Implementing a new ERP system like NetSuite can be a major undertaking, full of potential pitfalls that can derail your project’s timeline and budget. However, being aware of these common implementation mistakes can help you proactively address them. This guide outlines key pitfalls to watch out for and best practices to follow for a smooth and successful NetSuite rollout.
Failing to Define Clear Business Goals and Requirements
The first step of any NetSuite implementation should be aligning on clear business goals, functional requirements, and expected outcomes. Without this upfront definition, you run the risk of scope creep down the line as new requests emerge that may not support your core objectives. You also can’t effectively measure success after go-live without establishing benchmarks early on.
Make sure to document detailed requirements around your highest priority processes and reports. Involve key user leads as well as executive sponsors to obtain sign-off. Revisit and refine these goals as needed during the project to prevent misalignment. Having clear goals drives decision making when trade-offs inevitably arise.
Underestimating Time and Resources Required
Many organizations underestimate what a full NetSuite implementation truly requires in terms of time, internal staff commitment, and overall budget. They may attempt to shortcut certain steps in the process which leads to issues after going live. Common resourcing pitfalls include:
- Not budgeting for adequate training time and change management
- Understaffing the internal team
- Failing to backfill roles of project team members
- Overestimating what consultants can handle vs needing more customer involvement
Avoid these issues by being realistic upfront about the effort required in terms of people and hours. Build in contingencies for unexpected tasks. And don’t simply hand over all responsibilities to consultants—the internal team must allocate top personnel to drive an engaged partnership.
Lacking Executive Buy-In and Sponsorship
Securing executive buy-in is a prerequisite for any successful business transformation initiative. Without an influential executive sponsor, NetSuite projects can quickly end up as a low priority. This leads to resource constraints, lack of alignment between different departments, and poor user adoption after the system goes live.
Designate both an executive sponsor and a separate day-to-day owner from the business to spearhead the project. Document how NetSuite maps back to core strategic goals and the expected ROI. Conduct regular updates with leadership on progress to maintain backing as the effort unfolds.
Skipping Key User Involvement
The project team shouldn’t perform the implementation in a silo without ongoing involvement from departmental leaders and front-line users who will leverage the system daily. Without obtaining user input, you risk design decisions or configurations that don’t align to actual business needs out in the field. The solution may ultimately have low adoption rates.
Build a framework for continual user participation through methods like requirements gathering workshops, validation testing, training, and change management communications. Designate ‘superuser’ leads for each business domain early on to be power NetSuite users after go-live.
Customizing Too Much Too Soon
Resist the temptation to over customized NetSuite out of the gate to match existing business processes. Heavy customization early in an implementation adds complexity, cost, and delays. Instead, first understand and adopt the recommended NetSuite practices to take advantage of native functionality.
Where there are gaps, complete an impact analysis on whether it is absolutely essential to customize vs adapting to the standard NetSuite approach which may be better longer-term. Taking the time upfront to make these decisions helps prevent customization creep occurring later leading to increased maintenance overhead.
Skimping on Data Migration
Many project leaders treat data migration as an afterthought without fully understanding its importance to user adoption, accurate reporting, and achieving ROI targets after go-live. For NetSuite to become the single source of truth in your organization, data from legacy systems must integrate properly during the transition.
Underestimating this effort can cause major headaches at cut-over and after. Allocate resources early on to build your migration strategy and data mapping documents. Clean up outdated information still flowing into legacy systems pre-transition. Perform multiple practice migrations to confirm completeness. With careful planning, data migration is smooth and uneventful.
Attempting Big Bang Rather than Phased Rollouts
The ‘big bang’ approach of turning on NetSuite across the entire enterprise simultaneously carries maximum risk of disruption and user confusion at cut-over. While faster in theory, this rarely goes according to plan. Instead, consider taking an iterative, phased approach by going live with specific functions or business units first.
This minimizes variables as you deploy targeted processes like order management or financials with a smaller user footprint. You can then apply lessons learned from initial sites to downstream rollouts. Users also have more opportunity to acclimate to the tool with phased deployments. Just be sure to evaluate complex system interdependencies before determining the sequence.
Not Budgeting for Post Go-Live Support
Many organizations fail to allocate resources for adequate post-implementation support for data reconciliation, bug fixing, end user questions, and solution optimization. Don’t tear down your project team or cut back consulting contracts the day after go-live. Plan and budget for a team to handle hyper care fixes and enhancements for at least a few months during stabilization.
You don’t want to risk valid issues not getting addressed which could undermine user adoption long-term. Have a process for documenting enhancement requests, triaging based on resources available and impact, and establishing a continual improvement roadmap. Your ‘go-live’ is really a ‘go-begin’ on continually driving more NetSuite value.
Why Choose SuiteRep for Your NetSuite Implementation
SuiteRep specializes in helping SMB to enterprise companies implement NetSuite to elevate their business efficiency, growth and insights to new heights. Some key reasons to select SuiteRep as your NetSuite solutions partner include:
Industry Specialized Expertise
With hundreds of successful projects completed, SuiteRep’s consultants offer accumulated NetSuite deployment experience tailored to your specific business requirements across industries including manufacturing, distribution, healthcare, financial services, technology, and beyond .
A True Extension of Your Team
Rather than a one-off scripted consulting engagement, SuiteRep provides ongoing warm handoffs for ongoing education, enhancement requests and continual guidance as a member of your team. Our customer success team supports long after go-live.
Commitment to Long-Term Outcomes
SuiteRep’s overarching focus is driving measurable business outcomes from Strong executive engagement and requirements definition at the start ensures we implement what moves those KPI markers for your organization. We take accountability for results not just clicking the go-live box and moving on.
Methodical Proven Delivery Process
By following our step-by step SuiteFlow implementation methodology refined over hundreds of successful customer engagements, SuiteRep mitigates project risk and provides predictability on cost and timeline for robust NetSuite rollouts tailored to how you operate.
Let SuiteRep be your trusted expert advisor on avoiding potential failure points and ensuring your next ERP transformation instills real business impact for years to come. Requirements definition, executive sponsorship, customer team staffing, phased deployment, and post go-live support are just a few key areas we collaborate on with a laser focus on outcomes and long term value delivery.
To learn more about how SuiteRep uniquely approaches NetSuite, please check out our website today!
