NetSuite Rescues Companies From On-Premise ERP That's "Frozen In Time"

SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP software suites, today announced the availability of powerful upgrade innovations that enable companies running on the NetSuite cloud to experience "version-less" and always up-to-date cloud ERP, without sacrificing control or flexibility. Companies running NetSuite benefit from NetSuite's technological innovations that include a patented phased roll-out process, providing NetSuite customers the ability to adopt new functionality in accordance with their own individualized upgrade path. In addition, the company announced a new offering that allows businesses to select their own upgrade date from available dates to accommodate their unique business requirements and business cycles. And finally, the company announced new cloud-based lifecycle management technology that allows customers and partners to test their own custom-developed NetSuite features and applications before deploying them to their live NetSuite environment.

An upcoming webinar, "Making the Move from Version-Locked On-Premise ERP to the Cloud: How Three Companies Excelled by Moving to Cloud ERP" scheduled for Tuesday, November 15 at 11:00 a.m. PST (2:00 p.m. EST), will provide the business case for businesses looking to free themselves from the shackles of "version-locked" on-premise ERP. Featuring three executives from enterprises that have gained agile, always up-to-date ERP by upgrading to the NetSuite cloud:  Allison Musgrave, Controller of Spandex America; Brad Kugler, CEO of Distribution Video & Audio; and Jim Feeney, CFO of Booth Creek Resort Properties LLC, will provide a candid discussion on their last ever painful ERP upgrade. To register for the webinar, please visit www.netsuite.com/noversionlock. For additional information about how companies can modernize their business operations using NetSuite's cloud business management solutions, and to obtain the white paper "Eight Ways Outdated ERP Damages Your Business," please visit http://www.netsuite.com/portal/landing/cloud-upgrade-up.shtml.

One of the major failings of traditional, non-Internet centric business applications is the lack of ability for customers to easily customize their business applications and then easily migrate from one software release to the next. According to a recent report by Forrester, "Approximately half of ERP customers are currently on releases that are two versions behind the current release, which may be four years old or more." (Source: Trends 2011: ERP Customers Demand Better Flexibility, Cost Transparency, and Mobility, Forrester, January 2011). The reason is that legacy on-premise ERP systems have historically presented businesses with two undesirable choices - either wrestle with aging "version-locked" ERP software that is misaligned with current business needs, or face a costly, time-intensive, disruptive, and risky upgrade. As migrating to newer versions requires re-implementing customizations, enduring onerous resource intensive retesting, and procuring expensive additional hardware and infrastructure, the majority of organizations choose to endure ERP that's "frozen-in-time" and out of tune with the business. Customers continually delay upgrades, opting instead to run their business on software that's years old and out-of-date.

In contrast, NetSuite eliminates version-lock for every one of the more than 10,000 companies and subsidiaries running on the NetSuite cloud, with automated upgrades. With NetSuite's patented upgrade innovations, companies run on the latest version of its cloud ERP software, without concerns of sacrificing control or flexibility. With NetSuite's easy upgrade process, NetSuite customers gain:

• The power of SuiteCloud customization - NetSuite's SuiteCloud platform enables organizations to implement scripts, workflows and more, with confidence in the knowledge that NetSuite will upgrade their software automatically, along with all customizations.
• The flexibility to automatically upgrade on dates selected by the customer - NetSuite provides its customers with the control and freedom to optionally choose the timing of their NetSuite automated upgrade, from a list of available dates, to match the needs of their business, without having to worry about performing or managing the upgrade themselves.
• Patented phased release process - NetSuite's patented (US Patents #7,558,843 and #7,970,901) phased release process allows NetSuite to offer its customers control to choose the upgrade timing that best suits the needs of their business.
• Release Preview – NetSuite's Release Preview environment allows customers the ability to experience new functionality in a preview environment, enabling them ample time to experiment with the latest innovations prior to their automated upgrade.
• Lifecycle Management Technology
  1. 24x7 sandbox environment access – Partners and customers can leverage a completely cloud-based sandbox environment to test customizations, which then can be moved into production using NetSuite's SuiteBundle.  
  2. SuiteBundler customization management - With SuiteBundler, both NetSuite customers and partners can easily install "SuiteApp" customizations – enabling them to be applied almost instantly across accounts, and for NetSuite SuiteCloud developers to easily roll out upgrades of their native SuiteApps to their customers.

