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10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of SuiteWorld 2013

With a new location, a new slate of sessions and a wealth of new NetSuite partners and customers, SuiteWorld 2013 promises to be the best one yet.

The NetSuite conference is moving from San Francisco to the San Jose Convention Center this year to accommodate the roughly 5,000 attendees expected to be at the show May 13-16. And a show with that kind of turnout with more than 180 breakout sessions requires a little preparation. Here are 10 ways SuiteWorld attendees can ensure they get the most out of the conference.

1. Research.  SuiteWorld offers a wealth of information for getting the most out of your NetSuite deployment with sessions that cover every facet of the suite. Factor in some free time, but be sure to spend the time up front figuring out your business needs and the schedule that makes the most sense for you. Then you’ll be better positioned to come home with actionable information.
2. Go Early. SuiteWorld’s preconference in-depth training workshops offer a deep dive into all areas of the solution for intermediate to advanced NetSuite users, spanning reporting, OneWorld, workflows and more.
3. Take Note of the Keynotes. NetSuite leadership (CEO Zach Nelson, CTO and founder Evan Goldberg, and COO Jim McGeever) will open each day with a keynote session providing entertaining, informative insight into NetSuite’s progress, product roadmap and vision for the future of the cloud.
4. Learn at Lunch. SuiteWorld has three ways to make your lunch more than just a break from the show to scarf down some food.  Tuesday offers a chance to sit down with show sponsors to get answers to your questions about the cloud, integration or simply network. Wednesday offers the chance to meet with the user group community and share best practices across multiple roles. Wednesday also presents the chance to have lunch with SuiteWorld bloggers and NetSuite product experts. Just sit down at the table with the topic you’re interested in.
5. Brainstorm. If the excitement of the show and the energy of progressive companies executing on their vision has you inspired, wander over to the SUITEideas area to whiteboard your ideas and get insight from NetSuite product experts on how to execute on your own vision.
6. Network. There’s perhaps no better way to learn and grow at SuiteWorld than by talking and sharing with fellow customers and partners. In the session rooms, the hallways, the coffee area, it’s a chance not only to learn how to get the most out of your NetSuite implementation, but potentially find the right partner or business opportunity. Better yet, chill out in the SuiteLife lounge where you can rest, recharge and network in comfort.
7. Meet the SuiteGuru. Sit down with our technical experts and get your specific questions about CRM, Ecommerce, ERP, OneWorld, OpenAir, the SuiteCloud platform or Web design answered in 30-minute meetings. But be sure to schedule them, pre-registration is required and seating is limited.
8. Tour the Floor. Wander the show floor, pick up some schwag and find the solution your business needs to accomplish its vision. It’s all on display. When you’re done, wander over to the SuiteStore to pick up your official SuiteWorld gift from customers such as Incipio (iPhone 4 or 5 case), Nakajima (Hello Kitty swag), Philz Coffee (lb of coffee), Liberty Water Bottle (official SW water bottle) or School of Rock (t-shirt). 
9. Get Out. You’ve traveled to San Jose, now take some time to get outside. Take a walk, go out to eat at one of the area’s signature restaurants, soak up Silicon Valley.
10. Get Down.  After all the contacts are made, the questions answered and your mission accomplished, be sure to grab a cold drink and have a suite time at Wednesday night’s SuiteCelebration Gala.

We look forward to seeing you. Be sure to follow @NetSuite and #NSW13 on Twitter to keep up to date on the show. If you’re looking for more inspiration, check out the scene
from last year:

 

For more information on SuiteWorld 2013, please visit: http://www.netsuite.com/portal/press/events/nsw2013/main.shtml

Seven Ways Finance Teams Are Being Overworked, and How To Fix It

Accounting and finance teams are being asked to do more than ever to provide actionable analytical insights and help solve business problems on a daily basis. Unfortunately, the haphazard growth of business systems often gets in the way, and the end result is that financial professionals are being overworked and struggling with financial software systems that are simply not up to the task.

