agitech
April 1, 2026
| SERIES: SUCCEEDING WITH YOUR ODOO PROJECT |
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Are you about to launch an Odoo project in your company? You’re right to take this challenge seriously. An ERP project is not just about software — it’s a company-wide initiative that involves your teams, your budget, and your organization over several months. At Agitech, after more than 100 Odoo implementation projects, we have identified the key factors that make the difference between a successful project and one that goes off track. That’s why we created this series of practical articles to support you at every stage of your project. |
This first article addresses project governance — a pillar that is often overlooked but absolutely critical — and helps you discover the 3 key roles to make your Odoo project a success.
Unclear governance is a guarantee that a project will stall. Clear governance is your best ally to stay on schedule and within budget.
The Sponsor: strategic decision-maker (CEO, COO, CFO) : Validates the budget, arbitrates major decisions, and participates in steering committees. They fund and decide, but delegate operational responsibilities.
The SPOC (Single Point of Contact): the main operational contact : They manage the project on a daily basis: workshops, coordination of key users, reporting to the sponsor, and day-to-day decisions. They are the memory of the project.
Key Users: business experts by department : They validate processes, test configurations, and train their teams.
| Size | Sponsor | SPOC | Key Users |
| < 10 employees | Administrator / Executive | Accountant + 1 user | |
| 10-50 employees | CEO / COO / CFO | Manager or senior employee | 1 per department |
| > 50 employees | Executive committee member | Dedicated project manager (full-time) | Several per department |
The SPOC is the operational heart of your project, it's a key role in it. Without them, even the best integrator will struggle. Why? Because the SPOC connects two worlds: your company and the technical team configuring the ERP.
A good SPOC acts as an active filter in both directions. On the client side, they gather input from key users, prioritize it, challenge it, and present it clearly to the integrator. On the integrator side, they understand technical constraints and translate them into business language for their teams. They don’t just relay information — they contextualize it.
This dual translation is a rare and often underestimated skill. The SPOC doesn’t need to be a developer — it’s about curiosity, interest in the tool, and the ability to bridge what the software can do with what the business actually needs.
A good SPOC learns Odoo and actively gets trained. They engage with the tool, get hands-on, and don’t just observe the integrator doing the work. They are a co-actor and share responsibility for the project’s success. A passive SPOC who waits for everything to be done for them is setting the project up for failure.
In SMEs with 20+ employees, appointing the CEO as the SPOC is a critical mistake. They usually lack both the time and the detailed operational knowledge. The result: canceled workshops, delayed decisions, and a project that drifts off track.
In practice, here’s what distinguishes a good SPOC from a bad one:
| ✓ A good SPOC | ✗ A bad SPOC |
| Knows the business, processes, and teams | Discovers processes at the same time as the project |
| Filters and prioritizes requests before escalating them | Forwards all requests as-is, without prioritization |
| Translates technical constraints into business language | Relays information as-is, without context |
| Makes decisions within their scope and takes ownership | Escalates everything to the sponsor, even minor decisions |
| Available for workshops, present and prepared | Cancels meetings, arrives late, unprepared |
| Digitally savvy, becomes first-line support | Fully dependent on the integrator for everything |
A good SPOC doesn’t stop at Go Live. They continue to drive the solution, anticipate future needs, and train new employees. It’s an ongoing effort.
The Sponsor is not there to manage the project on a daily basis — that’s the SPOC’s role. However, their involvement at key moments is critical.
A good Sponsor validates the initial budget and arbitrates in case of overruns, gives the SPOC a clear mandate to make decisions within their scope, participates in steering committees (not in weekly reviews), and publicly supports the project internally to legitimize change.
Without an engaged Sponsor, even the best SPOC will get stuck. The Sponsor is the political guarantor of the project.
Key Users are the guarantors of the business relevance of the solution. They ensure that what is configured in Odoo truly matches the real needs of their department.
A good Key User has deep expertise in their field, actively participates in functional workshops, rigorously tests configurations, reports issues in a constructive way, and then trains their colleagues.
Concrete examples:
These people must have dedicated time for the project — not “if I have time.” Their involvement directly determines the quality of the configuration.
The SPOC (Single Point of Contact) is the operational point of contact who manages the project on a daily basis: workshops, coordination of key users, and day-to-day decisions. They are the operational core of the project. The Sponsor, on the other hand, is the strategic decision-maker (CEO, COO, CFO) who validates the budget, arbitrates major decisions, and publicly supports the project internally. The SPOC executes and coordinates, while the Sponsor decides and funds.
In a very small company (fewer than 10 employees), it is recommended to combine the roles of SPOC and Sponsor under the business owner. This simplified governance works because the owner knows all business processes, is close to operations, and can make quick decisions without complex validation loops. However, even in a small structure, the owner must allocate 20–30% of their time to the Odoo implementation project. Beyond 10 employees, separating the SPOC and Sponsor roles becomes essential to ensure project success.
A good SPOC should have real availability (20–30% of their time during the project), a cross-functional vision of the company, a strong digital mindset, decision-making ability with a clear mandate, strong communication skills to translate technical topics into business language, and change management capabilities. Most importantly, a good SPOC actively learns Odoo, engages with the tool, and gets hands-on. They do not simply observe the integrator — they are a co-actor and co-owner of the project’s success.
The most common governance mistakes include the “ghost SPOC,” who is assigned on paper but never available, leading to delays of more than four months and budget overruns of around 40%; having too many decision-makers, where each department wants control and the SPOC lacks authority, resulting in decision paralysis and timeline slippage; and the absent Sponsor, who signs off and disappears, leaving the SPOC alone to manage major changes. Another frequent mistake is appointing the CEO as SPOC in companies with more than 20 employees, where they typically lack both the time and detailed operational knowledge, leading to canceled workshops, delayed decisions, and a project that drifts off track.
A successful Odoo project relies on a clear trio: an engaged Sponsor who validates and funds, a trained and available SPOC who manages the project day to day, and committed Key Users who ensure business relevance.
Governance is not an administrative formality — it is the foundation of the entire project. Roles must be defined before the kick-off, people must have real time allocated, and everyone must clearly understand their scope of responsibility.
At Agitech, we make governance validation a prerequisite for starting any project. This is not rigidity — it’s experience. With 100+ projects, we’ve learned that governance quality is the number one predictor of success.
To get there, you need to clearly identify and empower the right people — That's how you discover the 3 key roles to make your Odoo project a success.
A strong SPOC, a Sponsor present at the right moments, and Key Users who take ownership of the tool — that’s what makes the difference between a project that delivers on its promises and one that goes off track.
Next article: Budget and scope — how to find the right balance?
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