Independent ERP consultant or vendor partner: who should choose and implement Odoo or Dynamics 365

Vendor partner or independent consultant: what you are choosing

A company of 20 to 100 people picking Odoo or Dynamics 365 usually gets pitched by three kinds of firm: a vendor partner, a selection-only adviser, and an independent implementer. They answer different questions, and they are paid in different ways. The label on the website does not tell you which one you are talking to.

Flectic is an independent implementer of the kind this guide describes. It works as an ERP selection consultant and implementer for both Odoo and Microsoft Dynamics 365, earns no vendor quota on either and holds no certification from either vendor, so the checks below apply to us as much as to any firm on your list.

This guide covers the choice most buyers of this size make first: hire a vendor partner (an Odoo Ready Partner, a Microsoft Solutions Partner) or an independent consultant to choose and implement the platform. It does not repeat the generic vetting steps in how to choose an ERP consultant, the scoring method in the ERP vendor selection checklist, or the budget weighting in ERP selection for SMEs. It answers one narrower question: whose incentives sit behind the recommendation you are about to receive.

The three types of firm you will meet

Selection-only advisers sit on the buyer's side. ERP Research, an independent directory, describes an independent ERP consultant as a paid adviser who helps you select, plan and oversee a project without reselling any vendor's software, and who earns no license margin and no referral commission. Panorama Consulting and Ultra Consultants both describe themselves as independent of vendors on their own sites, and both also list implementation among their services, so check what a given firm will and will not bid for. The core of the type, per ERP Research, is requirements, shortlists, scripted demos, contracts and oversight. ERP Research lists a thin bench and limited hands-on build capacity as the main risk, and says the practical pattern is to use an adviser to decide what to buy and a vendor partner to build it.

Vendor partners implement one platform. An Odoo partner configures Odoo, and a Microsoft partner implements Dynamics 365 and the Microsoft stack. They hold the vendor's program status, they employ certified staff, and they build and support the system after go-live. Their advice on which platform to buy comes from a firm that sells only one of the two.

Independent implementers of both platforms are the third type. They recommend between Odoo and Dynamics 365 and then build the one you choose. Flectic is one. The trade is stated in the next sections: you get one team and no handover between adviser and builder, and you give up the arm's-length position of a selection-only adviser.

What each type earns when you pick a platform

Ask every firm how it makes money on the platform it recommends. The answers differ in kind.

Odoo publishes its partner terms. Odoo's partner page lists up to 20 percent commission on Enterprise licenses for official partners, and says Odoo takes no percentage of partner services fees, which partners set themselves. The same page says new Enterprise users per year and certified staff are requirements for each partner level. A partner that sells you Odoo Enterprise earns a commission on the license and fees for the services, and its program standing depends on landing new Enterprise users.

Microsoft Solutions Partner designations work through a score rather than a quota table. Microsoft's Partner Capability Score gives each solution area up to 100 points across performance (net customer adds), skilling (certifications) and customer success (usage growth and deployments). A partner with a Business Applications designation has an incentive to grow Dynamics 365 customers, because net customer adds is a scored metric.

A partner can act in good faith and still start from its own platform. A firm that sells only Odoo has little reason to tell you Business Central fits better. An independent firm that resells neither has no license margin to protect. That removes the largest conflict. It does not remove the smaller one: a firm that also builds the system earns services fees when you go ahead.

What a partner certification means and does not mean

A certification is evidence of vendor-approved training and of volume. It is a useful screen when you need a firm that can pass the vendor's checks, and it is a poor test of whether the firm is right for your business.

On Odoo's side, the Ready level lists 10 new Enterprise users a year and 1 certified active internal resource. Silver lists 75 new Enterprise users and 3 certified resources with a 70 percent minimum retention rate. Gold lists 300 new Enterprise users, 6 certified resources and 80 percent retention. The levels measure sales volume, certified headcount and retention. They do not measure how many projects went live on time for companies your size.

On Microsoft's side, a Solutions Partner designation needs a Partner Capability Score of at least 70 points in the solution area, with every metric above zero. The score blends customer growth, certified people and deployments. It confirms the firm is active and trained on the platform. It says nothing about whether the person assigned to your project holds a certification, and nothing about whether the firm will tell you to buy the other product.

What a certification does tell you: the vendor knows the firm, the firm has trained staff, and escalation to the vendor is easier. What it does not tell you: that the advice is neutral, that the team on your project is the team in the pitch, or that the firm has references at 20 to 100 users. Ask for those separately.

What selection-only advice costs against a bundled discovery

ERP Research puts typical US rates for an independent ERP consultant at 150 to 500 dollars an hour, depending on seniority, and gives fixed-fee ranges: 15,000 to 75,000 dollars for a selection project that covers requirements, shortlist, scripted demos, RFP and recommendation, and 8,000 to 30,000 dollars for a readiness or roadmap assessment. Those ranges come from a directory describing engagements in general, with larger programs in view, so treat the top of the range as a signal about enterprise scope and not as a quote for a 40-person company. It lists vendor partners at 150 to 250 dollars an hour.