Here are some of the most painful ways finance teams are being overworked today:

1. Financial professionals are forced to deal with disparate systems with little to no integration.
2. Manual tasks, such as spreadsheet export/import cycles, are required to answer even the simplest business question.
3. There are no real-time, customizable dashboards available to operational personnel and executives, meaning that every business question has to flow through the financial department.
4. Mobile access to financial data means grappling with VPN connections, or worse, simply having no access to the information while out of the office.
5. There is no company-wide standard for KPIs, meaning there is no clear way to compare costs or performance across different departments or divisions without complex, manual calculations.
6. Subsidiaries are being run on different financial software platforms with no integration or real-time visibility at headquarters, making accurate performance data costly and time-consuming to obtain.
7. Getting hold of data for company-wide reporting, auditing and decision support requires logging in to multiple data systems or asking for IT assistance.

Fortunately, there is a way out of this mess. NetSuite has teamed up with the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) to find answers to these problems. I will be leading a webinar on February 13 at 1:00 p.m. ET and will be presenting IMA research on how these problems are affecting finance leaders, and will moderate a panel discussion of financial executives who will share real-life insights into how they overcome these obstacles in their own organizations.

After the webinar you'll know how to deal with these seven signs of overwork, and know the way forward to improve company-wide visibility and performance. I hope you will join me for the talk by registering now for this free webinar here. There's even a CPE credit in it for you.

-Vishrut Parikh, Director, Product Marketing at NetSuite

Microsoft, Sage VARs See Their Future in the Cloud

In the last quarter alone, seven major channel partners with a long history of providing Microsoft Dynamics GP or Sage products have joined the NetSuite Solution Provider Program. Most are members of the Accounting Today VAR 100. A few years ago, signing just two VARs of this caliber would have been news. Today, it's very clear that even those VARs who have enjoyed tremendous success with on-premise software see their future in the cloud.

By diversifying now, our new Solution Provider partners (Oasis Computer Solutions, Accordant Company, RKL eSolutions, Kraft Enterprise Systems, BCS ProSoft, SWK Technologies Inc. and MIBAR) have made a significant investment in the evolution of their companies. Enhancing a proven practice with cloud solutions is a by-the-numbers decision. The growth in demand for cloud solutions far outstrips that for on-premise systems, and that trend shows no sign of reversing. Strong demand for cloud solutions is frequently cited by new partners as a key reason for joining the NetSuite Solution Provider Program. "We went from seeing cloud mentioned in 10 percent of opportunities, to seeing it in 90 percent of opportunities, in just 24 months," said Bart Nachimow, MIBAR CEO and founder.

We have worked hard at NetSuite to ensure that channel partners don't miss a beat while standing-up their NetSuite practices’ — many partners with decades of experience have praised our program's innovative recurring revenue sharing, partner enablement process, and marketing demand generation opportunities. "NetSuite has taken a very collaborative approach with us as we begin the onboarding process, and they have been easy to work with," said Jeffrey D. Roth, SWK CEO.

Top-shelf VARs aren't just coming to NetSuite so they can say they have an extra club in the bag. Becoming a stronger, more valuable partner for client organizations is simply easier when VARs can offer extensive, end-to-end business functionality in a business suite that is constantly updated to meet emerging business requirements. "Our professional services organization confirmed that NetSuite provides the perfect Cloud ERP solution for our customers and prospects with tremendous depth of functionality for the back office as well as eCommerce functionality for the front office," said Joe Noll, President at RKL eSolutions.

The real story here isn't about one approach to software delivery over another, but about making the best decisions now to position channel partners for long-term success. "NetSuite is the next logical step for us as we stay on the cutting edge of what our clients need," said Michael Drury, Partner at Oasis.

