Customers are aware and competent day-by-day, and the information is easily accessible; so, the customer could have their own choice to mix and gather business management modules from different vendors, in the future. Because, specific ERP modules from different vendors might be identified closest and effective to the business requirement – needless to say, customer’s decision is the final whistle to end-up the sale close game, isn’t it? And, here, the tech-marketers have to be more bright and intelligent in making strategy to win the customer’s mind. This is not new that Clouds are talking and collaborating to each other seamlessly – “inter-cloud network”.

A predictive insight is – API development could have a new hight and dimension incorporating the more deep intelligence with AI enabler – will not be limited to hand shaking between neighbouring vendors apps, platform and data push-pool task, rather APIs are expected to be more aware of application processes and complex cross-functional activities of the components.

Odoo, formerly known as OpenERP, is a comprehensive suite of open-source business management software applications. It is designed to help businesses of all sizes manage various aspects of their operations, including sales, customer relationship management (CRM), inventory, manufacturing, accounting, human resources, and more. Odoo provides an integrated and modular approach to business management, allowing organizations to select and customize the specific modules that meet their needs.

As History and Background – Odoo was founded in 2005 by Fabien Pinckaers in Belgium. It was initially known as Tiny ERP and later rebranded as OpenERP. The company and its product underwent significant development and changes over the years, eventually becoming Odoo. This evolving ERP has experienced rapid growth and has a global presence with offices and partners around the world. One of the major strength of this Business Management Application is its’ Modular Architecture, which allows businesses to choose the specific modules they need and expand as their requirements evolve. The common modules include Sales, CRM, Inventory Management, Manufacturing, Accounting, HR, Project Management, eCommerce and so forth. There are also industry-specific modules and apps available to cater to various business niches.

In question of Customization and Development, this power ERP provides a development framework that allows users and developers to create custom modules and applications. For this purposes, Python is the primary programming language used for Odoo module development. Customizations can be made to adapt the software to specific business processes and requirements. It has two edition – Community (CE) and Enterprise Editions (EE). The Community Edition (CE) of Odoo is open source and free to use, making it accessible to small businesses and startups. The Enterprise Edition (EE) offers additional features and support services, making it suitable for larger enterprises. The Enterprise Edition is available on a subscription basis and includes support, updates, and more advanced functionality.

As the Integration Capabilities – Odoo is designed to integrate seamlessly with other software applications and services. It provides APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) and connectors to facilitate data exchange with third-party systems. This integration capability helps businesses create a unified IT ecosystem. Regrading the User Community and Marketplace – Odoo has a large and active user community, which contributes to its ongoing development and improvement. The Odoo App Store (also known as Odoo Apps) is a marketplace where users can find a wide range of third-party apps and extensions to extend Odoo’s functionality.

As additional strength; Scalability, Mobile Access, Localization and Multilingual Support, Reporting and Analytics and so forth are very significant.

All Business Management Applications need huge volume, secured and high-performance, low-latency Storage for its massive processes intensive and cross-functional, multi-level operations. Cloud Disk Storage offers high-performance, durable block storage for your mission-and business-critical applications. It offers sub-millisecond latency for high-throughput and transaction-intensive workloads such as SAP HANA, SQL Server, and Oracle. Disk storage options built for the cloud Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – Ultra Disk Storage, Premium SSD v2, Premium SSD, Standard SSD, and Standard HDD – to optimize costs and performance for your workload.

Creating and maintaining an audit trail for an ERP system in the cloud is crucial for tracking and monitoring all activities within the system. Here are some steps to establish an audit trail:

Enable Audit Logging:
Most modern ERP systems and cloud platforms offer built-in audit logging capabilities. Enable these features to start recording activities.
Define Audit Policies:
Determine what activities you want to track and log. Common events to audit include user logins, data changes, configuration modifications, and access to sensitive data.
Capture User Activities:
Record who performed each action, including their username and IP address. This information is critical for identifying unauthorized access or suspicious behavior.
Data Changes:
Track changes to critical data fields, such as financial transactions, employee records, and inventory levels. Capture the old and new values to facilitate forensic analysis.
Timestamps:
Include timestamps for each logged event to establish a timeline of actions within the ERP system.
Data Retention:
Define a data retention policy for audit logs. Ensure that logs are stored securely and comply with any regulatory requirements for data retention.
Access Controls:
Limit access to audit logs to authorized personnel only. Implement role-based access controls to restrict who can view and manage the logs.
Encryption:
Consider encrypting audit logs both in transit and at rest to protect them from unauthorized access.
Regular Review:
Schedule regular reviews of audit logs to detect anomalies or suspicious activities. Automated alerting can help notify administrators of potential issues in real-time.
Reporting:
Generate reports from audit logs to provide insights into system usage and security. These reports can be useful for compliance reporting and investigations.
Integration:
Integrate your audit trail with a centralized security information and event management (SIEM) system for comprehensive monitoring and analysis.
Archiving and Backups:
Ensure that audit logs are regularly backed up and archived to prevent data loss and maintain historical records.
Compliance:
Ensure that your audit trail setup complies with industry-specific regulations and standards, such as GDPR (General Data Protection Act), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), or PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) , if applicable to your organization.
Response Plan:
Develop an incident response plan that outlines actions to take in case of security incidents or breaches detected through the audit trail.
Training:
Train the IT and security teams on how to interpret and respond to audit log data effectively.

These steps are very important to establish a robust audit trail for your ERP system in the cloud, enhancing security, compliance, and accountability of the organization.