Manage Odoo on Google Cloud: Why It’s Powerful & How to Start

Odoo and Google Cloud could be a great start if you’re seeking a better way to control increasing costs and business apps.

With this dynamic duo, you can streamline processes, enhance scalability, and unlock growth potential. Let's explore how Odoo & Google Cloud fuel your business and how to get started with this powerful combination.

Read more: Best Odoo 17 Improvements & What To Do Before Upgrading

About Odoo and Google Cloud

1. Odoo

As one of the most widely used ERPs available today, Odoo was initially published in 2005 and has over 12 million users. Odoo is an open-source suite of business applications that can help optimise all of your business aspects, including project management, inventory control, eCommerce, accounting, and CRM. Its open-source access focuses on cost reductions and customisable freedom, while its dynamic community offers continuing development and support.

In addition to its core modules, Odoo has 14,000+ third-party apps in the App Store. Each app is developed to meet your unique requirements. You may select only the apps you require, from lead management and marketing automation to production tracking and e-commerce, and grow your business

Key business management features:

• Sales and CRM: include lead management, order management, sales pipeline management, and more.
• Inventory and MRP: include product management, purchasing, production, warehousing, and more.
• Accounting and finance: include general ledgers, invoicing and payments, analytics and reporting, project costing and billing, and more.
• Marketing and e-commerce services: include email marketing, website building, e-commerce, marketing automation, and more.
• Human Resources, Project Management, and more.

2. Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Google Cloud is a collection of web services meant to assist businesses in their digital transformation. One of Google Cloud's components is the Google Cloud Platform. Similar to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform offers web-based application hosting using public cloud infrastructure. Through GCP and other cloud providers, you can gain free or per-user access to computer resources in Google's data centres.

There are other computing services available, including tools for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, data management, web and video streaming, and GCP cost control.

Several essential products are:

• Computing Services: GCP computing services offer scalable virtual machines and containers so that you can run any task both on-demand and globally. This includes various options such as Google Compute Engine (GCE) for configurable virtual machines and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for efficient container management.
• Networking Services: With GCP’s high-performance and software-defined networking solutions, you can safely and reliably connect your applications and data around the world. This can include a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) for isolating environments and Google Cloud Load Balancing (GCLB) for distributing traffic around the cloud.
• Machine Learning & AI: GCP's advanced machine learning models help you to automate tasks, acquire insights, and make data-driven decisions. Its offerings, such as the Google AI Platform, let users take advantage of machine learning and AI. It also includes tools for modelling, training, and cloud deployment.
• Big Data Processing: This enables you to study huge amounts of data in real time, gaining useful insights, improving decision-making, and identifying new business prospects. For example, Google BigQuery allows you to easily examine datasets, and Google Cloud Dataflow supports stream and batch-by-batch processing.

Read more: Is Odoo for Restaurants? Find Out What Odoo Brings to the Table

Why Odoo and Google Cloud Platform (GCP)?

Many businesses prefer to use Odoo on Google Cloud because it provides access to cutting-edge technology that streamlines processes, enhances productivity, and reduces costs.

1. Increased performance & scalability

Say goodbye to inflexible infrastructure constraints. You can easily scale your Odoo deployment up or down in response to demand in real-time thanks to GCP's worldwide network and on-demand resource allocation. Your system adapts flawlessly to provide top performance without adding needless costs, even if you have seasonal spikes or unforeseen growth.

Additionally, you can access Google's top-notch infrastructure, which has low latency and fast processing power. This guarantees that, despite unexpected cases, your Odoo environment remains up and accessible. There will be no more delays or sluggishness - just seamless user interactions and effective operations.

2. Cost saving

Here you can avoid costly upfront purchases in hardware and software licences. GCP's pay-as-you-go architecture ensures that you only pay for the resources that your Odoo uses, reducing idle costs and optimising your budget. If you require extra resources during busy seasons, GCP makes it easy to scale up and down seamlessly when demand lessens. This dynamic method allows you to stay adaptable while only paying for what you use.

If you deploy Odoo on GCP, you can assign Google's expert teams to handle updates, patches, and maintenance. Due to Odoo's open-source nature, you may avoid complicated licensing contracts, which increases your independence and control over the cost of your software. By doing this, the ongoing costs associated with running internal infrastructure are removed, which frees up your IT resources for other strategic initiatives.

Read more: Odoo Pricing | How Much Does Odoo Cost? | Odoo Cost Estimation

3. Security & reliability

Google Cloud offers strong protection for your Odoo setup by utilising industry-leading security techniques and certifications. Gain from sophisticated threat detection and prevention systems, thorough access controls, and encryption both in transit and at rest. This multi-layered strategy reduces weaknesses and guards against cyberattacks on your confidential company information.

Furthermore, GCP's worldwide infrastructure has a strong track record of uptime and disaster recovery. Even in the event of regional outages, your Odoo environment will remain continuously available thanks to automatic replication across various data centres. This lessens interruptions and guarantees that clients and staff can still access the company data.

