I am happy to say that our experience with Netsuite is completely the opposite of Adam Stone’s in every way. We’ve been with them for 6 years and watched the software grow and evolve. We use virtually every feature of the product and I can honestly say I’ve never been more impressed with a software application (including our own which is widely considered the best in the industry we service). When we first joined the Netsuite family (it was originally called Netledger) we were running our business using Upshot.com for Sales Force Automation, a system we wrote in house for case management, Peachtree for Accounting, Outlook for CRM and a couple of other systems for specific processes related to our niche. Nothing was integrated and with employees in different parts of the country, communications was a nightmare. Today we have one solution – Netsuite. We would need at least 8 additional administrative staff without Netsuite and we still wouldn’t be able to do the things we do today. Not only is the product exceptional – it is easy to use, extremely reliable, and easily customizable — the online help and customer service are terrific. I scratched my head when I read Adam’s comments about the software and service. Many of his comments are so ridiculous I am convinced this isn’t about software or service – there must be another side to the story he isn’t telling.

The bottom line: I couldn’t be happier with Netsuite! The product is amazingly powerful and robust. The customer service is world class. We offer our customers across the country 24/7 support and we require a system with exceptional reliability. In the 6 years we’ve been with Netsuite, I don’t think we’ve been down for more than a couple of minutes total! I pitch Netsuite to my board and potential investors as a strategic competitive advantage because of the incredible functionality it provides. When we show business partners, investors, and new employees what we do with the product, they are awestruck. I would be happy to talk with anyone looking to purchase Netsuite – we couldn’t operate without it!

Netsuite was and continues to be a critical component in our company’s success. As a leading online distributor, we rely on Netsuite for our e-commerce, CRM, accounting, ERP applications to smoothly run our 1000+ daily webstore orders. Without Netsuite, we would need to add at least 50+ employees to operate. The system delivers 98% of the functionalities we need to run our business. The other 2% will be released shortly. Any and all support cases we filed have been replied to in less then 24 hours.

Your comments don’t truly reflect my experience with Netsuite nor the experience of many users I know. Better luck on the next program you choose.

Adam, I read your blog and like you I chose NetLedger because Larry Ellis of Oracle was behind it, and I did not imagine he would let it fail. I have not had the heavy handed tactics for renewal that you had, but I purchased direct from NetSuite and used an outside firm for leasing, so I could have montlhy payments on a multi-year lease.

One NetSuite benefit is that Evan Goldberg, one of the founders and designers, is very involved in the User Group. Not many users take advantage of the User Group, but it is a great place to read about what other users are doing and to see advice from the pgrammers and designers. I always read Evans comments with great interest.

Compared to my experience with AS-400 and SAP, I found the overhead and technical skills required for a solution like NetSuite to be more manageable for a small or medium business.