader in open source all-in-one business software, announced that they have grown their presence in the Middle East exponentially in the past year, despite the pandemic. In fall of 2018, two people from Odoo’s headquarter team in Belgium landed in the Middle East as part of their commitment to expand in the region, and help simplify the way companies operate their businesses.
The Kingdom has been one of Odoo’s most important and successful regions. Following the attendance at The General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monshaat) outstanding E-commerce Forum back in December of 2019, Odoo continued returning to Riyadh, Jeddah, and Khobar to host their Roadshows.
Today, the team continues to grow their customer base in Saudi Arabia to help both established businesses as well as startups to reach the ambitious 2030 vision goals set by the leaders. Seen as a global business hub, Odoo views Saudi Arabia as the ideal location to continue their collaboration and expansion. When Covid-19 hit the world in the beginning of 2020, many organizations and employees braced themselves during the unprecedented times. Odoo, leaning on its own software, continued to run their business, grasping market opportunities, and assisting their regional clients and partners to grow their own businesses.
Optimal strategies taken up by Odoo, allowed the number of clients to grow. Currently supporting 600,000+ users in the Middle East with its business applications, in Saudi Arabia the users include the likes of Siefco (the largest paver manufacturer in Saudi), Al Bassami International Group (one of the biggest companies specialized in vehicle transportation regionally), as well as Fayendra (a successful jewelry and watch brand) and Saudi Red Bricks Company (a top structural clay products facility in the region).
“Originally, we relied on Microsoft Dynamics, but with our growth plans, our brand required a flexible, scalable, and affordable ERP system” reported Amr Baz IT Manager at the jewelry brand Fayendra “We were so thrilled Odoo was live by February 2020, as their e-commerce feature was our main key to success during the pandemic”.
Odoo’s unique value proposition is to be user-friendly and fully integrated. Working with their expanding partner network that despite the challenges posed by the pandemic grew by over 40% to 430+ partners in the region, has helped form new streams of revenue for companies hit by COVID-19.
With more than 5 million users worldwide, Odoo’s solutions are designed to support businesses of all sizes, with a flexible suite of apps to run and manage all aspects of a business. Odoo’s functionality encompasses traditional ERP, including accounting, stock, and CRM, as well as broader business needs such as project management, marketing, human resources, website, eCommerce, and more. With a modular approach, Odoo provides customizable software that scales with business needs as a company grows. Therefore, Odoo is ideally positioned to provide the necessary tools for Saudi companies to run their businesses successfully.
Odoo operates with an open core business model, a model based on community, knowledge sharing, and transparency. While traditional ERP is expensive and frequently fails to adapt to the unique needs of a business, Odoo focused on listening to the companies they help serve. Providing solutions that fit the businesses in the Middle East, helping them bridge the gap between different departments.