Probably the most common misconception about NetSuite is that once you are on the platform, you will have a hard time getting off the system. The genesis of this misconception is based on the fact that NetSuite is not a traditional on premise system – it is not installed in your environment. Instead, it’s all hosted in the Cloud. The common complaint that people have about services in the Cloud is once you are on the service, the provider can demand high prices over time, and they will work to not make it easy for you to migrate from the system if you do wish to make a change.
The simple truth is that any time you wish to make a move from one ERP to another, you are going to have to expend some effort. The formats between most systems are usually incompatible, and thus migration requires planning – this concern does not go away when you have an on-premise system. When moving from one system to another, my firm will recommend to plan the process well ahead of the time that you must be off the system. During the planning, options for migrating data are reviewed and contemplated. This concern is treated the same if the platform is in the Cloud or is on-premise.
NetSuite already provides a data export mechanism; information can be delivered via CSVs (comma separated values) and Excel sheets. Of course, NetSuite – like any respectable ERP – is a complex system. And this complexity typically means there is no straight database dump to the target system. You will have to perform individual extracts with data manipulation to get to the target system. It’s a typical, but often one of the riskier project concerns in a new ERP implementation.
Because NetSuite is service based, it is recommended that you leave yourself ample time to perform your migration before your contract expires. As a service, just like the electrical company, you will need to stay current on your obligation or the service will shutoff. Ample time is measured in weeks or months, not days.
In addition, a number of providers have developed mechanisms to backup NetSuite which may provide an alternative to the built-in NetSuite export tools. At the end of the day, you won’t be held hostage to NetSuite. But like any complex endeavor, it makes sense to plan carefully to avoid gotchas!
Copyright © Marty Zigman 2011