This article is relevant if you want to understand how you can make the NetSuite user experience amazingly high-performance.
Background
As a NetSuite Systems Integrator, one of our robust competencies is the ability to adapt NetSuite to our client requirements. Because we hold expertise in the platform, we often build (or bring) tools and algorithms to solve our clients’ various situations. Readers may be interested in reviewing the public bundles we give our clients without a license charge.
As a professional services practice, the fundamental mechanism for producing services is to hold our clients’ requests, make promises, and keep all interested parties up to date on our fulfillment status. To maintain our high standards, we decided we liked NetSuite’s Case structure to build our “Prolecto Task Manager” (PTM) because we wanted all the benefits of the single database structure where we hold our client information. However, instead of using NetSuite’s built-in Case user interface, we elected to build a SuiteLet on the platform to meet our requirements.
Prolecto Task Manager (PTM) Application Evolution
The PTM application has evolved since 2019 as follows:
- Version 1: Conventional: built as a SuiteLet by a junior analyst using conventional NetSuite Suitelet techniques. The application served its purpose of helping the analyst gain valuable SuiteScript experience and allowed our firm to leave a third-party task manager to gain the benefits of integrated task/ticket management.
- Version 2: MVC Pattern: another analyst rewrote the application using the Model View Controller (MVC) paradigm to take advantage of client-side browser technologies but still using NetSuite UI elements. We immediately began to get usability benefits, and we could extend the application to our clients’ use without needing additional NetSuite licenses.
- Version 3: MVC Bootstrap Pattern: after a couple of years of additional development of applications for clients, most notably the iPad Ordering app (see my 2021 article, Watch NetSuite Drive Fast Tablet (iPad) Based Order Entry), we realized what we could do if we took greater responsibility for the user-interface and thoughtfully leveraged the built-in capacities of the browsers against our NetSuite SuiteLets.
Note, readers may also want to review my related 2021 artcle, See How to Craft Fast and Flexible NetSuite Bulk Record Generators.
Blazing Fast NetSuite Driven Applications
We are so enthusiastic about what we have built with PTM Version 3 we realized that NetSuite could indeed be very fast — if we are willing to become responsible for the application. I recently showcased the application via a video conference to select internal team members. I realized that it would be valuable to publically demonstrate the application so that you could see, firsthand, what is possible in terms of speed and user experience against the NetSuite Platform. In my mind, it is now a myth that NetSuite system performance is questionable. I believe the standard NetSuite user interface contributes to the performance considerations; I ask you to assess if our method to run NetSuite shows it runs very well.
Watch Extremely Fast NetSuite Driven Application (8:58) Video
The following video (8:58) is an unrehearsed performance of a presentation I gave to my internal team members. The purpose of the video is to help you see how well the application runs. There are no video manipulation or tricks. All of our clients would attest to the performance of this application as we use it to take care of our promises.
NetSuite Fast Application Development Approach
Stay tuned for a subsequent article explaining the technology approach to developing our speedy NetSuite application.
NetSuite High-Performance Application Development
With the recent application development and the framework and pattern we created, we now have a new capacity to bring to our clients that wish to gain the maximum software-use productivity for their end-user community. The key to this is to understand that we must take responsibility for browser compatibility matters which NetSuite usually takes care of under their suggested enhancement practices.
If you found this article relevant, feel free to sign up for notifications to new articles as I post them. If you are ready to produce a breakthrough NetSuite user experience, or you see the applicability of the Prolecto Task Manager in your organization, let’s have a conversation.
That’s incredible. It’d be great to use this on transactions (like Sales Orders and Purchase Orders) where there are hundreds of lines with different statuses.
Hello Roy,
To address those concerns with hundreds (or greater) of lines with different statuses, see this article. We now build all kinds of ways to bulk edit complex situations with great visibility of information relevant to the business user:
https://blog.prolecto.com/2020/10/11/see-how-to-craft-fast-and-flexible-netsuite-bulk-record-generators/
Marty
Appreciate the behind-the-scenes and looking forward to further technical articles about this solution
This is nice, just be careful not to come across as if you are just discovering AJAX and the world of web development outside NetSuite 🙂 The concept of a fast web UI working asynchronously with a central database (in this case NS) is well-established.
Indeed, we are using conventional techniques. But for those used to the NetSuite native UI, it’s valuable to see that we can indeed get good performance.
Marty