How SuiteSuccess Helps Companies Experience the Benefits of NetSuite Faster

Man taking notes while woman point to something on his pages with abstract images on top

Bridgepoint Consulting recently became an Authorized SuiteSuccess Alliance Partner. Since SuiteSuccess is relatively new to the market, we sat down with Jeff Hiddemen, Managing Director of our NetSuite Consulting practice, to get the inside track about this new offering and how companies are using it to reap the benefits of NetSuite even faster. Here’s what we discovered:

  1. WHAT WAS THE TRADITIONAL SALES AND IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH PRIOR TO SUITESUCCESS?

    Prior to SuiteSuccess, the traditional sales process was centered around tailoring a NetSuite demo to the prospect’s unique business processes. These customized demos could take considerable time to prepare, and were created to “wow” prospective customers and show how easily NetSuite could be configured for their individual needs.

    Once the contract was finalized, the Sales Team would perform a handoff with the Implementation Team (typically NetSuite Professional Services or a specialty NetSuite implementation partner like Bridgepoint). In many cases, this transition to the Implementation Team resembled starting over. The Implementation Team had to get caught up quickly on the weeks or months of prior discussions, reconcile what was discussed during the sales process and realign to the previously agreed-to project timeline and scope, and then start configuring an industry-agnostic, bare bones NetSuite application from scratch.

  2. WHY DID NETSUITE CREATE SUITESUCCESS?

    With two decades of experience in the cloud ERP market, NetSuite has gained substantial knowledge of the industry-standard leading practices and processes that are critical to the business operations of its customers. While all customers are unique and require special attention to address certain needs, there is also a vast amount of similarities among most companies within a specific industry. Being able to leverage these similarities, to streamline both the sales process and implementation, was the foundation of why SuiteSuccess came to existence.

    Rather than start each customer with a blank slate, NetSuite determined it could bring greater value to its customers by delivering an industry-specific NetSuite application that is pre-packaged with standard roles, processes and reports unique to that industry. These leading practices could be shared with its prospects during the sales phase, enabling project stakeholders to quickly align on many industry-standard procedures and setup requirements, and more importantly, identify exceptions from these industry norms. Finally, the SuiteSuccess sales approach integrates the Implementation Team throughout the sales cycle, ensuring requirements and knowledge are gained and shared from the beginning.

  3. HOW HAS THE SALES AND IMPLEMENTATION PROCESSES CHANGED WITH SUITESUCCESS?

    SuiteSuccess represents a fundamental shift in the sales, configuration and delivery of the NetSuite application. With the introduction of SuiteSuccess, customers now obtain greater alignment and transparency from the beginning for the sales process through implementation. The team selling the application and the team implementing the application work in tandem throughout the sales cycle, collaborating on customer requests and ensuring shared knowledge from the start. All customers receive a consistent and standardized demo.

    More importantly, when customers purchase NetSuite SuiteSuccess, it is delivered pre-configured with a substantial amount of reports, dashboards, roles, workflows, processes, etc. More than 3,000 hours of this pre-configuration is available to new NetSuite customers right out of the gate, meaning the demo the customer evaluates “looks and feels” like the same account that they purchase. With a pre-configured application, the time and effort spent by the implementation team is no longer consumed with basic system setup, but rather on value-added strategy and personalized configuration to handle the company’s unique business needs.

  4. WHAT IS THE SUITESUCCESS IMPLEMENTATION APPROACH?

    Rather than follow a lengthy and laborious Big Bang approach that could take up to a year or more to implement, SuiteSuccess follows a phased, stepladder approach. This means that customers don’t have to tackle everything at once. Instead, companies focus on building their NetSuite ERP environment in bite-sized deployments that are easier to manage and execute. Customers typically focus on laying the foundation and building business critical functionality in the first phase; incremental phases then focus on optimizing the application and building integrations with other back-office applications.

  5. "With SuiteSuccess, our customers are going live 60% faster" Katrina Horton, Senior Director, Strategic Initiatives, NetSuite

    CAN YOU REALLY GO FROM ZERO TO CLOUD IN 100 DAYS?