-Amede Hungerford - Sr. Director, Partner Marketing

SaaS Ready in Latin America

When NetSuite started its business back in 1998 with the vision of bringing the power of traditional applications used by the world's largest enterprises to smaller companies via the web, the Internet itself was just starting in Latin America. In 1999 Latin America had only 5.7 million users (1.3% of the total population) and it wasn’t until the late 2000s that Brazil, one of the strongest online markets in the region, would see its first broadband connections.

In recent years, however, huge technological development has followed economic advances in Latin America, and recent studies show that businesses and consumers in the region are eager to adopt the cloud to start benefiting from the SaaS model.

Gartner recently released a study saying that “adoption of SaaS continues to grow and evolve regionally within the enterprise application markets.” According to the research, SaaS revenue in Latin America is forecast to total $419.7 million in 2012, up 27% from $331.1 million last year, with Brazil and Mexico driving a majority of adoption and revenue opportunities.

Growth of the SaaS model in Latin America is also reflected in a NetSuite survey of IT directors and managers of large corporations in Latin America across multiple industries. Almost one-third of the respondents indicated that more than 25% of corporate-wide software licenses/seats within their organizations are delivered as a service, and 60% of the respondents indicated that they would consider the SaaS model in their next ERP upgrade/migration.

According to the NetSuite survey, Latin American IT professionals rank the ability to access cloud-based solutions from everywhere as a key benefit of the SaaS model, closely followed by ease of implementation and cost reduction. Other benefits such as seamless upgrades and reduced upfront investments were also cited.

It’s important to have a clear understanding of differences in product offerings while assessing your future SaaS ERP to make sure your company doesn’t fall into the “wolf in cloud’s clothing” trap. Concerns to address when considering a cloud solution include the ability to customize to meet unique business needs, availability of localized content, performance and business continuity—each of these was mentioned by respondents to the NetSuite survey.

NetSuite, as the pioneer in the cloud business management, has been preparing for the Latin market and addressing the concerns mentioned in these studies, combining built-in customization ability with Portuguese and Spanish translations, local statutory reports and other compliance functionalities, and a state-of-the-art web architecture that provides a great user experience even with low bandwidth connections.

Matheus Carvalho, Localization Product Manager – Latin America

Channels’ Choice – The NetSuite Cloud

One of the things I like best about working with channel partners is that they are not zealots. They make decisions that are best for the success of their business and their clients' business. Successful partners go where the demand is. That's how I know the NetSuite Cloud has truly reached a tipping point, because we are seeing more and larger partners move away from old-world, rear-guard software systems to our Cloud solution than ever before. Simply put, customers are sending signals to the channel that their future IT dollars will be spent in the Cloud, and the smart partners are following the trail to their own future revenue. It's that simple. The Cloud is no longer a place to take risks or to dabble. The Cloud is the place where enterprise transactions are happening and are going to continue to happen, and channel partners who want to remain viable are making cloud computing a core focus. I'm excited every time we build a new partnership with a channel partner that five years ago was more likely to be found with a stack of punchcards than a cloud computing practice. Channel partners are recognizing that NetSuite is their single greatest ally in building loyalty and credibility since cloud computing can only succeed if customers are satisfied and continue subscribing to the service. You don't have to take my word for it. Listen to the partners who have become downright aggressive about trumpeting their shift to the cloud. Listen to the consulting arms of the country's largest regional and international accounting firms, including Baker Tilly and McGladrey, which have made significant and growing investments in the NetSuite cloud. Listen to established names—companies that built their brands on systems like Microsoft Dynamics GP and Sage—talk about their commitment to NetSuite's next-generation approach. Most recently, Blyethco, Sage’s top VAR has joined the NetSuite Solution Provider Program, augmenting existing product offerings with NetSuite cloud business solutions. Blytheco, founded in 1980 and serving more than 5,000 SMB and enterprise clients across the U.S., is launching a new cloud computing practice in addition to its existing Sage portfolio. You'll see this commitment to the Cloud in a number of ways. These channel partners are investing in search engine advertising. They are aggressively talking up their cloud strategies in blogs, at conferences, and in their demand generation efforts. In short, our new partners are becoming just as committed to the cloud as we are. Let's be clear. I am just as enthusiastic about channel partners solely focused on Cloud solutions which, like NetSuite, founded and built their businesses entirely around the 21st century enterprise cloud. But I get special satisfaction when I see new partners break free of old patterns and become just as adept and comfortable in the cloud as those of us who have been doing nothing but living and breathing the cloud for years.

