NetSuite’s Edition Hairball: NetSuite editions and corresponding licensing is so confusing that we had to resort to their partner websites to get some semblance of clarity. How all editions and add-ons interconnect and impact licensing was impossible to decipher.

Horizontal Editions: Lite Edition, Mid-Market Edition, and Enterprise Edition (per "Excelym", a NetSuite partner).

Vertical Editions: Retailer Edition , Wholesale Distributor Edition, Manufacturing Edition, Software Edition, Professional Services Edition, and Retail Omnichannel Edition (per "Merchant Maverick").

NetSuite Add-ons: There appear to be 25 or so add-ons, some of which we believe should be part of core editions. For example, the “Advanced Inventory” add-on includes capabilities any inventory operation would want.

BizAutomation offers a single all-inclusive edition, for a single target (horizontal) market (SMBs) at a single price with single rate add-on pricing. Sticking to our pledge of transparency, we publish everything on our web-site, eliminating the possibility of “edition traps”(see below). This approach is analogous to a bumper to bumper warrantee that covers everything without exception (including what you don’t realize you might need at a later point).

How big software leverages an upsell: Up-sell strategies can affect any customer using sofware that’s intentionally held back by product planners, in order to upsell more profitable add-ons, modules, versions/editions, platforms, and the lucrative billable partner hours that such upgrades produce. This happens in a couple of scenarios. When an ERP system is sold on a single platform but offered both horizontally (e.g. small, medium, large editions) and vertically (industry specific editions) or when it’s sold in multiple platforms, usually separated horizontally which in theory makes sense because systems should be designed for a target horizontal markets, but when design decisions are influenced by upsell pressures, it’s the end customer that picks up the tab.

Example: In this example we’ll assume the use of a single platform multi-edition offering but the same example can be made with multi-platform offerings. Say you commit to what we’ll call a “Small Business” (Horizontal) “Standard Distributor” (Vertical) edition. Six months into a three year agreement your business grows and adds another warehouse, and only then realize your small business version only supports a single warehouse. Your software vendor will happily sell you an “Advanced Inventory” add-on, but to get it you have to upgrade to the “Mid-Market” edition + the add-on price. Because this is most likely to happen in the middle of a contract, all your negotiation leverage is gone, and you’re forced to pay whatever they ask or face leaving the system - not an enviable position to be in.

This happens when the customer doesn’t know what they don’t know before committing, but even an ERP expert would be hard pressed to negotiate a fool proof contract because in order to make a truly informed decision, one needs all the facts, and often vendors will cherry pick information on proposals, burying details in opaque licensing agreements so difficult to understand, that even regulators and “fair trade” laws have no impact on the outcome.

BizAutomation’s single all-inclusive version, is completely immune to vendor upsell leveraging, as there’s no version, edition, or platform to up-sell.

NetSuite: NetSuite offers customization, both at the admin level (without needing code), and script based customization, using something called “SuiteScript” along with other tools, some of which are only available to certified solution partners, but none are designed for the average business expert. These include software development kits (SDKs are discussed within the “Integration with 3rd party apps” section) , “SuiteTalk”, and “SuiteBuilder”. All these tools work at the abstraction layer above source code, which must be compiled (interpreted) down to the underlying source code, and thus are not supported by NetSuite. There have been customer reviews citing occasions where main build updates (to source code) by NetSuite break custom projects coded by one of NetSuite’s partners, so responsibility for issue will rest with the partner.

This would never happen with BizAutomation, because any modification to code goes through us, and we always support it at the source code level itself. Like all BigTech SaaS, NetSuite will not under any circumstances entertain any kind of customer driven source code enhancements, no matter the budget.

BizAutomation: Almost all customization tools are designed around click not code wizards intended for business users, not engineers (including our workflow automation module which is part of the suite). The only area of the BizAutomation suite designed for non-business users includes the HTML and CSS editing tools provided for customizing partner forms (invoices, purchase orders, multi-entity branding, etc..), and entire websites designed on the BizCommerce platform (which also supports scripting such as Java script and J Query), but not the core suite itself. But even these tools comply with standards based technologies (there will never be a “BizScript”) so you’ll never need a specialized partner with sky high billing rates to do anything.

