April 6th, 2006
NetSuite 11 targeting mid-market with verticals
With an possible IPO in the works for this year, NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson and team are priming the pump with a new version of NetSuite and verticals for the mid-market. Version 11.0 includes AJAX pixie dust for the user interface, a scripting langugage for business process customization, and improved reporting, scheduling, graphing and document management. The new verticals NetSuite Wholesale/Distribution Edition and NetSuite Services Company Edition.
SuiteScript, which is built on JavaScript and part of NetSuite’s Netflex customization platform, and its APIs can be used to create business processes with branching logic and time-based decision trees. User events, such changes to existing records and more complex processes, can be triggered or scheduled.
Like larger vendors going after the mid-market, which have similar needs to larger companies, NetSuite provides an all-in-one, integrated business suite–ERP, CRM, eCommerce– to manage core business processes. SAP, for example, intends to focus on the mid-market from the top down with more of an on- premises focus, while NetSuite is a comparatively tiny player coming from the bottom up with pure on-demand solutions. It’s a huge market, with application companies like Microsoft, Oracle and Sage also on the ground. Over the next few years, the fight for the mid-market with integrated, service-enabled, all-in-one solutions will be interesting to watch…
Dan Farber, editor-in-chief of CNET News.com, has more than 20 years of experience as an editor and journalist covering technology. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
