No one ever posts in this forum. Thought I might try and get the ball rolling.
What do you all think about the comments from NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson?
“The Netsuite comet officially hits the Microsoft ERP dinosaur” and “Clearly, this is the last gasp of a dinosaur trying to protect its Stone Age software products”
You can read the entire article here:
http://www.crn.com/software/223800199;jsessionid=5HG0PH5RBT5YHQE1GHOSKHWATMY32JVN
It’s a quick read.
here is a ms document http://blogs.msdn.com/ukdynamics/archive/2010/03/11/competitive-sales-tools-vs-netsuite.aspx
Hi Matt and Rashed,
One of my customers is considering replacing one of their Navision installations with Netsuite, so I would like to know what do you think about this NetSuite, if you have tried it. Is it as good as they claim?
I’ve never used it and don’t know a lot about it. I think as with any software it depends on the company using it. From what I understand NetSuite is a cloud based solution. To me that means you conform to how the software works, which is exactly the opposite of NAV.
Integration would also be more difficult I think. You said “one of their systems” so I’m assuming they have others on NAV and would have this one on NetSuite. Seems like a pain.
Personally, I’m a control freak, and I don’t really like the concept of not hosting my own applications. I even hate the fact that I have to use things like GMail, but alas I don’t have the time to setup something on my own.
Yes it seems like a pain to do that, but this is out of my control. I can only try to push them a little with reason for why they should stay with NAV. I don’t think either that NetSuite is a matching solution for them, especially not since the Navision implementation we did 5 years ago was one of the most modified implementations I have ever been a part of. I don’t think we left more than a few objects untouched! [:(]
Yeah, in the end all you can do is try to guide your customer in the right direction. I’m pretty sure NAV can do all of the major things NetSuite can do. And we all know that just about anything can be built. It would seem silly to move to a new ERP when they have one that is already working, but who knows. Have they mentioned any reasons why they would move away from NAV?
Hi,
If you do not know the product you should not speak against it 
The idea of customization being difficult in the cloud is preposterous. NetSuite and Salesforce offer development platform that allow you to do more than basic. You can create entire apps and add-ons that are maintained and backed-up in their environments. Moreover, these customizations can be made by end user (not just consultants) and are therefore more accessible.
NetSuite can do all Nav does and then some and you do not have to maintain servers, hydro, IT staff and run it in the cloud without Citrix.
If you are serious about helping customers youèd investigate further.
Thanks
Interesting comment Rene, but there is an old saying here in Denmark that goes something like this: “Don’t throw a stone if you live in a glass house”.
If you choose one of the 150 partners (which since the article was written has grown even further - my own company included), mentioned in the article, who offers hosted Microsoft Dynamics solutions, then you don’t need to maintain servers or all that. And with the new Dynamics NAV 2009 R2, you don’t need Citrix either.
If you choose a solution where the company behind the product is offering the hosting of the solution like NetSuite, or if you choose a 3rd party to do your hosting doesn’t really matter.
I know several even big companies who has seriously considered NetSuite, so I’m sure it’s a good product, but they also all decided to go with Microsoft Dynamics NAV and AX in the end. Basically because they didn’t buy into the level of customization available.
I’m a strong believer of competition in the market, so I’m really happy that there in fact are companies with product like NetSuite. Because of course Microsoft feels that NetSuite is coming too close to them on many areas, and I think that makes them not only make campaigns like the one mentioned in the article, but also put more effort into improving the product even more.
I’m sure that one day there will be an ERP product that really will push Microsoft Dynamics out in the dark, but that day has still to come.