By Erika Morphy CRM Buyer Part of the ECT News Network
03/14/06 3:54 PM PT
"For the most part, NetSuite's goal has been to find a partner that can take its [vertical] template and bring industry-specific content to it," Yankee Group analyst Sheryl Kingstone told CRM Buyer. Over the last year or so, NetSuite has been focusing on building out this aspect of its business, she said.
Is Your Website Killing Customer Confidence? Your Website's privacy policy can be a key factor in a customer's decision to do business with you, and it is vital to ensuring you don't run afoul of your online legal and regulatory responsibilities. Need more reasons? Read on.
Continuing to develop its verticalization strategy, NetSuite has launched "NetSuite Software Company Edition," an application for the software industry. Not surprisingly, its design was based in part on NetSuite's own experiences, the company said.
"Running a software company is complex -- especially in the new world of Software as a Service, combined with the complexity of financial compliance," said CEO Zach Nelson.
"After years of using NetSuite to manage every aspect of our business, we are happy to extend our experience to other software companies," he added.
Compliance, Billing, Dashboard
Among the highlights of this new application:
Support for revenue-recognition accounting standards, including regulations promulgated by AICPA, FASB and SEC. It also supports Sarbanes-Oxley compliance with Section 404.
An advanced billing feature that allows finance departments to automate billing processes, as well as to create invoices based on the related license agreement and service contract.
Embedded renewals and maintenance sales management processes with start and end dates at the customer level. At the sales order level, the system triggers automatic reminders for contract renewal. Tailored billing schedules handle maintenance invoicing.
Fifteen preconfigured dashboard options for every major user in a software organization -- CEO, CFO, controller, sales VP, sales manager, renewals manager, support VP, support manager and engineer -- who tracks financial data including sales on billings, GAAP and cash basis; forecast on billings; GAAP revenue, quota bearing reps on board; pipeline weighted and unweighted.
30-Plus and Counting
Until now, this particular approach to verticalization has been the exception in NetSuite's product development strategy. Most of the verticals the company has rolled out thus far have been in conjunction with partners. Critics of such an approach say that it leads to a fill-in-the-blanks industry specific application -- at best -- with NetSuite relying on partners to deliver the true value add.
On the other hand, proponents note that it would be impossible for NetSuite to develop so many industry-specific applications any other way. Indeed, most firms partner with best-of-breed content providers for vertical applications.
"For the most part, NetSuite's goal has been to find a partner that can take its [vertical] template and bring industry-specific content to it," Yankee Group analyst Sheryl Kingstone told CRM Buyer. In particular, over the last year or so, NetSuite has been focusing on building out this aspect of its business, she said.
In January, NetSuite upped its strike capability considerably in this area, introducing more than 30 vertical applications. These products, which focus on industries and functional areas ranging from project management to healthcare to retail , were developed by partners using the company's integration tool, the NetFlex Applications Program.
To name just one example, contact-center service provider LivePerson (Nasdaq: LPSN) developed LivePerson Chat for NetSuite, which offers multichannel sales and service functionality through LivePerson's operator interface.
Why CDI Projects Fail - Part 2: Data Model Inflexibility March 09, 2006
Data model flexibility is a critical part of an adaptive CDI architecture. An enterprise looking to mitigate risk of their CDI implementation should consider the full effects of their data model choice across several factors. A wrong decision in this area can increase the project cost, reduce its manageability over time, or in the worst case, doom the entire initiative.
Related Stories
Microsoft Refocuses on Small Business Software September 29, 2005
"Taking products designed for large companies and then retrofitting them to work for smaller businesses is a recipe for failure," Zach Nelson, chief executive officer of NetSuite, said. "It would be like a bus manufacturer changing the color of the bus from yellow to black, and then calling it a car."
Fighting Image Problem: An IT Industry Rises in Pakistan May 17, 2005
When it comes to Pakistan, the image belies the reality, and seeing is believing. From the shadows of a misplaced image has emerged an innovative strategy that seems to do the trick. This might just be the right kind of break the country's software industry needs from its rather lackluster past. Pakistan is fast becoming a happening place for IT.
A Long-Term View: Software Should Be Patentable in Europe April 06, 2005
Patents promote innovation. Patents give software companies more incentive to invest in R&D because they allow those companies to protect their inventions. Without patents, a company cannot prevent competitors from incorporating its software inventions into competing products.
Lowering the Volume in the Software Patent Debate March 15, 2005
As a patent attorney who began his career writing software, I believe I am particularly qualified to see both points of view. So allow me to suggest that a good step may be to lower the drama level. Let's drop our swords, put away the battle flags, and mellow out a little.
Choosing a Software Business Model: The NetSol Case Study March 01, 2005
One of the distinguishing characteristics of any software firm is the choice of business models. In the following description of the three types of business models available for software firms, you should be able to spot the business model or models used by software firms that you might have been associated with as an employee, investor or customer.
Related News Alerts
More by Erika Morphy
Roku Channel Store Hangs Out Shingle November 23, 2009
Roku's new channel store is based on a "one screen in the cloud" business model, said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of strategy and analysis with Interpret. "Essentially, what they are doing is taking the TV set -- whether it is a standard appliance or a high-def monster -- and enhancing it with content the consumer wants to see."
Ballmer Gives Shareholders - and Dell - Cause for Optimism November 20, 2009
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was all smiles at the company's shareholders meeting, as he touted the early success of Windows 7. Ballmer's cheer may have been contagious; after posting a massive earnings decline for the third quarter, Dell needed some good news to latch onto, and the prospect of broad enterprise adoption of Windows 7 could spur PC sales.
AA.com Sucks the Fun Out of Trip-Planning November 20, 2009
Using AA.com to book a flight was a painful experience. Densely packed, disorganized information was displayed in an unattractive format. On the plus side, it did seem as though the deals American Airlines advertised were real and not mere bait-and-switch lures. For anyone who wants a travel-planning Web site to inject a little pleasure into the experience, though, I say look elsewhere.
Headline Feeds
Talkback: 