4. Google & third-party integrations

Can you picture your sales funnel enhanced by data-driven insights from Google Analytics, or combining your Odoo CRM with Google Marketing Platform to run targeted campaigns? And that's only the very beginning. Using Google's suite of services, you can streamline your operations and uncover untapped possibilities in your Odoo data by utilising BigQuery for sophisticated data analysis, Vertex AI for intelligent automation, and Cloud Firestore for real-time data synchronisation.

Not to mention, you can reach a sizable marketplace with pre-made and specially designed integrations created by outside vendors. This enables you to Integrate payment processing, communication, logistics, and much more into your Odoo setup to increase its functionality. Your workflow will be optimised and your unique business difficulties will be addressed with the ideal solutions thanks to this open ecosystem.

Common options to manage Google Cloud

We suggest three common management options with Google Cloud resources: self-managed, Google-managed, and partner-managed. Selecting the best one for your needs and technical capabilities will rely on what each offers in terms of responsibility and experience.

1. Common management options

Self-managed

In this case, setting up, safeguarding, and maintaining the Odoo instance is entirely the responsibility of your business running Odoo on GCP. These include maintaining databases, configuring virtual machines, networking, installing required software, and doing backups. Although this method gives you the most control over the Odoo environment, it needs a high level of technical proficiency and continuous work from your IT staff. Below are a few points to consider:

• Versatile and adaptable: You can freely design your cloud environment to meet your unique needs
• Cost-effective: It is more affordable than managed services because you pay for the resources you use
• High operational burden: It needs specialised personnel with experience in the cloud to manage security, patching, deployments, and troubleshooting
• Not recommended for novices: Those who are unfamiliar with cloud computing may find the approach overwhelming.

For instance, your software development business decides to use Google Cloud Platform for the deployment of its apps. Provisioning virtual machines, setting up databases, establishing networking, putting security measures in place, and managing containerised workloads with Kubernetes Engine are all handled entirely by your company's DevOps team. They are in total charge of the infrastructure and take care of all internal maintenance and optimisation.

Managed services

Certain businesses might choose to use managed services offered by Google Cloud or external managed service providers (MSPs). The service provider manages activities including server maintenance, security patching, infrastructure provisioning, and monitoring when you use managed services. This lets you concentrate on using Odoo for your business operations, knowing that the service provider's experience will guarantee the hosting environment's best performance and dependability. A few points to note are:

• Reduced operational load: Your staff will have more time to concentrate on important duties because you won't need to have as much technical know-how
• Simplified experience: Cloud management is made easier by automated processes and user-friendly interfaces
• Possibly higher cost: Your total cost is affected by the managed service fee, which is paid in addition to resource usage
• Minimal personalisation: There is less freedom to set up your environment to suit your demands.

For example, suppose you are a medium-sized online retailer and you choose to employ the managed services offered by Google Cloud for your storefront. You may partner with a cloud computing-focused managed service provider (MSP). Virtual machine setup and management, load balancing configuration, system performance monitoring, regular backups, and security standard compliance are all taken care of by the MSP. You then get continuing support and professional management without having to make infrastructural or staffing investments.

Partner-managed

Working with approved Google Cloud Partners that specialise in hosting and managing Odoo is another option. From the initial infrastructure design and deployment to continuing administration, optimisation, and support, these partners provide end-to-end services. You can leverage the experience of a dependable partner to effectively deploy and operate Odoo on GCP in a way that supports your corporate goals. Here are a few points to note:

• Customised solutions: Depending on your demands, partners might offer solutions that are relevant to your sector
• Enhanced support: Get extra help and direction from the partner of your choice
• Flexible prices: It may cost more than self-management but less than hiring Google directly for large deployments
• Vendor lock-in: Selecting a certain partner may reduce your ability to change later on.

For instance, a global company decides to start a digital transformation journey and works with a certified Google Cloud Partner to move its IT infrastructure to the cloud. The partner manages the migration process, creates a personalised cloud architecture with Google Cloud services, does an extensive evaluation of the organization's needs, and offers continuous maintenance assistance. To match cloud plans with corporate goals and take advantage of the partner's experience, the company works closely with the partner.

2. How to choose a suitable management approach

Your business’s specific needs and technological skills will determine which deployment option is ideal for you. Think about these elements:

• Technical proficiency: Do you have a specialised IT staff with cloud computing experience?
• Time and resource limitations: Do you have the time to devote to infrastructure management?
• Customisation needs: Do you need any particular integrations or configurations?
• Budget: Take into account the price of various solutions, as well as the ongoing management and support.

Do not be reluctant to ask for help and advice. To assist you in selecting the ideal deployment strategy for your unique needs, Google Cloud and its partners provide a range of materials and consultations. Do not forget that the best option is the one that will enable your company to succeed using Odoo on Google Cloud.

Final words

If you've made it this far, we hope you have realised the efficiency and different ways to get started with Odoo & Google Cloud.

Are you prepared to get rid of fragmentation and adopt a centralised cloud environment? It’s advisable to ask for support about this important transition. You can collaborate with our proficient Odoo implementation specialists to guarantee a seamless shift and optimise the possibilities of Odoo Google Cloud.