Leading Universities Take Higher Education to the Cloud With NetSuite

SAN MATEO, Calif., Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP software suites, today announced that thirteen North American university accounting programs have made the move to the cloud by adopting NetSuite as a key component of their degree curricula. Purdue University; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Toronto; Arizona State University; Indiana University; Marietta College; University of Hawaii at Manoa; University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Santa Barbara City College; The Citadel; Bellevue University; Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and North Georgia College & State University are among the institutions that have embraced NetSuite for many of the same reasons thousands of companies worldwide have switched from on-premise software to the NetSuite cloud—to keep pace with 21st century business and computing trends, avoid integration hassles, and escape the vicious cycle of software upgrade and maintenance costs caused by on-premise software such as SAP, Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains and QuickBooks. The NetSuite cloud business solution is predominantly introduced in the third and fourth year of degree programs, meaning that the next generation of managers, entrepreneurs, and business professionals can come to the job market with a stronger understanding of business operations and a clear understanding of the power of cloud computing.

Higher education accounting programs are increasingly recognizing that the same trends affecting the global business community are reflected in the classroom environment. As the demand for cloud-based business management solutions grows, tomorrow's business leaders must be ready to hit the ground running with an understanding of the cloud computing revolution. "Cloud-based business systems like NetSuite are the future of business, and we are excited that so many universities interested in preparing their students for a modern workplace have moved their curriculum to NetSuite," said Marty Reaume, NetSuite Chief People Officer. "Equally important, universities can also reduce their cost of educating students, as NetSuite removes the enormous costs of managing, upgrading and refreshing the on-premise systems used in the past."

Feedback from universities that have already included NetSuite in coursework indicates that the world's leading cloud business solution has enhanced the learning experience for students by providing more practical experience and a better understanding of process flows and revenue cycles throughout an entire organization. Because NetSuite is delivered through the cloud, it can be accessed from anywhere on campus, rather than tied to a crowded computer lab which requires special IT attention.

"There is no substitute for hands-on experience. NetSuite is a great software service. Utilizing it for sharing with the higher education community provides a great opportunity for effective teaching and student learning," said Professor Robert Sorensen, Purdue University. "My students can now go to job interviews and say they have experience using NetSuite."

"The NetSuite service provides students hands-on experience with an ERP system they can access outside the class lab. The cloud-based service allows students to work on NetSuite as much or as little as they choose, at times convenient for them, rather than being constrained by lab availability," said Professor Jerald M. Savin, FIMC, CMC, CPA, University of California, Los Angeles.  

With these recent adoptions, thousands of university students now learn NetSuite skills as part of their college curriculum.

Today, more than 10,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has established itself as the leading provider of enterprise-class cloud ERP solutions for divisions of large enterprises and mid-sized organizations seeking to upgrade their antiquated client/server ERP systems. As the leading provider of cloud-based solutions, NetSuite excels at streamlining business operations. As demonstrated by the 2011 CODiE Award for Best Financial Management Solution, as well as a recent Gartner study naming NetSuite as the fastest growing financial management systems vendor in the world, NetSuite has continued its success in delivering the best cloud business solutions to businesses around the world, enabling them to lower IT costs significantly while increasing productivity, as the global adoption of the cloud is accelerating.

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For more information about NetSuite, please visit www.netsuite.com.  For information on how to include NetSuite in your educational programs, please contact Mark Bidwell at [email protected].

NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo and where business is going are service marks of NetSuite Inc.

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SOURCE NetSuite Inc.