Tips for a Successful NetSuite TransformationEvery so often in the life of a CIO, the opportunity arises to take your company to a new level of performance by transforming legacy technology systems into a present-day ERP technology. In 2011, I was afforded that opportunity by Lionel, LLC the 116-year old iconic maker of trains and NASCAR die-cast replicas. All of the traditional challenges were part of this transformation. Change, a six-letter word, takes on the status of a four-letter word when it comes to moving a seasoned staff from a comfortable, well-known, well-worn, state of operations to a new technology in which no one knows how to do the job they have been doing for years. The directive was to find an affordable, effective, user-friendly ERP that had all the pillars of operations we sought--CRM, SCM, Finance/Accounting, and e-commerce. Being a mid-sized company, our acceptable spend didn't allow us to pursue the big dollar ERPs.One of the best-of-breeds ERP for a mid-size company is NetSuite. We had exposure to the e-commerce platform in NetSuite as it was the vehicle we used to sell NASCAR die-cast replicas on the web. Having a working knowledge of NetSuite put it in the lead position of consideration. However, to keep all things balanced, we also compared its operational capability and cost with MS Dynamics, Aprise, and VAI. In the end, all four ERPs compared favorably, and the winning point for our selection of NetSuite was our familiarity with its operations. Lesson Learned: Don't underestimate having knowledge of and connections inside the ERP provider to assist with the conversion of people, processes, and systems. Another favorable element of NetSuite is that it's cloud-based. With NetSuite in the cloud, the cost of servers hosting the ERP, the backup, the bandwidth, the PCI compliance, the security around the facility and data are part of the licensing fee. While you don't own the source code to NetSuite, you do have the capability to amend its functionality through scripting and workflows. This provides the method to somewhat `customize' NetSuite to fit your business model. NetSuite offers great out-of-the box functionality, but our needs required us to modify NetSuite's SOP to conform to our operating model. By Rick Gemereth, CIO, Lionel LLCRick GemerethIN MY OPINION
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