Every NetSuite Implementation is a unique, complex process, but there are three key steps you can take to help achieve a successful NetSuite Implementation, not matter your business structure.
What makes a NetSuite Implementation successful?
You’re asking the right question, that’s for sure! Different elements are part of a successful recipe at different stages in the implementation.
I’ll assume you are near the beginning of your journey, in the early preparatory stages. So the question becomes, “How do I prepare for a NetSuite Implementation?”
Luckily, there are just three things for you to focus on right now. You can worry about the other stages later. For now, just do these three things to prepare for your NetSuite Implementation:
Step 1: Find a Trustworthy Implementation Partner
You need to hire a NetSuite consulting firm that acts with integrity. They will tell it to you straight and lead you to success. An implementation is a big project. You need good partners.
Already signed with a firm but things don’t feel right? Maybe it seems like they are hiding things from you? They aren’t really listening to you? The vibes are off?
Don’t ever accept a poor consultant fit. The only way things will get better is if you act. Right now! Without delay!
If your consultants aren’t acting right you really only have two good options:
- Talk to your consultants honestly about your concerns and give them a second chance to address the issues. But don’t give them too many chances; recognize that sometimes they just won’t be the right fit.
- Cut your losses now. It is much cheaper in the long run to go through the hassle of finding the right firm than to continue struggling with the wrong one.
Step 2: Assemble Your Internal Implementation Team
Right now, this mostly means you should start clearing their schedules so they will have time to devote to implementation related tasks. That often means delegating some of their normal work to others, which can take a while, which is why you should start now.
Are you the CEO of a small business? Do you expect yourself to be the main point of contact for the implementation at your company? It is even more important for you to create space so you can give your NetSuite implementation sufficient attention.
With this new ERP system you are building a foundation for growth and more efficient operations, so you are giving your future self a gift. Don’t let the day-to-day fires and obligations get in the way of building a firm foundation.
Step 3: Gather Requirements for Your NetSuite Implementation
It would be misleading to say that you only gather requirements once at the beginning of a NetSuite Implementation and never revisit them. You will come back to these again and again throughout the implementation process, and each conversation with your implementation partner will uncover another layer, a deeper understanding of the needs and goals of your business. This means that gathering requirements well requires seeing it as an iterative process.
However, it's still important to approach the implementation with a list of initial requirements already prepared. As you work to gather the initial requirements for your NetSuite Implementation, there are two things to keep in mind:
1. Make Your Requirements as Visual and Clear as Possible
Ask yourself this: "Would I be able to better explain what I want if I had a diagram to reference? Even better, what if I could actually point at the software and say, 'I like this, but I want to change that?'"
Everyone we've ever worked with does a much better job of articulating desires with models, examples, and drafts in front of them. That need for visual examples is even stronger when you are talking about requirements for ERP software that you aren't already familiar with (which is the normative case in a NetSuite ERP implementation).
Try giving someone directions in a city he has never visited – you'd be crazy to do it without a map!
Let's face it: communicating software requirements is hard. Really hard. Miscommunication happens all the time at every company. How many times have you had the experience of saying, "No, that's not what I meant!" or "But I told you we needed it this way!"?
Often, miscommunication stems from the curse of knowledge.
2. You Know Your Business, Your Implementation Partner Knows NetSuite
As the business stakeholder in the project, you understand so much about your particular operations that it is difficult for you to imagine someone else not knowing certain things that appear obvious to you. As a software consultant or developer, it is often difficult to imagine someone else not knowing certain things about the way the software works.
So, at the beginning of each implementation, it's best to capture at least the minimum amount of requirements needed to provide a sense of the overall architecture. This will allow your implementation partner to jump right into building things to show you.
It's Not All On You!
While the above steps will help you prepare for a NetSuite Implementation, the success of the project doesn't rest wholly on your shoulders. It's a collaborative effort between you and the NetSuite Implementation partner you choose in step 1. As a NetSuite Implementation Partner, here's how we take a company's initial requirements and work with the company's internal implementation team to achieve a successful NetSuite Implementation that meets the company's needs.
Working to Deliver Succesful Implementations
When we start projects for our clients, we want to generate something they can give clarifying feedback on as quickly as possible. Often, that means we are building lightly in the early stages. That is, we first sketch the picture with light, easily erasable pencil marks. Then we show your internal implementation team the sketches, adjust the nose a bit or widen the eyes based on your feedback, and only then start applying heavier pen marks or layers of paint. Sometimes, clients need to see several versions to really identify what they want and communicate it to us.
Does our iterative process with light sketches early on sometimes waste time compared to a more thorough discussion followed by painting the whole painting in one go? Sure, absolutely.
But on average you would waste a lot more time with the all-at-once approach.
There is always going to be "wasted" time due to some miscommunication. Your only real decision is where you are going to put that inefficiency. Do you want to discover the low-cost, low-risk mistakes while viewing pencil sketches, or do you want to wait to discover the expensive, its-too-late-now mistakes when you see the final painting for the first time? Yeah, us, too.
We want to move as many as possible of the "actually, I want that to be different" conversations too early in the implementation project so that they don't all happen in the week before go-live. You should expect that there will still probably be some last-minute surprises in that week, as well as after going live. But we work hard to clear out most of the surprises earlier on.
Speaking of time. Wondering how long a NetSuite Implementation takes? Check out this article I wrote on the Expected Timeline of a NetSuite Implementation to learn more!
Oracle NetSuite Alliance Partner & Commerce Partner
If you have general questions about NetSuite or more specific questions about how our team can support your business through your NetSuite Implementation, contact us! Anchor Group is a certified Oracle NetSuite Alliance Partner and Commerce Partner equipped to handle all kinds of NetSuite and SuiteCommerce projects, large or small.
