Odoo Success Story: Upgrading Odoo While Preserving Customizations
Mesa Logistics Group (MLG) provides premium transportation, warehousing, and installation services. In 2022, we explained how Blue Stingray helped MLG leverage the power of Odoo to address a key need with a custom transactions app.
Last year, Blue Stingray assisted MLG as they migrated from Odoo 12 to Odoo 16, providing expert oversight and support during the upgrade.
The Problem: Upgrading from Odoo 12 to Odoo 16
MLG’s production server was on the Odoo.sh platform. The company utilized Odoo 12, which was sufficient for MLG’s business. However, Odoo.sh announced that support for Odoo 12 would end in October of 2023.
While the upgrade wasn’t optional, MLG’s team was excited to take advantage of the new features of Odoo 16. To ensure that the process went as smoothly as possible — and to minimize the “learning curve” from such a significant upgrade — MLG turned to Blue Stingray.
The Solution: Maintaining Odoo Studio Functionality While Upgrading
The upgrade spanned across 10 months. Planning began in January 2023, development began in February, and the production upgrade took place on October 14th.
Blue Stingray identified two major challenges that would need to be addressed during the course of the upgrade:
- MLG had completed a large number of Studio Customizations in Odoo 12. These customizations were reliant on fields that existed in 12, but no longer existed in 16.
- Odoo does not share certain source code for upgrade scripts. Turnaround estimates for the upgrade would need to assume a certain amount of data correction, and the exact timeframe would be unknown until Blue Stingray could complete test upgrades within staging environments.
By understanding how MLG utilized Odoo 12, Blue Stingray was able to form a strategy that maintained functionality from day one of the production upgrade. Our Odoo experts also worked with MLG to identify opportunities to utilize the features introduced in the newer Odoo versions, without adding redundant or extraneous features that wouldn’t benefit the company’s workflow.
The Results: A Clean Upgrade with Ongoing Support
The project was completed on schedule and without losing essential custom functionality. Of course, given the large version jump from Odoo 12 to 16, MLG’s team had questions about the new features; Blue Stingray provided support and guidance prior to and immediately after the production upgrade.
Today, MLG is enjoying the advantages of Odoo 16’s Accounting App, which include:
- Analytic Plans, which allow for Move Lines to be split by percentage across multiple analytic accounts. In Odoo 12, each Move Line could only be linked to a single Analytic Account.
- An autosave feature, which limits data loss.
- A Project Updates board, which displays key information such as Tasks, Invoices, Vendor Bills, and more.
Mesa’s users can now access the information that they need on individual projects much more quickly — which means less time spent on searching and filtering.
An Expert Odoo Partner in St. Louis
Newer versions of Odoo have fantastic reporting capabilities and built-in features that enhance workflows with minimal custom work. By upgrading, businesses can enjoy the flexibility and power of the world’s most popular open-source ERP and CRM solution. Learn about the new features of Odoo 17.
Based in St. Louis, Blue Stingray is an experienced Odoo partner with an established track record. From custom apps to migrations and upgrades, we’re ready to help your business handle its next Odoo project with confidence.
To schedule a demo, get in touch online or call 314.266.8097.
