NetSuite: new sponsor AccMan

NetSuite is now sponsoring AccMan. Sponsorship always comes with conditions. In my case – it’s simple: if you mess up then I have a right to say so but with an absolute right of reply. As a buy side advocate I must protect that right. The flpside is that if vendors ask for assistance in developing market messages then sure – I will help them. But it is always with the buyer in mind.

NetSuite and I have had…what shall we call it…a ‘chequered history.’ A while back I called them out for failing to deliver. It caused ructions between us. That’s what happens when you call out a vendor that thinks it is doing great things but where the action on the ground says otherwise. But…as I’ve always said – play fair, show me value and I will support you to the hilt. NetSuite hasn’t gone quite THAT far but it has recognized that sales and customer satisfaction are not necessarily the same thing.

NetSuite has done a lot to sort out what was a crappy channel, has made sure customers are far happier in their implementations and convinced me they are serious about delivering value beyond signing the contract. Should we retread this history? In some senses yes because as an early mover in the SaaS space NetSuite was always likely to skid on the odd banana skin. What matters is how they handle it. In 2008 they made a shocking job of managing customer expectations. Two years on? Well…read on.

Yesterday I got to speak with Redbuilt, a spinout of a much larger company. Redbuilt was using SAP but was under the gun to get something new. Long story sideways: the CEO spoke with authority about managing enterprise class applications. He said they had experience with NetSuite with CRM prior to making the larger commitment. He also said that in the circumstances, NetSuite made a logical choice BUT – past implementation experience with the company made them confident about extending to include financials. Note the ‘confident’ thing. The PR talks about significant savings. And yes – that’s important. But in talking to the company, what matters more is getting things done right and having the right reporting in place.

Let’s be 100% here. Redbuilt hasn’t run a year end close. For many, that’s when the rubber hits the road. Even so, the CEO is confident and has said to me: ‘Come back in a month or so.’ I *will* take up that offer.

As an aside, I understand exactly what Redbuilt is doing because it is very similar to a time when I was CFO of a build to order engineering company. On the basis of what I heard, the company is getting its implementation pretty much right. And deriving value it needs.

So – Redbuilt is winning with NetSuite. If you call them up they will tell you there is still much to be done. I’m sure NetSuite is on the case.

As always – sponsors are welcome. But…as a buy side guy, I hope they realize that when they don’t deliver, I will say so…with the natural right of unfettered reply.

In the meantime, I look forward to getting closer to a company that is maturing well and understands the need to keep customers happy in a SaaS world.

Soooooo – thank you NetSuite for grabbing your corporate nuts and sponsoring my site. I’m honoured…or honored…as they’d say in the US !!