NetSuite Expands SaaS Application Portfolio

At a SuiteConnect 2017 event held this week as part of a larger Oracle OpenWorld 2017 conference, NetSuite today announced it has made available a SuitePeople human resources (HR) application as part of the company’s portfolio of software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform. Oracle acquired NetSuite last year.

In addition to expanding into the HR realm, NetSuite today added an Oracle NetSuite Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service module that makes uses of software originally developed by Oracle, as well as an inbound shipping and quality management and enhancement to the way the company’s ERP application manages bills of material.

Finally, NetSuite extended the capabilities of the applications it provides services firms to include a Bill Rate Card module and an enhanced timesheet module, and made available customized editions of its software for nonprofits and services companies as part of an ongoing SuiteSuccess initiative that provides access to various editions of NetSuite software targeted at vertical industries.

Paul Farrell, senior vice president of product marketing at NetSuite, says the latest enhancements are proof that Oracle is continuing to fund enhancement in the NetSuite portfolio. IT organizations should expect to see tighter integration between the NetSuite and Oracle ERP application portfolios where it makes sense, says Farrell. For example, Oracle NetSuite Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service superseded third-party budget and planning applications that NetSuite will continue to make available on request, says Farrell.

Farrell says the two ERP suites have area focuses in terms of the type of customers they serve. NetSuite is squarely focused on the midmarket, while Oracle concentrates on the enterprise. Farrell concedes there may be some areas of overlap. But for the most part, the two ERP portfolios have two completely different designs when it comes to the types of companies they target, says Farrell. As such, Farrell says while certain capabilities might converge, it doesn’t make sense to combine the two suites.

“There’s no plan for a super solution,” says Farrell.

In effect, NetSuite and Oracle expect customers to self-select whatever SaaS application platform appeals to them versus waiting to be told by either arm of the company what they should do next.