With no dependency on partner networks to feed or upsell incentives from multiple versions and editions, we also offer a source code enhancement under certain conditions, which are written in-house to prevent breaking the suite with build updates (any bugs are supported by us, the original authors of source code). Source code customization is invaluable when you don’t know what you don’t know 3 months into a 6 month implementation (happens more often than you’d think), finding yourself dependent on the good graces of your software vendor, and tens of thousands into a project. This is precisely why we advise you prioritize the technology vendor first (take customer references seriously), and the features and software system last. Most customers seem to do the opposite.

How NetSuite’s partner centric integration strategy compares to BizAutomation’s customer centric strategy

Both companies are similar when it comes to internal integrations, built directly into the suite itself. For example, connecting to credit card processors, shipping carriers, address look ups, tax rates, currency exchange rates, and more..

3rd Party Solution Partner Integrations & App Extensions: These are integrations to 3rd party systems, networks, and marketplaces by 3rd party software companies, which also become value added reseller (VAR) partners. These integrations are usually specific to a vertical market or seek to improve on a feature. To integrate the partner has to either have access to the source code, or the scripting layer that talks to source code, using a tool commonly referred to as a software development kit (SDK).

NetSuite’s app strategy: Attract as many 3rd party software developers so they become solution partners. Becoming a gold certified solution partner can cost tens of thousands per year, and months to qualify for approval, which also pays for support and certification (there are also yearly selling quotas).

The Pros of NetSuite’s strategy: Customers get an app marketplace where they can shop for integrations and extensions. All those partners attract customers to NetSuite, and Google search results are filled with pro-NetSuite messaging. NetSuite and their partners benefit from increased dependency (a con from the customer’s perspective).

The Cons of NetSuite’s strategy:

1. While seen as a pro for NetSuite and their partners - with deep dependencies come increased vendor lock in, where customer’s find it impossible to port to a competing 3rd party apps without significant expense and down time. Solution partners know this, and take full advantage. This is why BizAutomation vertically integrates all business logic internally (i.e. we don’t offer 3rd party SDKs), and only connects to 3rd party apps via data APIs.

2. The partner, not NetSuite is responsible if integration breaks as a result of a NetSuite build update (we found many reviews mentioning this). BizAutomation ALWAYS takes responsibility for connectivity issues to 3rd party apps. Our responsibility ends only where the 3rd party app begins. We also only connect to a single best of breed, but only where the 3rd party app performs something we determine wouldn’t make sense putting into our own suite thereby preventing the con mentioned in point #3.

3. The sales and marketing benefits as well as the increased dependencies generated by solution partners create a powerful special interest lobby group, that creates a natural incentive to allow solution partner systems to take over functions that in all likelihood should be built into NetSuite proper. This is why we justify our allegations that “BigTech” ERP software serves the needs of their partners first, then customers.

4. 3rd party solutions aren’t free. Also, partner fees which will likely be embedded in app prices.

Refers to how efficient and thus competitive a software system is at helping its intended customer automate. So for example, a system designed to be efficient for a 10 person company would be completely inefficient at running Ford, and visa versa.

NetSuite: Scour the company’s website which is mired with more marketing gobbledygook than even Microsoft’s website which is saying something, and you’ll see a company focused squarely on the enterprise - their bread and butter. Scaled back versions (Lite Editions) which seem to be avoided on their website, are available (Say NetSuite partners) but the design language remains focused on the needs of larger business, even though features have been taken out. This does not an SMB optimized system make !

BizAutomation: If hyper focused on efficiency for SMBs only. We often ask our customers (all under 100 employees) for feedback on where we can save them clicks, how to do more with less, etc... we’re obsessed with it, but we can afford to be, because we only need to serve the needs of a single horizontal market - SMBs.

NetSuite: 4.1 average out of 5 stars on Capterra should be taken with a grain of salt because as a partner driven company NetSuite partners are also free to leave reviews, which is likely to skew the average. The biggest concern has to be the support ratings of 3.6 out of 5 stars.

BizAutomation: 4.9 average on Capterra, with over 95% of our reviews coming from customers in the U.S. and Canada, so those 5 star reviews are legit.