Amede Hungerford - Sr. Director, Partner Marketing

Manufacturing the Cloud: Platform 9 ¾

One of my favorite pieces of creative writing has been the outrageously popular Harry Potter series. In particular, I’ve always appreciated how the author managed to weave little pieces of realism into the story by referencing common elements of modern society to offset the wild and wonderful world of wizardry. Take for example the concept of taking a train to Hogwarts, and only being able to access that train from a special platform — platform 9 ¾.

At NetSuite, we have our own special platform — we call it SuiteCloud. While we recognized a long time ago that the cloud is the place to be, we also recognized that not everyone is ready to hop on a broomstick (or worse, travel by floo powder) to get there. We also recognized that no matter how logical we might think our native business processes or flows are, every business is in fact unique. And not only that, business processes can and should evolve over time to become more efficient.

The SuiteCloud development platform helps bridge the gap between NetSuite’s core business processes and those of our customers by providing a number of tools, including SuiteBuilder, SuiteScript and SuiteTalk.

SuiteBuilder allows the user to personalize NetSuite by adding a checkbox to an Item record as a flag for reporting, or by adding custom records (essentially custom tables) to track any information that isn’t native to NetSuite. There are many uses for this type of functionality but a common use seems to be setting up custom records to track data that is stored in one of the many disconnected silos of information that the average business has—typically in a local spreadsheet or database.

As requirements become more complex, SuiteScript (based on the industry standard JavaScript) can be used to provide validation logic or automate business logic. The key here is that any customizations (fields, records, etc.) added using SuiteBuilder are also available to SuiteScript. That means we can not only capture that information that was once kept in isolation and integrate it into the overall business architecture, but we can enhance its effectiveness as well.

Finally there is SuiteTalk, the ability to have NetSuite communicate with your legacy and third-party applications via web services because we realize that it’s not always practical to migrate your information to NetSuite.

Of course we are constantly monitoring enhancement requests by customers, aligning them with our product roadmap and adding core functionality every six months. So while your SuiteCloud configurations will upgrade seamlessly, they may eventually not be required at all!

So there you have it, NetSuite’s answer to platform 9 ¾ and taking the train to Hogwarts. What are you waiting for? Hop on board! We welcome not only you but we welcome the uniqueness of your business and look forward to helping you see how that business looks where it belongs — in the cloud.

Gavin Davidson — Vertical Market Expert, Manufacturing

Paving the Way for the Enterprise Cloud

The March of Cloud ERP into the Enterprise

At NetSuite we just completed our SuiteWorld 2011 user conference, the largest conference focused on cloud ERP. With over 2,000 attendees encompassing customers, partners, prospects and analysts the message was clear: Cloud ERP has arrived. In fact, as Jim Shepherd of Gartner observed: “cloud based ERP may be approaching the tipping point”.

From fast growing companies such as Groupon running NetSuite, through to global enterprises such as Qualcomm choosing NetSuite for their subsidiaries’ ERP needs, it’s clear that the adoption phase is entering the enterprise.  In fact, by 2014, IDC forecasts that enterprises of 1,000+ employees will account for 43%+ of the total cloud market, and cloud computing in general being adopted at 6X the rate of the broader market. Part of this wave of enterprise adoption means that customers sometimes will integrate cloud with on-premise investments – whether businesses are deploying cloud applications across lines of business, or deploying them in a “two-tier model”, meaning cloud ERP throughout the subsidiaries linking to an existing on-premise system at corporate headquarters.

