20 Surprising NetSuite Facts
NetSuite is a cloud based ERP system. It’s a business management tool for front and back office. It promises to be a revolutionary product should you chose to implement it into your business. Some of the bold statements made on their website include:
- The World’s #1 Cloud Business Software Suite
- One unified business management suite
- Trusted by more than 40,000 organisations
- Suits every business size
- Suits every industry
- Suits every role
- Can replace all your current software
Daring statements to make. Are they true?
Well, I have been selling and demonstrating NetSuite for over 10 years and I am one of those sad sales people who collect great customer statements. Genuinely, here are some of the statements made during or after a NetSuite demonstration:
“I didn’t know there was a software system which could do this stuff”
“This is head and shoulders above anything else we have seen”
“There’s no software which is comparable to what NetSuite can do”
“I’m gobsmacked”
I even like to call myself a “NetSuite Evangelist”
So what is all the fuss about? What is it that NetSuite does which shocks our prospects so much?
Here’s a list of just 20 NetSuite Facts which often surprise people (hint: it’s not always the big stuff which gets the biggest round of applause)
1) The dashboard is completely configurable – from pretty charts and graphs to helpful reminders, the data is presented in a series of configurable, drag-and-drop portlets which are all customisable. You decide what information you need and how you see it.
2) Every form is customisable. Need a new field? No problems, simply hit customise at the top right of the form and add your field in. Decide what it is called, where you can view it, whether it is mandatory, whether it requires a selection from a drop down or is free hand – it’s up to you. And more importantly, you don’t need to pay an expensive software engineer to configure it for you.
3) All the data is exportable from any search screen. You’ve run a report in the system but you want to download it as a PDF or into a Word or Excel document? No problems. There are handy buttons at the bottom of each report you can simply click and download. This is useful to remember if you ever want to exit from NetSuite cloud (although I am not sure why you would want to).
4) It has a built in email engine. You can send mass marketing emails, bills, newsletters or individual emails to customers straight from the system. It has most of the same features as you would expect in any email tool (except an alert to tell you when you’ve received a response to your email… but that’s OK because…)
5) There’s a two-way Microsoft Outlook integration. A free plug in, this feature allows you to send and receive email from Outlook but store against customer records. Likewise if you send an email directly from NetSuite it will also copy into Outlook, including any responses back and forth.
6) The Outlook integration also syncs your tasks and events from NetSuite should you chose to do so.
7) You can set an alert to display on your screen at a specified time before an important task, event or call. This reminder will simply pop up on your window or even send you an email alert anywhere between 5 mins to a week in advance of your deadline. Great for remembering those important sales phone calls.
8) It does project management. OK – so this is a biggy, but there have been a number of people who have spoken to us looking for finance, or CRM, or both. But they often get blown away to realise there’s also a project management module (several modules actually) complete with gantt charts, resource allocation tools and time & materials billing.
9) It’s fully mobile. Because it is cloud based you can access it via the internet from any mobile device in any location (providing you have at least a 3G connection). In fact, a 3G connection is sufficient to transact on the system too. The mobile app is especially good for sales people on the road because it isn’t an abbreviated version of the software at all, it just renders well for smaller screens.
10) You can stream your RSS news feed straight onto your dashboard. I use BBC News – Scotland Business but you can choose from any number of pre-built ones or customise your own.
11) You can create bespoke custom portlets. This on top of all the out-the-box standard KPI portlets. One such example is my Phone Number Finder portlet. I use this if I get a missed call from a number I don’t recognise it and no message is left. I search the number in my system from a portlet on my dashboard and if it belongs to a prospect I can call them back. If it isn’t in there it was probably a PPI call.
12) It has some amazing MRP capability. From BOMs to Work Orders and Assemblies, NetSuite has manufacturing capability to rival even the best known manufacturing software companies.
13) The cloud security is second to none. NetSuite’s entire reputation as a cloud software provider is dependent upon keeping your data safe. To that end, they outsource all their data centre operations to a world leading co-location provider, which provides earthquake and fire protection, along with heating, cooling and backup power.
14) There are over 500 million application requests to NetSuite per day. They add 9+ terabytes of data per day to their data centres and still have maintained security of their customers’ data since 1998.
15) There is a huge community of Suite App developers (including Cofficient) who continually extend out the functionality of the software. Whether you’re looking for shipping integration or a credit control workflow – there’s an app for that!
16) NetSuite once saved me from being stood up
17) NetSuite really is for every size of business. The smallest client Cofficient has is a 2 user CRM business. The largest customer turns over half a billion in revenue each year, has multiple subsidiaries across the globe and makes use of NetSuite OneWorld with SRP and Advanced Financials.
18) There are tonnes of pre-built integrations between NetSuite and most well-known software companies like Woo Commerce, Shopify, Magento (ecommerce), Zen Desk & Salesforce (CRM and customer service) and Amazon, Walmart & Ebay (market places). The architecture of NetSuite is so flexible that people are building new integrations all the time. Cofficient rarely gets involved with a deployment which doesn’t have an element of integration to legacy or bespoke software.
19) You don’t have to buy the full ERP. You can simply buy finance. Or just the CRM. Buying one or the other of these pared down versions of NetSuite is much cheaper than buying full ERP, but you can rest assured that the full capability is still at your fingertips if you need to unlock it at another time. The CRM software comes with all three component parts of good customer relationship management software – sales force automation, marketing automation and issue & case management.
20) Despite its rich functionality, it’s super easy to use. Our customer at Simon Community (Scotland) often talk about how their staff are hired for compassion and not IT skills – but yet say that NetSuite is the easiest system they have ever used and talk about how speedily it was widely adopted by users with varying levels of IT capability.
With a list of NetSuite facts like this, it is hardly surprising that NetSuite has some really big customers. Shazam is powered by Netsuite. Pret a Manger use NetSuite for all their financials. Groupon have used NetSuite to power their global roll out as have Hailo taxis.
Bonus fact:
21) NetSuite has a donation programme (netsuite.org) which supports charities and social enterprise across the globe. Some are very well known, like Kiva and SPCA. In the last three years Cofficient have applied for (and won) charity software for 4 not for profit organisations: Simon Community (Scotland), Legion Scotland, TSA and Giffnock Soccer Centre. To find out more simply apply above or get in touch.
To talk to someone about whether NetSuite might be the right solution for your business (HINT: It probably is) just get in touch