    Yes, absolutely! From initial planning to a final go live date, the entire process only takes about three months. It’s amazing to see our clients grow their business like never before – in just one quarter. Granted, it may seem like an intense few months, but this business suite has helped decrease a large part of the legwork required by implementing industry standards where it’s needed most.

  6. How does SuiteSuccess address industry-specific challenges?

    HOW DOES SUITESUCCESS ADDRESS INDUSTRY-SPECIFIC CHALLENGES?

    Rather than provide one global SuiteSuccess Edition to be leveraged by all companies, NetSuite has gone even further by establishing SuiteSuccess Editions for many different verticals. Each of these Editions are tailored to the specific processes and reporting needs of that industry. For example, a software company is managed and reported on differently than a manufacturer. By utilizing the industry-specific SuiteSuccess offerings, NetSuite ensures that each business obtains the standard procedures and pre-configuration of other businesses in that same industry.

  7. WHY ARE COMPANIES CHOOSING SUITESUCCESS?

    SuiteSuccess meets many requirements that companies look for when implementing a new ERP application. For example:

    • Cost-Friendly Implementation: With a 100 day go-live schedule, costs are typically less than a more customized solution. Plus, because pre-configured modules and functionality can be quickly and easily added to the account, implementation expenses can now be spent on high-value add activities that are most important to the business.
    • Reset Business Operations: Over time, companies become inefficient. Processes change, businesses are acquired, overhead grows and exceptions to the rule consume greater attention and expense. SuiteSuccess allows the company to revisit its business operations, compare it to other industry norms, eliminate inefficiencies and get back on a streamlined and efficient path.
    • Iterative DeploymentRather than wait 9, 12, 15 months or even longer to go live with a new system, SuiteSuccess focuses on delivering iterative enhancements and functionality to the account over time. Iterative deployment of business-critical functionality ensures the implementation strategy is broken into smaller, more timely, cost efficient and easier-to-tackle initiatives. This means companies can go live faster than ever before.
  8. WHAT FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED FROM YOUR CLIENTS SO FAR?

    One of our current clients chose a Financials First SuiteSuccess package and has been impressed with how quickly the ERP has been set up and configured in a way that is easily understandable, while also meeting their needs. SuiteSuccess provided pre-configured process workflows, user roles and functionality that would’ve added upwards of a month to the project plan with other ERP deployments. This efficiency freed up company resources to fill in gaps that are often overlooked or “shelved” during ERP implementations. We are also seeing our SuiteSuccess clients get departments like accounting, marketing and sales on-boarded in record time.

  9. How have your clients benefitted from SuiteSuccess?

    HOW HAVE YOUR CLIENTS BENEFITTED FROM SUITESUCCESS?

    In addition to saving our clients valuable time and resources with out-of-the box industry-specific configurations, the standardized elements of SuiteSuccess have also served as a valuable benchmarking tool for clients evaluating their business processes compared to industry standard. This often facilitates insightful discussion about whether a company’s current processes should be adjusted to align with industry standard or how to best handle exceptions.

  10. WHO CAN USE SUITESUCCESS SERVICES?

    Anyone. If you think your business is a candidate for this or other NetSuite products, ask what the implementation process may look like for the organization or speak to one of our NetSuite experts to discover if it’s the right fit. This cloud-based ERP software is designed for every employee, in any department across the organization. Everyone from a Sales Manager to a CEO can enjoy the ease and breadth of NetSuite.

Are you ready to find out if the SuiteSuccess implementation model is a good fit for your organization? Get in touch with one of our NetSuite certified experts and get started.

Are you ready to find out if the SuiteSuccess implementation model is a good fit for your organization? Get in touch with one of our NetSuite certified experts and get started.

Looking for NetSuite experts? We’re here to help.

A Texas-based leader in delivering NetSuite solutions, Bridgepoint Consulting helps companies maximize and optimize their ERP investment. Whether you are considering the NetSuite platform, or you are looking to optimize your existing system, our team of more than 20 functional and technical experts is experienced, knowledgeable and ready to help you leverage the full power of NetSuite.

Explore our real-world case studies to discover how we’ve helped companies of all sizes and industries leverage the full power of NetSuite.

Related: Press release – Bridgepoint Consulting Joins NetSuite Alliance Partner Program