What Is NetSuite Implementation? Checklist and Best Practices

NetSuite implementation is your top priority right now, but you know it’s no walk in the park. 

The complicated process, customization needs, budget overruns, and insufficient oversight make failed NetSuite implementations reasonably common. And the last thing you want is to risk wasting thousands of dollars on an unsuccessful implementation.  

Your concerns as an IT project manager are valid. Ignore planning, cross-functional integration, and effective change management, and your company will drain its time, resources, and money. 

We’re here to help. Let’s dive into how you can successfully implement NetSuite into your business as well as the challenges you might encounter.

NetSuite’s cloud-based business management platform supports various functions, like accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), enterprise resource planning (ERP), e-commerce, inventory management, and supply chain management. 

Let’s look at how you can implement NetSuite for your business. 

NetSuite implementation process and steps

While the implementation process may vary depending on the consultant, most NetSuite consultants follow the six steps below.

Source: NetSuite

1. Discovery and research

Consultants use the discovery phase to understand business requirements and processes from stakeholders like the CEO, CFO, administrators, and managers. They focus on auditing business challenges, analyzing user needs, and finding workflow difficulties. 

Ultimately, the goal remains to understand your business and customize NetSuite ERP implementation accordingly. Here’s what consultants do during this stage:

• Group interviews for learning pain points, system requirements, and expectations from C-suite executives and IT team members.

• Business process mapping to spot inefficiencies across finance, sales, manufacturing, procurement, and CRM.

• Gap analysis to understand which NetSuite features your company needs to improve existing processes.

• Define key performance indicators (KPIs) to evaluate implementation success.

• Estimate the total cost of ownership (TCO), which includes expenses for software licenses, customization, integration, data migration, training, and consulting fees. 
• Project lead designation for having a dedicated person lead the project, coordinate internally and externally for resolving issues, and oversee the project proposal. 

Finally, the NetSuite consulting service provider creates a business requirements document (BRD) outlining project scope and goals, implementation timeline, cost breakdown, and KPIs. 

2. Design and project planning

The system design and planning phase involves taking the necessary steps to ensure that NetSuite implementation matches your organization’s business needs. Consultants create a detailed configuration plan based on their findings in the discovery stage. Here’s what you can expect:

• System configuration helps set up core modules, forms, dashboards, and user roles for different sales, procurement, and finance processes.

• Customizations for scenarios where consultants can’t use NetSuite’s out-of-box capabilities.

• Workflow design uses SuiteFlow to create tailored approval routing and transaction management processes.

• Data architecture planning requires consultants to define custom records, fields, and their relationships. This helps you have the data flow to appropriate dashboards and reports. 

• Integration mapping helps plan how existing systems use middleware or web services to transfer data with NetSuite.

3. Development and data migration

This phase focuses on installing and configuring the NetSuite system. Consultants migrate present and historical data to the new system at this stage. They also set up client-specific features and settings. 

Here’s how the consultants set it up:

• Data mapping helps ensure that legacy system data correctly connects to corresponding fields in NetSuite.

• Data cleansing removes duplicates, fixes errors, and removes inconsistencies across datasets before migration.

• Migration tool selection is where consultants choose NetSuite’s CSV Import or SuiteTalk API to transfer large-scale data in stages.

• Testing and validation tests the migrated data in a sandbox environment. This testing helps consultants understand the accuracy of data transfer and evaluate if the data works properly in NetSuite. 

4. Testing

Testing involves conducting unit, system, and user acceptance tests to validate configurations, integrations, and customizations you’ve made so far. Consultants usually perform the following tests during this phase:

• Unit testing evaluates if individual system components function correctly in isolation.

• System testing reveals whether all configured modules work together as a unified solution.

• User acceptance testing checks if the system functionality meets end users’ expectations.

• Integration testing ensures all integrations with your existing tech stack function properly without data loss.

• Performance testing is essentially stress testing the new system environment. It assesses the system’s performance under high data loads. 

5. User training

NetSuite administrators use this phase to train employees to use the system efficiently. Training activities include: 

• Role-based training involves training sales, finance, warehouse, and IT teams on day-to-day tasks, system navigation, and advanced features.

• Documentation provides end users with standard operating procedures (SOPs), user manuals, and FAQs to navigate everyday tasks and workflows.

• Change management involves sharing the benefits of NetSuite implementation with stakeholders and supporting them via different communication channels. 

6. Deployment and support

This is the stage where your NetSuite implementation goes live. Once the system is live, NetSuite consultants can help you monitor the environment and offer intensive support to end users. 

• Go-live means you finally move from legacy systems to NetSuite.

• Monitoring and optimization involve checking system performance, user activities, and integrations to spot improvement areas. 
• Help desk provides end users with intensive support to resolve issues immediately.

Netsuite implementation services will also help you create a maintenance plan for updates, periodic reviews, and patches.

NetSuite implementation methods

You can implement NetSuite in three ways. Each comes with advantages and disadvantages.

