Thoughts about the NetSuite SuiteSuccess methodology

Hi @Antonio Lira, @Gene Hammons ​and @RobertWolf .  Maybe you can share any insights or pointers with @Dominic-Gopal?

So, as a software selection consulting firm, we work with our clients to evaluate any ERP system deemed applicable to a client's industry or business model. We work hard to maintain a software agnostic approach and never forget that every ERP 'works somewhere' and while our preferences are relevant in any system we might use internally, we don't presume to know what's best for any of our clients.  Given that... About 2014 we began to see a strong client preference to NetSuite - after years of distrust of 'cloud'-based software, it seemed that Salesforce finally showed the market that cloud software was 'safe'.  At first, we heard resellers of traditional ERP dismiss NetSuite saying 'It shows great'. Which implied there was not much under the hood, but the demos were somehow misleading.  By 2018, NetSuite was gaining significant market share in new licenses and every traditional ERP package was coming out with a cloud version so they too could 'show great.'  Remember, many of these traditional ERP offerings had made the jump from DOS to Windows, ported from client-server to thin-client, then fully browser-based - what was one more porting?  Fast forward to 2021 and NetSuite is in a truly dominant position - having pioneered the first significant cloud SaaS ERP and having 20+ years in the cloud space, versus latecomers year 3 anniversary in the cloud.  Without going into too much more detail - the significance of NetSuite is not that it's cloud-based, but that it was created for an internet world and uses modern approaches to business support not conceivable to the original developers of traditional ERP in the pre-internet late 1980s.  What this means for potential partners is NetSuite will win between 60% - 80% of all ERP evaluations that actually result in a licensing purchase (As a software selection consulting group, our clients, by definition are already spending significant consulting dollars and rarely go to the no-decision situation which traditionally plagues the market).  Naturally, NetSuite's high win rate is an attractive situation for potential partners. One of NetSuite's strengths is maintaining a strong partner channel. We tell the story of meeting a dentist around 2008. Upon learning we were in the software business, he announced he too was a Microsoft Reseller - he'd not actually sold a license yet and was mostly involved in his dental practice - but he hoped to one day have a sideline VAR business.  The point being, if you don't maintain certain standards for reseller partners, you end up with a wildly varying level of experience - which we imagined could result in an ERP implementation as painful as pulling teeth - but enough of the dentist jokes.  We do know Microsoft Dynamics partners who've balked at NetSuite's stringent requirements and became Acumatica resellers - Acumatica and Sage Intacct are both solid SaaS options and we have many clients happily using both.  However, NetSuite is growing 30% year after year and already has over 20,000 businesses using the platform. The recent Oracle re-acquisition has put incredible development behind the platform - we're seeing new verticals adopting NetSuite rapidly. A recent Oracle sales training class we attended had people from the EU, Ireland, Southeast Asia, Japan - Oracle has created country localizations worldwide and NetSuite is going global. Hyperion, formerly for Oracle Fusion now has a NetSuite version. Suite People, the HR option is now in a third-generation release for NetSuite - the list goes on and on.  Anyway - NetSuite is super strong in the market and the greater costs associated with becoming a partner are an indicator of how much stronger the product is than other ERP/Accounting software options.  My firm is not a full reseller - but we are a referral partner (of many different ERP platforms) and we staff project managers and system administrators for NetSuite who directly help clients in the implementation and later support process. We were planning to add both Acumatica and Intacct support resources - but the last year we're so busy with NetSuite work our expansion to other platforms has been back burnered. 

So you're comparing a solid niche player (Deltek) with a leading generalist ERP (NetSuite). Most of the clients we see using/choosing Deltek have very specific requirements related to their operations - Deltek plays well in government and quasi-government settings and some of the features they have are hard to find in generalist packages.  NetSuite is the first made-for-cloud offering and has been so successful that now every ERP provider has a 'cloud' option. However, be careful mwith some of these cloud options -  because posting your old code in a cloud based server is very different than made-for-cloud and 20 years of cloud experience with NetSuite.    So here's the thing, get a good handle on your requirements - pretty much a business analyst effort but make sure your analyst has some ERP knowledge/background.  Share those Requirements with the vendors. Go through the demo process and if there are things Deltek does that are absolute must haves, that's your answer.  If Deltek and NetSuite both meet all your requirements, you're probably going to be happier with NetSuite in the long run. But there are plenty of companies who are just fine with Deltek. 

There are many good answers here, but true the question is a bit too broad.  If you are not playing in the government contractor space NetSuite is an option you will learn to love in the long run.  It is more flexible than most believe, can be customized, powerful reporting tools and is native to the cloud (hosted on the Oracle cloud).  No on premise option. Deltek is a very good option if you are playing in the government contractor space and has a number of tools to track project based costing and comply with most of the government required reporting.  It is not native to the cloud, but can be hosted there (they offer Amazon) or on premise.  Decent report writing which looks a lot like Excel. Having just compared the two along with some others as well, I would say a reasonably close second to NetSuite is Accumatica.  It is built for the cloud, flexible, a bit less pricey, but if you need more chugging on the MRP side NetSuite is better there particularly considering the newer Supply Chain Control Tower and advanced inventory management capabilities.  NetSuite is not elegant when it comes to Stand Cost, however, so understand your needs and its capabilities. You really need to perform a thorough needs analysis that projects into the future and compare that to the capabilities you'll use now and leverage in the future.  Regardless, using an implementation consultant expert in the system you pick is highly recommended.