What is a NetSuite Consultant, and Why Might Your Company Need One?

So, you need guidance if you plan to spend thousands or even millions of dollars on an ERP system that runs your business. That’s why it pays to hire a NetSuite consultant.

What is a NetSuite Consultant?

SuiteDynamics founder and CEO Jake Kleiner says a NetSuite consultant helps a business get the most out of NetSuite ERP software.

“Just like a tour guide takes a tourist through a journey … a NetSuite guide will take the same type of customer—a tourist—through a NetSuite experience without having to worry about … situations that could cause problems,” he says. “They smooth out the entire journey for that customer.”

With help from his SuiteDynamics team, Jake regularly guides these “tourists” on successful implementation journeys. In doing so, he uses his background in business, finance, and computer programming to understand the client’s issues so his company can customize ERP modules to solve them. 

He also holds three NetSuite consultant certifications, which means he has undergone training and paid licensing fees to receive expert credentials. SuiteDynamics is also a certified NetSuite solution provider.

Why is a consultant necessary?

Jake says many businesses hire consultants after trying to implement an ERP system on their own—with disastrous results. 

“Typically, they run into problems that they had no way of avoiding or knowing about,” he explains. “Those problems can span from very simple configuration issues to very complex implementation issues. And they end up spending a lot more time just figuring out the basics that they could have had someone just teach them or show them or configure for them right off the bat.”

And that lost time, of course, translates to lost money.

So, when clients finally call SuiteDynamics, most need assistance with how their sales and purchase orders impact accounting systems. They have “functional pains,” often involving simple complaints such as “I can’t process my order” or “I can’t complete my invoicing cycle.” 

The consultant’s job is to help solve those problems and identify the company’s more significant needs.

“We need to be smart enough and wise enough to come up with the real, what we would call ‘tactical issue’ or ‘tactical pain,’” Jake says. “And the real tactical pain is that they need to grow their sales by 500% this year. Or they need to trim down their expenses by $6,000, or something like that.”

How does a NetSuite consultant guide an implementation?

As the implementation progresses, consultants determine how an ERP can solve those pains. They use real-world experience to help the business decide what modules it needs and how to customize the system. They start with NetSuite’s out-of-the-box functionality and resort to customization only if those standard features don’t completely resolve the issues. 

And then, Jake says, consultants stay in touch with the client to help them adjust their ERP as they grow. 

“NetSuite implementations, for the most part, don’t end,” he laughs. “They do go through different maturity cycles.”

Many customers, he explains, want an implementation end date. However, in reality, business needs evolve over time. And so does NetSuite. For example, the company releases more than 300 features every six months. Therefore, customers can’t keep track of the latest features and run their own enterprises. 

Fortunately, SuiteDynamics tracks NetSuite’s latest and greatest releases for clients. Then, we communicate any new features that may benefit businesses and suggest how best to use them. So, clients never miss out on a system advantage.

In fact, Jake wants companies to consider SuiteDynamics as more of a partner than a consulting business. He trains our team to think about how an ERP solution will impact a client for years to come so we have a stake in our clients’ successes. 

It’s not good enough to only develop solutions for current problems. An excellent consultant anticipates future issues, as well.