Please note: This post was written by Highlander prior to their rebrand to FluidOne Business IT - Sheffield.
Businesses are becoming ever more reliant on the software that supports their day-to-day activities, so ensuring these operationally-critical applications are protected is vital. As both a NetSuite partner and user, no one knows the value of their cloud-based business management software better than us.
2019 is an important year for those running ERP applications; there are big events occurring that could influence your thinking, not to mention other considerations that could make for less complexity or give you an all-important advantage over your rivals.
Here are our top five reasons you need to find the time to take a closer look at NetSuite this year.
1. Making Tax Digital arrives in April
From April 2019, HMRC’s plans to revolutionise tax administration will take effect. Thanks to Making Tax Digital (MTD), businesses recording turnovers above the VAT threshold will be expected to file their returns digitally via an online system. Switching to MTD-compliant software is therefore a must in order to see that your business is successfully meeting these new regulations.
Moving to NetSuite will ensure that your business operates with a compliant accounting platform, avoiding any potential delays, issues, or fines associated with non-compliance. With MTD embedded into its core software, you can be confident that NetSuite will make adhering to the new standards far easier.
2. Microsoft SQL goes end of support in July
If you’re one of the thousands of businesses currently running either Microsoft SQL 2008 or SQL 2008 R2, you’ve hopefully already been alerted to the news that both will going end of support in July 2019. As a result, continuing to use these database platforms behind any of your key business applications beyond this date will put them at risk, potentially leaving your data vulnerable to attacks. Cyber hackers know the deadline and know just what a critical role SQL plays in holding sensitive data and will be on the lookout for those who don’t move with the times.
While you may be willing to take the chance, re-platforming is the sensible choice. Concurrently, now is also the time to be assessing your current architecture and considering the “four Rs” to determine whether your applications need rehosting, rearchitecting, rebuilding, or retiring to streamline the role SQL plays across your business, and indeed whether the applications you’re using are still fit for purpose. SQL end of support creates a fantastic opportunity to secure the long-term future of the applications you build your business around, so it’s best to examine the implications of switching while there is still time to spare, and so you don’t upgrade the database in a panic, remaining shackled to the wrong app.
Clearly, keeping all things the same and simply upgrading SQL is an option, but we would certainly advocate a closer look at NetSuite as a powerful suite of apps your business could benefit from. By switching, you’ll enjoy world-class, cloud-based ERP software that can easily be configured to match how your business works. Thanks to regular updates and enhanced security, your critical business applications will be better protected as part of a dynamic platform that provides greater visibility and accessibility from any device.
3. The headache of disparate and disconnected applications
Business expansion often leads to application-sprawl as you seek to support new and expanding processes. While this might provide you with a short-term fix, you’re often left with a set of isolated applications, running independently and unable to communicate.
NetSuite allows you to unify all your key business applications within a single platform, vastly simplifying a complex environment and putting you in control. What’s more, with clear and accurate dashboard reporting available in real-time, you’ll have a genuine view over everything you do and the performance of your business. Most importantly, all your apps are properly connected, significantly improving time-to-value.
4. Better information powers better decisions
You’re working in the digital economy and things are moving faster than ever. Up-to-date and reliable information is increasingly the difference in how your products and services are experienced, or how you get ahead of the competition. As is often the case with some ERP systems, creating and accessing reports to help analyse your business’ data requires the intervention of a skilled developer, something which is both frustrating and time-consuming.
NetSuite helps you to take back control of your data, thanks to their simple search functionality. Using its single database set-up, your people can access data from anywhere in the world, without the need to rely on a developer to write scripts or reports to access and interpret data. NetSuite self-service search functions are easily written by non-developers and can be saved for repeated use. This speeds up the discovery process considerably, meaning you’re able to make informed business decisions faster and better analyse the data available to you.
5. Cloud comes first
There’s no denying that we’re in a cloud-first world. Many of our customers are now considering cloud-based solutions ahead of more traditional on-premise offerings, looking to capitalise on the time-to-value, increased scalability, lower maintenance costs, and reduced hardware footprint the cloud makes possible. This brings NetSuite very much into the spotlight – after all, it was born in the cloud, and its platform of modular products allows you to effectively run your entire business via little more than an internet connection.
If you’d like to know more about NetSuite and its industry-leading cloud-based ERP, get in touch with a member of the team.