Unlike their on-premise counterparts, cloud applications deploy quickly. For example, Groupon went live with NetSuite OneWorld in five countries in just six weeks and plans to deploy NetSuite to another twenty-six countries in three months. In fact, cloud applications can often be deployed by the lines of business with little IT involvement at all.

IT Tools to Support Enterprise Cloud Adoption Further Emerge

With this kind of growth of cloud applications into the enterprise and the speed with which cloud applications can be deployed, a need emerges for enterprise tools for IT to coordinate and manage multiple cloud applications, and solutions to further integrate them with existing on-premise investments – from both a data and user management perspective

Earlier in the year, NetSuite announced a partnership with Informatica in just this vein – providing enterprise data integration to enable IT to integrate transactional and reference data across cloud and on-premise applications, a key component of any two-tier strategy.

Now comes the next wave of tools for IT to manage user, identity, and application usage information across cloud and on-premise apps - to weave cloud applications tightly into the broader business. For example, Citrix and NetSuite are partnering to enable corporate IT departments at NetSuite customers to manage cloud and on-premise together from a user and service perspective, which is especially relevant for those NetSuite customers who deploy the two-tier model

The Citrix Cloud Gateway provides a global “front door” that is a single point of entry and control for all apps – including cloud applications, emerging internal services like private cloud apps as well as existing enterprise web, windows and legacy applications.  Citrix’s play is to provide secure access, unified identity management, real-time SLA monitoring, and compliance reporting across applications – cloud and on-premise. Simply, a single point to manage users and service levels across applications – cloud and existing. The goal is to extend the kinds of IT management functionality that’s available for enterprise apps to cloud-based applications and services.               

In terms of NetSuite, the Citrix Cloud Gateway integrates the creation of user accounts in NetSuite into the broader enterprise directory – so when users change roles, or when new users enter the organization – their NetSuite accounts are automatically created. Conversely, when users leave the organization, access is seamlessly turned off from a single point. So businesses can focus on the benefits of cloud ERP, while ensuring that administrative processes, such as user management remain at an absolute minimum.

Cloud and On-Premise Federation Continues

The emergence of these kinds of tools to integrate cloud applications and existing investments, whether across data, or user management is another stepping stone for cloud applications to move further into the enterprise. The opportunity enables IT to engage in weaving cloud applications into the enterprise fabric – and ensure that the value and promise of cloud applications are combined with ease of administration and use.

@pauljturner99

Join SuiteCommerce at SuiteWorld!

We were so excited last year at the NetSuite Partner Conference in San Francisco when NetSuite announced that in 2011 the conference was not only going to be about partners but also about customers! It was long overdue to get the entire NetSuite ecosystem together for a week, to really showcase, meet, and put a face to all the relationships we have built in the past years. 

At SuiteCommerce most of our jobs are done remotely, so we get few chances to meet face to face with our customers. The amazing thing about the cloud is that it allows anyone to build, implement, and consult on different jobs without meeting the customer. So we are really looking forward to meet our customers and potential customers this May in San Francisco.

From my experience, I always look forward to NetSuite’s events because you learn so much about the platform, the people behind it, and you also get to share experiences with hundreds of people that live and breathe NetSuite everyday. Its the only place where you can get your questions answered in a snap!

The different workshops, keynote and awards are all about the software you use everyday, so its crucial to attend, take notes, and most importantly meet people.

A MUST is to attend to Evan's keynote where you will see what’s coming for the product, the vision, and everything that has been built in NetSuite. It will blow you away!

In the Exhibit hall, the different partners will be the ones that will make you feel that you are not alone. That they have the solution you need. The Partner eco-system has grown tremendously, and I am amazed every year at the new products and services that they present. You'll see how vital the partner community is to extend the functionality of NetSuite and the interesting solutions you can build on top of NetSuite.