A selection-only engagement is a separate purchase. You then pay a second firm to implement, brief that firm on what the first one decided, and manage both. The benefit is distance: the adviser can criticize the implementer's estimate because it will not build the system. The cost is a handover and a second set of invoices.

A bundled discovery moves the same work inside one firm. The discovery call is free, and Flectic then sends a written proposal with a fixed price for each phase before work starts. Whatever the firm, compare scope line by line: requirements, both platforms evaluated, a written recommendation, and a named person who delivers it.

Do not compare software license prices as if they were advice. Vendor list prices are public (Odoo lists Standard from 24.90 per user a month) and they sit outside any consultant's fee. The ERP comparison matrix puts both platforms' list prices on one page.

How to verify an independent firm

Independence is a claim until the firm shows evidence. ERP Research recommends asking in writing whether the firm holds any reseller, referral or commission agreement with an ERP vendor, and whether it takes payment from vendors for inclusion in a shortlist. Add the checks below.

1. Ask for the agreements in writing

   Request a signed statement that lists every reseller, referral, commission, marketing-fund or vendor-payment arrangement, or states there are none. Also ask what share of last year's revenue came from implementation delivery rather than advice. Treat a refusal to answer as an answer.

2. Ask for a recommendation that went against the market leader

   ERP Research suggests asking for a selection where the firm recommended against the obvious market leader. For this decision, ask for one engagement that ended with Odoo and one that ended with Dynamics 365, and what drove each.

3. Ask for sample deliverables

   A redacted fit-gap, a platform recommendation memo, a first-phase scope and a project plan show how the firm thinks. A firm with no sample of any of them has no repeatable method yet.

4. Call two references in your size band

   Ask for two projects that went live in the last three years at a company of similar headcount and complexity. Ask what went wrong and how the firm handled it. Call them yourself.

5. Get the recommendation in writing before configuration

   The recommendation should name the platform, the reasons, the trade-offs against the other platform, and the cost range, and it should arrive before any build work is contracted.

6. Find out who leads

   The person who runs discovery should be the person named in the statement of work, with a substitution rule you approve. ERP Research flags a principal-rate proposal delivered by an associate as the most common billing surprise.

Vendor partner, selection-only adviser and independent implementer side by side

The table summarizes the differences that matter for a company of 20 to 100 people. Fee ranges are from ERP Research and describe the US market in general. Statements about Flectic come from its own service pages.

When a vendor partner is the better choice, and when an independent firm is

Choose a vendor partner when you have already decided on one platform, when your contract or lender requires a vendor-certified implementer, when you need a large bench for many sites or countries, or when you want direct access to the vendor's escalation path. At that point the advice question is closed and you are buying capacity.

Choose a selection-only adviser when you want a recommendation from a firm that will not bid for the work, when the program is large enough that a second firm to police the implementer pays for itself, or when you must run a formal RFP across many vendors.

Choose an independent implementer of both platforms when you are between Odoo and Dynamics 365, you have 20 to 100 employees, and you want one senior person to carry the decision through to launch. Read the Odoo or Dynamics 365 guide first if you have not yet narrowed the field.

Where Flectic fits

Flectic is an independent consultancy that implements both Odoo and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for companies of 20 to 100 people in the US and Canada. It earns no vendor quota on either platform, recommends one in writing after discovery, then implements it with the same senior consultant from discovery to launch.

Flectic holds no certification from Odoo or Microsoft. It is not an Odoo Ready, Silver or Gold partner and not a Microsoft Solutions Partner. Choosing Flectic means choosing a firm without the vendor's endorsement, and a lender, a parent company or an internal policy may rule that out.

By ERP Research's strict test, a firm that advises on selection and also bids for the implementation is not independent on that engagement. Flectic does both, so the test applies. What Flectic can offer is structure around it: no commission or quota on either platform, a written recommendation that compares both before any configuration starts, and a free discovery call, with each phase priced and approved separately. If you need an adviser with no interest in the build, hire a selection-only firm instead.

Look elsewhere when you need a vendor-certified partner, when you are above about 100 users or need multi-country Finance and Operations, or when you have already chosen one platform and want the largest specialist bench for it. Read Flectic's ERP selection service for the scope, or compare the platforms on Odoo and Dynamics 365.

How Flectic can help

Flectic's ERP selection service is built for the decision this guide describes. A free 30-minute discovery call with a senior consultant gives you a platform leaning. Flectic then compares budget, integrations, reporting, in-house capacity and growth plans on both platforms and sends a written platform recommendation with a fixed price for each phase. Flectic earns no vendor quota on Odoo or Dynamics 365 and holds no certification from either vendor. Book a free discovery call to test your shortlist against the checks above, or read the ERP selection scope first.

Frequently asked questions