Kris Nickerson
“Standard profit and loss statements provide historical data, but don’t allow executives to correct unfavorable trends, measure results of specific strategies, and/or reward outstanding performance,” says Michael Emaus, President and CEO of eEnterprise (www.eEnterprise.com), a global integrator of NetSuite, the world’s leading on-demand business management software. “A P&L is only a scorecard of what happened in the past. The actionable information is in the key performance indicators - the metrics of who is doing what with whom, when and how. This is what we call the 360-degree view of a business, department, and/or location.”
All too often, business teams are hamstrung because they receive untimely information that reports performance rather than actionable metrics. “In a variety of ways, these executives say the same thing: they get balance sheets and profit and loss statements, but they have no way of knowing what’s causing the numbers to trend up or down,” says Emaus. “Because they don’t know the cause of the trend, it is largely unknown whether to focus efforts on certain offices, targeted geographic locations, certain salespeople, specific products, or a particular type of client.”
“In today’s environment, the growth organization needs to think fast, move fast, and embrace change,” says Emaus. With the global economy pressuring the market to build virtual and instant locations, executives need accurate, real-time, standardized information that is accessible to all levels of management and key employees. “That actionable information is especially crucial for growing a business or a multi-location enterprise,” says Emaus, whose company integrates NetSuite for businesses of all sizes, particularly multi-location, global and/or franchise organizations. “Now we are talking about the NetSuite 360-degree view of a business, department, and/or location.”
NetSuite’s two primary advantages are ease of integration and information accessibility. NetSuite integrates its four major components - sales (CRM), back office (ERP), support, and eCommerce - and makes them accessible in one system via the Internet, offering a business owner no limits on growth, management, and reach. According to Emaus, “NetSuite provides a true single view of the customer - the lead, the prospect, the product or service, the invoice, and the support. So, when a salesperson needs a history of buying patterns, they see it in real-time. When someone from accounting wants to see which products or services have been invoiced, he or she can reference the same record as the salesperson. And, when the support staff needs to view the knowledge base, they can refer to the same record and attach alerts back to sales.”
Because NetSuite is an on-demand solution, it triggers positive payback by eliminating the restraints of the traditional client/server environment. The result enables users to access relevant and timely information from anywhere/anytime.
But Emaus emphasizes that the software alone isn’t enough. “Our customers generally understand immediately that an integrated, on-demand Software as a Solution (SaaS) requires business engineers who understand their industries and goals. It requires an understanding in business first, and technology second. Delivering 360-degree collaboration tailored around a variety of industries is the true differentiator for eEnterprise.”
Concludes Emaus, “Larry Ellison pioneered the Internet for the Enterprise. Now he and NetSuite are pioneering it for the SMB market. The Internet has been his baby, and for him to acknowledge that the Small-Medium Size Business (SMB) market is where the drive is tells me he hasn’t lost his game. We’re thankful for that.”
