Fit is Everything in Choosing the Right Cloud ERP Solution
Many businesses are moving away from NetSuite due to rising costs, restrictive contracts, and missing features. This blog explores why companies are choosing Acumatica as a more flexible and customer-focused Cloud ERP alternative.
ERP solutions have become the central nervous system of modern business, so choosing the right one is important. Some businesses go with a solution that isn’t the right fit and find themselves facing manifold issues, including limited features and capabilities, escalating costs, and restrictive terms and conditions. Staying with the wrong system exacerbates an ongoing problem.
In seeking the best ERP solution, choosing the right vendor is also critical. Businesses need a vendor they can trust, with a community and culture that stands up for its customers.
At Acumatica, we are seeing an increasing number of organizations that are frustrated and want a positive relationship with their ERP vendor. Many of these are NetSuite customers who are dissatisfied with their current business software and are looking to make a change.
With more and more customers making the switch from NetSuite to Acumatica, we analyzed some of the reasons why this was happening, and here is what we found.
Common challenges businesses face with NetSuite
An increasing number of NetSuite customers, who are seeking a better way to manage and optimise their businesses, are frustrated and feel that their tech vendor is more interested in squeezing additional money out of them than in solving their challenges.
These problems include:
- Unexpected increases in subscription fees often approaching 100% increases at renewal time.
- Failed implementations can cripple businesses at great cost.
- Missing critical features or capabilities after going live with NetSuite.
These are just a few of the complaints we hear, and you’ll find more of the same on public message boards. From a lack of training support to their licensing model, to hidden costs and being too expensive, the frustrations for many NetSuite customers are increasing (as expressed by this Reddit user), and they are looking to switch (like this business).
Key reasons to switch to Acumatica
Each business has its own unique needs and challenges. Business operations, which vary widely from company to company, inform what an organisation values in an ERP system. That said, there are some common areas where Acumatica outscores NetSuite. In the latest G2 Survey, which applies real-life user reviews to rate systems’ overall customer satisfaction and experience, Acumatica performs better than NetSuite in the following key categories:
- Ease of Use
- Quality of Support
- Meets Requirements
- Ease of Administration
- Ease of Setup
- Product Direction
Businesses are flocking to Acumatica because of its superior product, its industry-specific functionality that addresses real-world needs, and, according to G2, its ease of doing business. This reflects our customer-centric Community and culture, which are primary drivers of our industry-leading Net Promoter Score (NPS). The NPS measures overall customer satisfaction, and Acumatica’s score of +44 far exceeds NetSuite’s score of +2.
Don’t take our word for it: Hear from businesses that have made the switch
A growing number of former NetSuite customers are now part of the Acumatica Community and are experiencing the positive impact this switch has had on their businesses. These real customers are seeing real results with Acumatica, including:
- 30% less time to process shipments.
- 93% less time to process sales invoices.
- $750,000 in IT cost savings.
- 75% reduction in overhead costs.
For some NetSuite switchers, frustrations were found at every corner. For instance, Bob Davis Sales was logging sales into as many as 27 systems a day—27 systems that couldn’t talk to each other. They used phone calls and email to manage inventory, and invoicing took 30 hours.
After switching from NetSuite to Acumatica, all Bob Davis Sales customer accounts are in a single system, all inventory is instantly visible, and invoicing takes just two hours. Of the benefits the company has seen with Acumatica, Operations Manager Brett Davis says: “It’s just an amazing burden that’s been taken off me.”
Saddleback Leather was in a similar situation. For seven years, they limped along with NetSuite, relying on 14 developers just to make it work, at a cumulative cost of around $4 million. Enabling customer reviews on the website became a “giant, three-month process,” and employees reverted to manual work because the NetSuite interface wasn’t user-friendly.
With Acumatica, Saddleback’s organic traffic increased by 45%, and employees, finding the Acumatica interface intuitive, stopped using manual workarounds. Saddleback accomplished more in a few months than it had in almost a decade. Munson describes the difference this way: “I had a million ideas, but all of them were impossible with Oracle NetSuite. Now, I sleep, dream, and hope—three things I was not able to do with NetSuite.”
To learn more about their experiences, read the Bob Davis Sales and Saddleback Leather customer success stories. Before you decide to move forward, we'll schedule a meeting with a customer to share why they chose Acumatica over NetSuite. In the meantime, see this video: Why Customers Choose Acumatica vs NetSuite.
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Prior to Acumatica, our IT developer kept saying we should wait until the next upgrade and things would get better…but it was always a downgrade with NetSuite.” Dave Munson |
Next Steps on Making the Switch
Many NetSuite users believe their options are limited because of onerous contracts and restrictive terms. We have experience working with similar businesses and can help free you from these difficult circumstances.
If you have an existing contract with NetSuite with more than six months remaining:
Begin your research on suitable alternatives.
Examine your contract agreements, particularly the contract termination information, your NetSuite Estimate/Order Form, your Subscription Services Agreement (SSA), and other agreements found on the NetSuite contracts page. Know your rights!
Contact us to speak with an authorised Acumatica reseller to assess your options. Alternatively, if you have an existing contract with fewer than six months remaining:
- Begin your research on suitable alternatives.
- Contact us to speak with Phil and Martin about creative options for migrating.
If you want more information about the advantages of Acumatica over NetSuite, we encourage you to visit "Acumatica vs Oracle NetSuite | Acumatica Cloud ERP." If you are ready to explore further, you can request an Acumatica demonstration to learn about our award-winning ease of use, navigation, and intuitive interface.
You can also contact us to engage with an Acumatica partner, explore how our software meets your functional requirements, and discover options for migrating from NetSuite. Our partners can answer questions and map out a step-by-step project plan.