"To run a 21st century business, companies need to quickly move from their version-locked 1990's  ERP infrastructure," said Doug Brown, NetSuite Vice President of Engineering Operations. "NetSuite's phased release process, SuiteCloud platform and other upgrade innovations allow companies to run on the latest version of NetSuite, while enabling them to customize the system to their exact requirements without fear of being version-locked."

Companies that have already broken free of on-premise ERP and are reaping the benefits of the NetSuite cloud include:

• Commco (http://commcoklearchoice.com/), a home improvement distributor, dropped its end-of-life SAP R/3 for the NetSuite Cloud business application. NetSuite freed Commco from version-lock and eliminated thousands of dollars in IT spending including maintenance and upgrade costs. "SAP wanted our business, but our knowing that NetSuite's entire focus is on SaaS, and the depth of functionality and flexibility they offer, it made the choice easy. More importantly, NetSuite freed me from worrying about high maintenance fees, disruptions to our normal business operations and loss of our previous customization caused by SAP upgrades. NetSuite makes upgrades happen while we sleep. And all of the customization done previously is carried forward" said Franklin Christopher, President and CEO of Commco.  
• RedBuilt (www.redbuilt.com), an engineered wood product manufacturer, made a rapid switch from SAP to NetSuite in order to support its evolving independent business needs. The company knew they wouldn't be trapped by outdated versions of software when switching to NetSuite. "Moving to NetSuite enabled us to cut IT costs by nearly $300,000 and focus our resources on adapting our ERP to supporting rapid change," said Dallas Anderson, RedBuilt Director of IT. "We knew that our SAP R/3 system wouldn't keep pace with our evolving business needs. SAP was simply inflexible for our custom demands and the version-lock of SAP was holding us back."
• ClearChoice (www.clearchoice.com), a dental implant services company, which replaced 92 instances of outdated, inflexible Microsoft Dynamics GP with the always updated NetSuite OneWorld solution. "NetSuite OneWorld gives us the power we need to run our large and growing business, increase our labor efficiencies, and simplify our processes," said John Walton, ClearChoice Vice President of Finance. "We enjoy smooth, seamless visibility across all our operating and elimination subsidiaries, and generating complex reports takes seconds rather than hours."  
• Booth Creek Resorts (www.sierraattahoe.com), quickly eliminated its aging, version-locked JD Edwards ERP system with the modern, automatically updated, flexible and multi-subsidiary NetSuite OneWorld solution. "We went from discovery to go live in less than 90 days. NetSuite gave us the flexibility to implement a solution that was not an additional burden on our information technology resources and infrastructure, while being able to meet our incredibly tight implementation timelines," said Jim Feeney, Booth Creek Resorts Controller. "Additionally, in a seasonal business with high employee turnover, NetSuite has allowed us to increase financial visibility among our operational managers with minimal training requirements."
• Sundia (www.sundiacorp.com), the fastest growing produce brand in America, turned to the NetSuite cloud business application to drive innovation, promote global growth and obtain around-the-clock reliability. Antiquated versions of on-premise software could not support Sundia's rapid growth, and the company needed a version-less software to free them from the challenges of upgrading. "The cloud enables my employees to produce at a higher level. I'll put NetSuite up against Oracle, or any other system. I do not ever have to worry about upgrade and version-lock again. The NetSuite cloud does everything for our business," said Brad Oberwager, Sundia Founder and Chairman.
• TradeCard (www.tradecard.com), a supply chain collaboration platform vendor, which consolidated several systems into the unified NetSuite solution, eliminating tens of thousands of dollars in software maintenance and freeing several employees from data processing tasks while removing antiquated, version-locked software. "NetSuite was the perfect partner to help us reduce systems, and it is a huge improvement in visibility and SOX compliance to have our books on a single system," said Nestor Zwyhun, TradeCard CTO.

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 mid-size organizations and divisions of large enterprises seeking to upgrade their antiquated client/server ERP systems. NetSuite excels at streamlining business operations, as demonstrated by its receipt of the 2011 CODiE Award for Best Financial Management Solution, as well as a recent Gartner study naming NetSuite as the fastest growing top 10 financial management systems vendor in the world. NetSuite continues its success in delivering the best cloud business management 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.

Follow NetSuite's Cloud blog, NetSuite's Facebook page and @NetSuite Twitter handle for real-time updates.

For more information about NetSuite, please visit www.netsuite.com.

NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo, SuiteCloud and SuiteBundle are service marks or trademarks of NetSuite Inc. 

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090924/SF81218LOGO-b)

SOURCE NetSuite Inc.