NetSuite

NetSuite Inc. is a company that is in the process of developing Software as a Service (SaaS) for small to medium enterprises. NetSuite was originally named NetLedger by its founders Larry Ellison and his protege Evan Goldberg, but now goes by NetSuite.

History

Oracle Corporation's CEO Lawrence J. Ellison (Larry Ellison) during and just after the dotcom boom worked with two proteges in a small Software as a Service company. Originally, Goldberg wanted to make the company provide tools for Sales force automation. However, Ellison encouraged Goldberg to also build on-line accounting for larger businesses, the field where Oracle was headed at that time. In 1999, Marc Benioff (an ex-Oracle Employee) started Salesforce.com a company that would focus on sales force automation tools that had a more immediate benefit and could be put into customers' hands very quickly — reportedly the precise business plan that Goldberg was persuaded not to use by Ellison. Ellison owns the majority of NetSuite, which to date is not profitable, and is reportedly also a minor investor in salesforce.com, a publicly traded company.

As pointed out by Inc. magazine, NetSuite Inc. was the second fastest growing software company in USA as of 2005, at least as far as revenues go. However, NetSuite, as a private company, does not release its sales or customer figures. NetSuite on-demand software is well-known in its industry and is mainly used by small and medium sized companies in the USA. Due to security issues and risk minimisation, there are few other vendors who have integrated their software in this manner.

Products

According to product brochures released by NetSuite Inc. in 2005, NetSuite has released NetSuite 10 as its base service with NetCRM, NetERP, and NetCommerce as other integratable services. NetSuite also rents out NetSuite Small Business (NSSB) which is a smaller package specifically for micro-traders and very small businesses. NSSB is a derivative of the original Oracle Small Business package, which was made available to NetSuite in its early days of trading.

Services

As NetSuite is implemented around the world, NetSuite believes it is a service provider rather than just a software vendor. However, many analysts agree that software vending is becoming intermingled with service provisions anyway. This is due in part to many micro businesses outsourcing back office functions.

An example of this can be observed where NetSuite in Australia has worked closely with AussiePay to build an Australianized payroll service.

While for some businesses this may be a good thing, NetSuite Australia, by not restricting the platform to NetSuite Inc. alone may cause their customers to be pay a premium cost since there is no competition. Because of this, numbers of analysts in the industry have criticized NetSuite Inc. To them, NetSuite Australia should provide a setting where any third-party provider can interface to NetSuite but provide such a service in competition with others.

Features

NetSuite is a broad application covering business functions as diverse as CRM, ERP, ecommerce, customer support and marketing automation. Each of these also includes groups calendaring and tasking functions.

Implementation

NetSuite cannot be simply installed. For the vast majority of companies it needs to be properly implemented. This has led to the rise of independent consulting firms and value-added resellers.

External links

NetSuite company page
Interview with Evan Goldberg, NetSuite Founder
Small Business Computing Magazine Review of NetSuite.
InfoWorld: Four-way CRM shootout - compares NetSuite, RightNow, SalesNet, EBSuite & Salesforce.com.

References

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