NetSuite Implementation: 5 Tips for Cloud ERP Success

Are You Considering a NetSuite Implementation?

Since 2005 our DSG ERP solution consultants have successfully delivered hundreds of e NetSuite implementations for growing companies. In our years of experience we’ve learned many things about the critical role procedures and methodology plays in delivering a seamless deployment and high user adoption of your new ERP solution. , Unfortunately, there are many ERP implementation examples where companies experience a major decline in productivity and a massive disconnect between the competencies of the ERP solution and its actual use (we call it the value gap). An inferior deployment of the new ERP implementation can lead to confused and unhappy users of the new ERP system. .

5 Tips to Consider Before your NetSuite Implementation:

1. Avoid self-implementing or partaking in a “shared implementation methodology.”

In these positions, a NetSuite ERP consultant may tutor you on how the tool works, but the responsibility is on you to interpret your business processes, configure the solution, and transfer your own data.

Instead, seek a valued ERP consulting firm that partners with your company to deliver a very detailed project scope at a specified cost and duration. Many times, our DSG’s expert ERP consultants have been asked to rejuvenate an in-flight resolution on the heels of a self-implementation or collective effort of several people involved in the implementation. We’re always happy to assist, however these clean-up efforts are expensive and time-consuming. Regardless, these customers would have saved costs and time by working closely with a skilled NetSuite ERP consultant from the onset of the project.

2.     Seek a highly participatory methodology.

You want the control that gives you all-encompassing hands-on involvement and training with the NetSuite solution. You’ll ultimately have a core team of NetSuite power users. When these power users join in the installation, they have a strong footpath to impact the ERP solution’s strategy every step of the way.  Having your team’s fingerprints on the solution promotes a sense of ownership, which renders to high user adoption and internal champions.

3.     Ensure the implementation team remains highly available and responsive for a prescribed period of time after deployment.

When your NetSuite ERP solution stops to be hypothetical and starts being put to practical use within your company, that’s when you need an on-call ERP consultant the most. You want to avoid being left on your own to figure it out just as you’re putting NetSuite into daily use. Most implementation methodologies do not allow for this sustained, attentive, and high-touch support and guidance, which can leave your team alienated and off-balance.

4.     Embrace “train the trainer” techniques.

A solid ERP implementation methodology will sanction a core team of end users to know the NetSuite ERP solution and the trials and tribulations that resulted in the final solution design and transactional workflow processes.  There is no better way to ensure this core team is ready to adopt and champion the new solution than to set the expectation that they will have the opportunity of training the extended user base. They will become the experts, and they’ll pass their knowledge onto the rest of the team members.

5.     Beware the “lift and shift.”

Seek a NetSuite ERP consultant that will test you to think differently in all areas of your new solution. During implementation, you want to avoid simply “lifting” data, business procedures and processes, GL Accounts, pick-lists, and other aspects of your current ERP solution and “shifting” those into your NetSuite environment.  A true partner and ERP consultant with years of expertise will evaluate your current processes and make recommendations for automating repetitive and manual tasks and eliminate redundancies. A new ERP solution is an exceptional chance to develop your data model and improve in efficient business processes. For your new ERP system to be a success, you must create internal champions who will help drive a high rate of user adoption, and you must optimize and customize the solution for your business processes. That all begins at deployment. Make sure you’re starting off right—partner with DSG during implementation and set yourself up for long-term success.

DSG delivers cloud accelerated business solutions based on leading ERP and CRM applications NetSuite and Salesforce™. With our deep business and technology expertise and the experience gained in hundreds of successful projects, DSG is acknowledged as one of the leading cloud business solutions providers by our major business partner, NetSuite, and by cloud media and analysts such as IDC and CRN. Since 2005, hundreds of companies from startups to the Fortune 500 have worked with DSG and our proven Realize, Optimize and Revitalize methodologies to implement tailored NetSuite and Salesforce™ solutions that, from day one, deliver value, insight and business acceleration.

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DSG delivers cloud accelerated business solutions based on leading ERP and CRM applications NetSuite and Salesforce™. With our deep business and technology expertise and the experience gained in hundreds of successful projects, DSG is acknowledged as one of the leading cloud business solutions providers by our major business partner, NetSuite, and by cloud media and analysts such as IDC and CRN. Since 2005, hundreds of companies from startups to the Fortune 500 have worked with DSG and our proven Realize, Optimize and Revitalize methodologies to implement tailored NetSuite and Salesforce™ solutions that, from day one, deliver value, insight and business acceleration.

Another version of this blog was posted by Jason Dennis on February 19, 2014 on DSG’s Blog: “Five Things to Consider for a Successful NetSuite ERP Implementation