Short answer: An Odoo project timeline usually slips not because of coding but because of the chain of questions and decisions. When a project is run remotely from Dubai or any other country, a question that takes 10 minutes on site can take a week: an email, a call to schedule, a wait for the next trip. A local team such as Deep Vision, an Odoo Gold Partner in Tashkent, can come the same day and help you decide in a single meeting.
When managers ask about an Odoo project timeline, they usually count developer hours. In practice, most of the time disappears into the pauses between work: someone waits for an answer, someone schedules a meeting, someone pushes a decision to the next visit. This article explains why projects with a remote team slow down, how to measure it and how to prevent it.
This is not about skill. A team working from Dubai, Europe, Turkey or anywhere else can be strong. But distance adds a little extra waiting to every question, and those waits add up to months.
Why does an Odoo project timeline stretch with a remote team?
The decision chain is every step between the moment a question appears and the moment the answer is decided and configured in the system.
On site, the chain is short: the consultant stands next to the storekeeper, asks, calls in the manager, and a decision is made. Remotely, the same question passes through several links:
- The question is written down and sent.
- The person who should answer is busy; the reply comes tomorrow.
- The reply is incomplete, so a follow-up question is needed.
- A video call slot that suits everyone has to be found.
- On the call, the screen does not show the real process in full.
- The final decision is deferred: "we'll look at it on site next visit".
Each link adds a day or two. A project has hundreds of such questions.
How does remote work change communication?
A Microsoft study of 61,182 employees in the first half of 2020, published in Nature Human Behaviour, found that firm-wide remote work made collaboration networks more static and siloed, with less synchronous and more asynchronous communication. The authors note this may make it harder for employees to acquire and share new information (Nature Human Behaviour).
An ERP project runs on exactly that exchange of new information: the consultant learns your process, your staff learn the new system. When communication turns asynchronous, learning slows down on both sides.
How much do communication problems cost a project?
PMI's 2013 Pulse of the Profession report found that for every US$1 billion spent on projects, US$135 million is at risk, and 56% of that, US$75 million, is at risk due to ineffective communications. About half of unsuccessful projects are also linked to ineffective communications (PMI).
Time is money as well. A McKinsey and University of Oxford study of more than 5,400 IT projects found that each extra year of duration adds 15% to cost overruns (McKinsey). A longer project is a more expensive project.
How long can one question take? An example
The situation below is an example only; the days are indicative. At a manufacturing company, the storekeeper explains that some raw material comes back from the shop floor to the warehouse and asks how to record this in Odoo.
- On site: the consultant walks to the warehouse, sees the return process first-hand and calls in the chief accountant. An option is chosen in 10–15 minutes and configured the same day.
- Remote, day 1: the storekeeper's question is passed on in writing through a manager.
- Day 2: the consultant sends follow-up questions.
- Days 3–4: answers are collected and a call is scheduled.
- Day 5: the accountant is not on the call, so the decision is postponed.
- The following week: the decision is made and configured, and testing again runs over email.
One week for one question. With a hundred questions, the gap is measured in months. And since Dubai is only one hour behind Tashkent, the cause is not the time zone but distance and waiting.
In which phases is waiting most expensive?
Waiting does not hurt every phase equally. It does the most damage at three moments:
- Data migration. When balances, debts and product records move from the old system, every question needs a quick answer. While people wait, new transactions pile up in the old system and the data goes stale again.
- Go-live week. In the first days, cashiers, storekeepers and accountants ask dozens of small questions. If answers are slow, they fall back on the old way of working and trust in the system drops.
- Month-end. If an error shows up during the first month-end close, e-invoicing or reconciliation statements, it has to be fixed that day, not at the next visit.
That is why the consultant's physical presence matters most in these phases. When you plan the project, agree in advance who will be at your site on exactly those days.
How can you tell your project is slowing down?
- Is there a list of open questions, and how many days has each been open?
- Who is needed to make a decision, and do they attend the meetings?
- When was the consultant last at your site?
- What share of questions has been deferred "to the next visit"?
- Are staff still keeping Excel files or paper notebooks in parallel?
- Is the gap between planned and actual phase dates growing?
If several answers are "yes", your project may be stuck in the decision chain. More on typical mistakes: 7 ERP implementation mistakes and our Odoo ERP implementation guide.
How does Deep Vision speed up an Odoo project?
Deep Vision is an official Odoo Gold Partner from Tashkent, with an office at Shahrisabz street 25, office 401. We work in the same city as our clients, so the decision chain stays short:
- If needed, we come to your site the same day and look at the warehouse, shop floor, till and accounting in person.
- We aim to bring the owner, the accountant and the storekeeper into one meeting and make the decision there.
- We communicate in Uzbek and Russian, with no interpreter.
- A typical rollout takes 2–6 months; standard Sales and Inventory often go live in 6–8 weeks.
- Our Odoo partner page lists 7 certified experts and 89% customer retention.
For speed in a real result, see the Timsoll case: setting up a new product in the system went from 6–8 months to 2–3 days. How we work in Tashkent: Odoo implementation in Tashkent. About us: Why Deep Vision and our Odoo implementation service.
Frequently asked questions
How long does an Odoo implementation usually take?
A typical rollout takes 2–6 months. Standard Sales and Inventory often go live in 6–8 weeks. The timeline depends on the number of processes and how fast decisions are made.
Can a project with a remote team be sped up?
Partly: keep an open-questions log, bring the decision-maker to every call, and require on-site work in key phases.
Does the time difference with Dubai slow the project?
The gap is one hour, so it is not the main cause. Delays come from waiting between visits and asynchronous communication.
Can a video call replace on-site work?
For simple settings, yes. For the warehouse, the shop floor and go-live day, no: a screen does not show the real process in full.
How do I start with Deep Vision?
Fill in the brief form. After diagnostics we give you a phased plan with dates.
Sources
- Nature Human Behaviour: the effects of remote work on collaboration
- PMI: The High Cost of Low Performance, 2013
- McKinsey: delivering large-scale IT projects on time and on budget
- Odoo: Deep Vision partner page
To plan your project timeline properly, leave a brief or call +998 77 093 00 07.