SuiteCommerce is presenting some cool new products focused on eCommerce customers that I am sure will make you very happy as a NetSuite customer. Tip: eBay Mobile Sales Grew From $600 Million to $2 Billion in 2010. Have you thought about mobile?

We would love to see all of you attend SuiteWorld and visit our booth to get information on what we do and how we do it. We are Gold Sponsors this year, so we are all in!

Hope to see you there, if not visit us at www.suitecommerce.com

Join Merchant eSolutions at SuiteWorld!

With SuiteWorld just around the corner, Merchant eSolutions is excited for what NetSuite has in store for their first annual user conference. As a platinum sponsor and a preferred partner, we feel that SuiteWorld is a great opportunity for customers and partners alike to  network and see what others have done with the NetSuite product.

For those of you not familiar with Merchant eSolutions, we offer a fully integrated credit card processing solution that works within NetSuite to make online payment transactions for ecommerce storefronts, faster, easier and more secure. Stop by our booth to discuss payment processing best practices, learn more about transactions made in different currencies and the best way to manage chargebacks. And as if that wasn’t incentive enough, we’ll be giving away an iPad 2!

Still looking to learn more? We are speaking at a session on May 11 at 3:30pm about how we work with NetSuite to make payment processing faster and safer. If you allow your customers to pay via credit card, you won’t want to miss us! To learn more about Merchant eSolutions prior to the conference, visit us at http://bit.ly/gdmNuu

So pack your bags for San Francisco! We hope to see you there!

- Merchant eSolutions Team

NetSuite SuiteWorld Insight From Epiphany CEO

It’s my first time blogging and it feels like public speaking but in silence. All–in–all a bit unnerving, but rather exciting.

Another exciting first is the opportunity to attend SuiteWorld, NetSuite’s global user and partner conference.  As the CEO of Epiphany, a long standing NetSuite partner and developer, I know this will be a great event.  I can’t wait to see our customers and meet new NetSuite users. I am particularly looking forward to networking and sharing experiences, tips-and-tricks, best practices and more with fellow partners and users.  It is really great to see the NetSuite ecosystem growing and becoming stronger.  

As a Platinum sponsor, Epiphany will host a breakout session at SuiteWorld on May 11, 2011 at 11:00am to discuss how you can be a NetSuite customization hero and make NetSuite YOUR Cloud. Our session at SuiteWorld will feature customers just like you. 

For example, Brian Dougherty from SolarWinds will present.  Brian’s three-person team manages a public company with hundreds of employees and many customizations for a unique software business.  He will illustrate the flexibility of utilizing NetSuite’s scripting and custom records to apply complex business rules associated with re-aligning sales rep territories and all associated customers, opportunities and quotes. For SolarWinds, automation turned a two-day task into a two-hour operation since managers now just “set it and forget it.”

Another NetSuite user is Tom Heideman who manages MasterGraphics’ NetSuite account with 100s of users and a very active web presence.  Tom will share how MasterGraphics is using Epiphany’s e-Contracts module for NetSuite to reduce the workload of what was a month-long process for managing their monthly contracts down to about a week and a half, saving approximately 105 hours and $31,500 per year.

Epiphany’s customers and NetSuite users like Brian and Tom provide us with our best ideas and help us create very robust modules to make NetSuite YOUR Cloud.  We have already started with our various modules like e-Service, e-XL, e-Human Resources, e-Contracts, e-Service, e-Job Costing and our tailored support options. Epiphany customers range from 10-person privately held organizations to public corporations with several hundred employees.  There is something for everyone – come by our session at SuiteWorld or visit us at the SuiteWorld Expo and see how to use workflow, suitelets, tailored dashboards and more. We’ll help you be the NetSuite customization hero your business requires!

See you at SuiteWorld 2011!

Brenda P. Brinkley, CEO
Epiphany, Inc.