NetSuite Answers the Bell for Financial Services Companies Facing Challenges and Change

SAN MATEO, Calif., Oct. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP software suites, today announced that a growing number of financial services firms are turning to NetSuite cloud solutions for managing their core financial business operations. This growing list includes a spectrum of financial services companies including MetLife, Prudential, Vanguard and Virgin Money. Financial Services companies will lead the adoption of cloud computing software through 2015 over other industry sectors, consuming a fifth of cloud solutions globally (Gartner: Forecast: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide and Regions, Industry Sectors, 2010-2015, 2011 Update), and the NetSuite cloud is the leading cloud solution for financial services firms to revitalize and modernize their ERP systems in the face of unprecedented margin, competitive and regulatory pressures. At a special event to be held at the New York Stock Exchange on October 14, NetSuite financial services customers are gathering to reveal how the cloud has transformed their operations. For more information about NetSuite solutions for financial services firms, please visit http://www.netsuite.com/portal/solutions/main.shtml.

Facing increasing competitive pressures as well as a storm of new worldwide regulations, financial services firms need solutions they can trust to help them manage painful transformations in the months and years to come. Already, regulations such as BASEL III and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Customer Protection Act are leading to demands for increased transparency, while constraining margins. In addition, merger and acquisition activity is on the rise. In 2010 in the US alone, there were 115 mergers and acquisitions in banking, and nearly 150 in the investment and insurance industries. The NetSuite cloud delivers a way forward for financial services firms having to decide how to handle newly acquired, non-integrated systems– enabling them to drive the bottom line by reducing TCO versus costly on-premise systems, effectively adapting more efficiently to a rapidly changing environment resulting from mergers and acquisition, to deliver real-time global visibility and transparency.

"Financial services firms need to withstand increased regulatory scrutiny and expand their financial visibility while opening up emerging markets and new channels," said Jim McGeever, Chief Operating Officer, NetSuite. "There is no question that NetSuite can deliver on these requirements far more quickly, efficiently and accurately than a legacy, on-premise ERP solution. Requirements are simply changing too quickly for on-premise software to cope."

The NetSuite Cloud: Uniquely Suited to the Challenges Financial Services Companies Are Facing:

• Drives Profitability Amidst Margin Pressures: NetSuite's cloud computing architecture enables financial services firms to slash IT spending by 50 percent or more, compared to the cost of upkeep and maintenance on traditional, on-premise software. That is just one of the reasons why, according to Gartner, financial services will lead the consumption of cloud services worldwide through 2015. Gartner forecasts that 20.7 percent of cloud services will be consumed by financial services through 2015 (Source: Forecast: Public Cloud Services, Worldwide and Regions, Industry Sectors, 2010-2015, 2011 Update).
• Adapt to M&A and Regulatory Change: NetSuite OneWorld and cloud computing are ideally suited to adapt systems to the rapidly changing environments found with mergers and acquisitions. NetSuite's powerful "two-tier" deployment option enables the deployment of cloud ERP solutions to new subsidiaries, across currencies and geographies with unprecedented speed and low cost, while real-time visibility and reporting underpins a new era of transparency and compliance in financial services, ensuring a smoother transition.
• Improve Client Experience in a More Globally Competitive Environment: In an increasingly competitive environment, efficiently driving client satisfaction and retention is key. NetSuite OpenAir cloud resource and services management ensures the efficient management and use of financial advisors across offices and geographies to both enhance margins and improve client satisfaction.

Financial services companies already benefiting from NetSuite solutions include:

• BTIG LLC (www.btig.com), is a specialist in global trading and brokerage services for hedge funds and mutual funds. As BTIG has continued its growth, it was looking to upgrade and enhance its accounting, financial and reporting systems and process for its global group of companies.  BTIG selected NetSuite OneWorld for its entire group of companies and since implementing, BTIG enjoys a single, unified global system with seamless support for 20 worldwide currencies. NetSuite OneWorld has streamlined regulatory filings, slashed the time for monthly and annual financial closing by over 60 percent, and reduced management reporting time from two days to a fraction of a day. "NetSuite OneWorld gives us true global visibility and reporting at the push of a button," says Brian Endres, BTIG's Chief Financial Officer. "And its efficiencies have made it possible for us to continue to grow our business without expanding headcount."
• Spring Mountain Capital (www.springmountaincapital.com), is a private investment management firm with approximately $2 billion in assets under management. Spring Mountain replaced QuickBooks with NetSuite to gain strong out-of-the-box reporting, clear visibility into financial performance, and hassle-free access from multiple locations. Adopting NetSuite has enabled Spring Mountain to minimize the IT resources dedicated to ERP, give remote employees a simple and reliable interface for expense reporting, and have access to constant, seamless upgrades. "NetSuite gives us the visibility and transparency we value and our auditors require," said Lynn Hui, Spring Mountain's Controller. "It gives us a superior reporting solution and enables us efficiently to expand our business."
• Virgin Money Australia (virginmoney.com.au), offers a wide range of financial products. The company wanted to bring its outsourced accounting services in-house without the high capital expense of infrastructure and software. NetSuite was the flexible, adaptable and cost-effective solution for Virgin Money's needs. With NetSuite, Virgin Money Australia has avoided cumbersome paper trails, automated bank reconciliations and made it easy to add new product lines. "NetSuite OneWorld has the multi-company capabilities and Web-based nature that make it ideal for our business requirements," said Peter Lynar, Virgin Money Australia Senior Financial Accountant. "NetSuite optimizes our efficiency, which is important because if we can do all of our processes better and more cost-effectively, we can pass the savings on to customers."
• Prudential Locations LLC (www.prudentiallocations.com), is a multi-faceted real estate company serving the Hawaiian market. The firm was looking for a solution to integrate with the Prudential Web portal, to provide its agents with more powerful customer data for closing deals. NetSuite CRM+ delivered tight integration between the company's back-end processes and customer-facing Web portal, and enables agents to manage significantly more relationships than was previously possible. "We've been using NetSuite CRM+ for over two years, and have increased our usage to approximately 300 users," said Dan Tabori, EVP of Business Operations, Prudential Locations. "NetSuite was the right choice for our growing company."
• Charles River Development (www.crd.com), provides software, hosting and data services to automate front- and middle-office investment operations for buy-side firms. Implementing NetSuite OpenAir gives Charles River's professionals robust mobile access to a comprehensive time-entry solution and accelerates the submission and approval process. .  "Using Open Air's mobile time solution globally has allowed us to cut six days off of the month-end approval process," said Ben Gamer, Director, Client Services, Charles River Development. "Having mobile-based time entry & approvals provides our Professional Services with more time to focus on our clients and less time on administration."

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to expectations, plans, and prospects including expectations relating to the future consumption of cloud services by financial services firms. These forward-looking statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of NetSuite's management as of the date of this release, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements including, without limitation, the risk of continued adverse and unpredictable macro-economic conditions or reduced investments in on-demand applications and information technology spending. All forward-looking statements in this press release are based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof, and NetSuite disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

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SOURCE NetSuite Inc.