Odoo migration: 5 key points to make the right decision

Odoo 14 is indeed a great success and many of our customers are considering deploying this version. As a historical Gold Partner, we also have more and more requests to migrate  existing Odoo projects (although these were not original Camptocamp projects).

This blogpost will give you the complete checklist you should consider before any migration. This list can differ depending on the chosen scenario, these are described below.

1. Do you have to migrate?

With Odoo, the advantage is that the editor does not force you to migrate to the next major version, which is not necessarily the case with other software solutions.

In the context of an Odoo migration - besides the fact that you always want to be at the cutting edge of technology - you should consider three other aspects: 

1. is your Odoo version still maintained by the editor?
2. what are the new Odoo features available in the standard version that you could benefit from?
3. the risk of the technical debt.

For the first point, you should know that Odoo maintains the last three versions (currently 14, 13 and 12) and that the release of the next version 15 (expected in October 2021) will take all version 12 out of the maintenance scope.

Regarding the second aspect: every year, Camptocamp publishes a blog post listing the main evolutions in the new Odoo version (lately: Odoo 14).This will give you all new and ongoing features that could be useful in your project.

The last aspect regarding the technical debt, is easily answered by any IT specialist. You should avoid it now, and avoid it later.

Lets get real, the longer a software version lasts, the more it is subject to the accumulation of specific developments (bug fixes, addition of new features) and the more its state diverges from the evolution cycle of the standard solution over the following versions. The idea is therefore not to let this debt grow too much because the more you wait, the more it can be tedious and costly to follow the evolution of a given software and therefore to adopt its following versions.

However, we are not saying "no specific development is needed", on the contrary, given the flexibility of Odoo it would be a shame to do without it. Therefore, it is very likely that you have specific developments with relevant long term ROI.

In the end and depending on the context, the migration can indeed lead to significant costs and result in an extensive Odoo migration project. You decide in collaboration with your Odoo integrator when this step makes sense.

When considering a specific project, be sure not to neglect the hidden costs and risks associated with the change management in your organization: the human factor remains key, even beyond the technical aspect.

2. Odoo Enterprise or Odoo Community?

After this first step, the next point is to know which Odoo edition you currently have (Enterprise or Community). In the latest versions, you can view this in the tool by clicking on "Configuration" and scrolling down to the bottom of the page.

With the Enterprise edition, your subscription contract -includes the possibility to migrate - whenever you want - your Odoo database to make it compatible with the next major version. However, this is only valid for the part related to the standard modules (additional fees apply for the specific source code and associated data, see below in this article).

If you have the Community edition, you have several choices:

• take the advantage to switch to the Enterprise edition, which is more extensive and offers additional guarantees from the editor;
• reinstall from scratch a database of the new version by importing data (CSV or SQL injection);
• for those who want to dive into the technical side, look at OpenUpgrade to migrate your database (Open source migration tool proposed by the OCA).

3. Odoo SaaS, Odoo.sh or On-Premise?

If you have the Community edition, it is quite sure that your installation is On-Premise, i.e. not hosted nor deployed by the editor himself.

Concerning the Enterprise edition, you are maybe using the Odoo Online version in SaaS mode hosted by the editor (still called Odoo Cloud). In this case, you can be sure that there is no non-standard source code on your Odoo instance. You can now stop reading and perform the migration operation yourself by following the procedure described in the Odoo documentation :-)

The second possibility is that your Odoo is hosted on Odoo.sh, Odoo's Cloud platform. Odoo.sh is more complete than Odoo Online in the sense that it is possible to integrate non-standard modules i.e. community and/or specific modules.

Last case, you have Odoo in On-Premise mode:

• Odoo is either hosted on another Cloud platform than the one of the editor (your Odoo integrator) ;
• or you have a virtual server with Odoo "simply" installed by a  hosting company;
• or Odoo is on a physical server that you own 

4. How old is your current version?

A new major version every year has become the norm for Odoo!

Migrating your database to the current version (14) is less complex if you have a relatively recent version (13, 12, 11) which is generally the case for Odoo projects from 2018 onwards.

For an older version, there have been significant technical changes and functional evolutions since then, which probably requires possible specific developments:

• either a roll back to the standard ;
• or a re-architecture, trying as much as possible to use recognized Odoo community modules.
   

That's why at Camptocamp, for a version 10 or earlier, we generally prefer a re-architecture, which has proven to be more relevant

Concerning the customizations made directly via the web interface, there are good and bad ones.

There is indeed a bad practice which consists in going into debug mode in the interface and "fiddling" with the views and other aspects of the software. This is certainly fast, but very unstable in the long run and nobody remembers why or how! neither the editor or a recognized Odoo partner "works" this way.

If you want to know for sure:

• save your production database;
• import it on a test Odoo instance;
• connect in administrator mode, activate the developer mode;
• go to Apps, uncheck the filters and search for the base module (the Odoo core) and click "Upgrade" (this takes some time);
• this operation will overwrite any bad customizations and restore the standard behavior. If you have lost elements, if others are modified or if you have bugs appearing, then you have bad customizations on your base!

As for the good customizations, they are those made with the powerful Odoo Studio module that allows to isolate and trace them → they will be easier to take on in case of a  migration.

In conclusion.

In the end, upgrading your Odoo version can be quite easy if you are on an Odoo Enterprise edition, with few specific features (or not at all) and a version that is not too old.

For other situations, it is more difficult and an experienced Odoo integrator (at least 10 years of Odoo experience according to us) will be a really precious asset to help you set up the best strategy: stay in Community or move to Enterprise, consider a re-implementation with maybe even a brand new vision of your project.

We hope that our article will help you to see things more clearly.