1. Self implementation

Technically, self-implementation of NetSuite isn’t impossible. However, this isn’t recommended unless your organization has extensive experience with cloud environment customization, integration, and deployment. 

You don’t want this risk because ERP implementation failure results in data loss, sales, and process insights.

2. NetSuite direct implementation

Direct implementation involves working with NetSuite’s in-house team. The NetSuite team has advanced software knowledge and is a great choice. However, you won’t be able to meet the implementation team before the purchase. 

NetSuite doesn’t offer post-installation assistance, which you may need in case of complex processes or advanced customization. 

3. NetSuite implementation partners

NetSuite implementation partners are licensed third-party solution providers with a dedicated group of experts. Their experience working with different industries allows them to offer top-notch support through all stages of implementation. 

The benefit of working with them is that you get more advanced customizations and flexibility than NetSuite itself. Some vendors also offer readymade custom solutions, so you don’t have to pay additionally for the development work.

Let’s look at how much time and money it costs to implement NetSuite ERP.

NetSuite implementation time

The time to implement NetSuite depends on your company’s size and complexity. Smaller businesses can deploy NetSuite in as little as 90 days, whereas enterprises may take up to six months. 

The time required to deploy NetSuite also depends on the type of implementation. Let’s take a look at some of them:

• Simple implementation: This refers to an out-of-the-box deployment for a single customer who neither has a complex process nor requires add-on modules. It’s ideal for companies with fewer than ten users.
• Normal implementation: Normal implementation is ideal for single or multiple entities with minimal functional gaps and add-on modules. It suits a team of 10 to 1000 users.
• Complex implementation: This suits an entity with multiple functional gaps and more than one integration. It serves multiple locations, currencies, and languages. This type of implementation is ideal for teams of over 100 users. 

Let’s understand the common challenges you may face while implementing NetSuite. 

NetSuite implementation problems and challenges

Understanding NetSuite implementation pitfalls is the first step to avoiding them. Let’s review some of them:

• Data migration issues: Migrating data requires connecting different systems, which can be complicated and time-consuming. When not done correctly, data migration mishaps can result in data loss and system discrepancies, negatively affecting business operations.
• Planning errors: Poor planning causes you to set unrealistic timelines. As a result, you may face budget and time overruns when your implementation project runs longer. There is also a risk of unexpected costs when you don’t plan NetSuite integration with business needs in mind.
• User adoption resistance: Your NetSuite implementation can fail when users resist switching to NetSuite. That’s why it’s essential to get buy-in from stakeholders from the very start and keep communicating with end users throughout the project.
• Incorrect testing processes: Choosing the wrong implementation partner or process can impact your plan. For example, not following a phased approach or conducting rushed testing may prevent you from discovering bugs or critical errors that can prove fatal down the line. 

Let’s review some of the best practices you can adopt to avoid these challenges. 

Tips and best practices for NetSuite implementation

The right approach can make all the difference. Here are some of the best practices for a successful NetSuite implementation:

Engage with teams

Set clear objectives to avoid scope creep and align with business goals. Start by understanding the processes you want to improve or automate. Also, clearly outline project details to track NetSuite implementation and prevent delays. 

Drive the project forward

Form a project steering committee to oversee NetSuite implementation. Ideally, this committee should include members from different departments as well as end users. 

With their input, you will be better able to prioritize business requirements and customize the system according to their needs. Also, regularly connect with business users to collect system design and functionality feedback. 

Enable teams to go-live

User adoption is crucial for the success of NetSuite implementation. That’s why it’s important for you to adopt change management practices to ensure end users can easily transition from legacy systems without much resistance. 

Consider creating tailored training programs for different user groups and frequently communicating about the new system's benefits.

Managing NetSuite alone can be overwhelming. Let’s see how NetSuite consulting services can help.

How can NetSuite consulting services help with implementation?

NetSuite consulting services can help you customize NetSuite based on your business needs, offer expert guidance, and migrate data correctly. Here’s how:

• Customizations: NetSuite consultants customize workflows, reports, and dashboards to help your business get the most out of the system. This customization improves user experience and helps you optimize operational workflows. 

• Expert guidance: Consultants have extensive experience with NetSuite’s capabilities. They can help you optimize business processes in the best way for you. Plus, they ensure you take less time to achieve business goals.
• Data migration and integrations: NetSuite consulting services are skilled at migrating data from legacy systems without data loss or corruption. They ensure your new system integrates with your existing tech stack. 

You can ensure a successful NetSuite implementation by tapping into NetSuite consultants’ expertise. 

Make your operations complete with NetSuite

To wrap it up, NetSuite can transform your business operations. But that can only happen when you plan, bring in the right experts, and get all stakeholders on board. 

NetSuite consulting services can help you manage everything from setting up user roles and migrating data to integrating new applications. If you haven’t started thinking, now is the time to find a consulting partner to help you in your NetSuite journey.

Looking to incorporate self-service analytics into business apps? Check out the top embedded business intelligence solutions that you can try.

Edited by Monishka Agrawal