NetSuite: The tailor-made ERP

Please note: This post was written by Highlander prior to their rebrand to FluidOne Business IT - Sheffield.

If an ERP implementation is on your radar in 2022 then it’s likely to be one of the biggest projects you will undertake all year.

It’s a solution that touches every area of your business, so getting the implementation right involves not only plenty of preparation work, but contribution from key stakeholders to understand exactly how your new ERP platform should work for your business.

This is where NetSuite’s cloud-based ERP comes into its own. One of the biggest reasons it is such a good fit for businesses of all kinds is the level of customisation available to create a unique solution. No two businesses are ever the same, so a one-size-fits-all application probably won’t achieve the outcomes you’re looking for. As we’ve experienced through many projects, even those operating within our own industry, there are always intricacies and operational processes that differ from one organisation to the next. NetSuite provides powerful tools to ensure your ERP tightly aligns with your processes and how you want to work.

Here’s 3 ways NetSuite measures up to your business:

Like any other cloud-native solution NetSuite can be delivered via a license paid for as part of an ongoing subscription. ‘Out-of-the-box’ there are many standard features spanning ERP and CRM, including Accounts Payable and Receivable, Project Management, Order Management and Marketing Automations.

While this covers much of the baseline functionality you may need from an ERP, there’s a good chance you will require support for other operations across multiple departments. Accordingly, there will be many other additional capabilities required. For example, Resource Planning, E-commerce, Inventory and Payroll all fall outside of the standard ERP platform. But while these might already be deployed as existing point solutions, continuing with siloed apps inhibits the business-wide visibility that most leaders want and is a key part of the NetSuite proposition.

NetSuite offers several modular solutions that can be added to extend the capabilities of your platform to deliver the precise functionalities you need. This ensures that nothing has to sit outside of your ERP on disconnected solutions and gives you complete visibility and control over every area. It’s a key step to unlocking greater insights and real-time performance that informs business strategy.

Where existing modules aren’t available or prove cost prohibitive, there are still routes to enhance the functionality of your ERP.

NetSuite is built on powerful APIs that allow integrations with third-party applications, all of which can be accessed with the SuiteApps marketplace.

These are NetSuite-ready applications built by approved developers that can be easily hooked into your NetSuite platform. This is especially helpful when scoping out an initial solution, as SuiteApps offer a valuable avenue for cost saving and shorter lead times without the need to compromise on functionality.

An example of this is our recent deployment for Data Installation & Supplies Ltd, where the identification of an alternative Resource Management application delivered a significant saving to help bring their project in line with budget requirements.

Even with the addition of new modules and SuiteApps applications, there are always ‘if only’ features that can put the icing on your ERP cake. It might be that a SuiteApp already exists to deliver the overarching functionality you need, but there are small intricacies around the way your business operates that mean it doesn’t quite hit the mark.

It might be, for example, that you have identified an application to support automated payroll, but you need something that can calculate different rates based on the time of day or the date this work was carried out using information from your resource planner.

NetSuite comes equipped with an integrated Java platform called SuiteScript. This allows developers to create customised scripts that add new functionality where this isn’t available, ensuring that you can tailor the features of the modules and applications chosen to support the way your people work.

The sky really is the limit when it comes to what can be created within NetSuite. With every NetSuite project, discovering how best to match functionality with budget and the best mode of delivery is an exciting part of the journey. Whichever approach proves best for your business, it’s great to know that Netsuite offers so much freedom to create a highly customised solution that properly aligns with the way you work.

While embarking on an ERP project can seem like a scary prospect, our experienced team are ready to help. We’ve delivered many NetSuite projects for all sorts of businesses and have extensive experience working with all the approaches outlined in this article to deliver some impressive functionality.

If you’re looking to kick off your ERP project this year, get in touch with us to discuss the options available.