Every business runs on technology—but how much technology? In terms of separate applications, it numbers in the hundreds. Today’s enterprise-level businesses harness 664 apps to manage business operations. Much smaller organizations with fewer than 500 employees still use 172 apps. What many businesses have struggled with for decades is making all those different tools—each offering its own business-critical functions—talk to each other in a cohesive and accurate format.
Integrations bridge the gaps. As an extremely powerful ERP that is the foundation for businesses across dozens of different industries, NetSuite offers countless tools to help with custom integrations.
When you’re building or updating your NetSuite ERP, you don’t have to make do with an intranet of dozens of separately functioning apps. Instead, your company can introduce new integrations to your existing systems or implement a NetSuite iteration customized to be exactly what your business needs. A certified NetSuite implementation partner can manage the project, recommend key integrations, and create custom options.
NetSuite Integrations Are Part of the Power Your New ERP Provides
Whether you’re in the beginning stages of an implementation project or you’re investigating new potential for your existing iteration of NetSuite, integrations are invaluable. The more connections you can build between your streams of data, the more work your system can do behind the scenes without human intervention—and the accompanying manual delays. Well-integrated ERPs empower your employees to do more with their work hours instead of having to cross-reference different tools and flip between systems and tasks.
Before you move forward with your next phase of creating the right ERP for your business, take a closer look at how different integrations can power your business and some of the evolving integrations that NetSuite continually releases.
NetSuite Modules vs. Third-Party Integrations
NetSuite is built to offer all the ERP tools different businesses across every industry can possibly need, from hotels that need to efficiently create new locations to warehousing and 3PL companies trying to keep pace with holiday shopping trends. But releasing a software platform that contains all of those tools at once is too bulky and unwieldy for the vast majority of businesses—it would simply be too big and offer too many things that most users never need.
Related: Guide to NetSuite Development Project Planning
Instead, NetSuite was built to operate as both the foundation and the building blocks of a custom ERP solution. Businesses can use the base NetSuite software—which is powerful and nuanced in its own right. But it can also be augmented with additional software capabilities via integrations.
There are three main ways their internal support teams or third-party development services can make that happen:
- NetSuite Modules: These are in-house bundles of advanced, complex functionalities. Each module is built for different industries, niche department requirements, or specific aspects of resource management. Users can select the modules that make the most sense for their business and integrate them into their NetSuite ERP.
- Established Third-Party Integrations: As comprehensive as NetSuite is, it’s not the only business tool your company needs. You may have a Shopify eCommerce site, advanced marketing operations through Constant Contact or Mailchimp, and dozens of other team-specific tools that generate data. NetSuite has developed a robust collection of premade connections for interacting with those platforms’ APIs. Developers can ensure the data feeds correctly back and forth between the integrated tools and NetSuite.
- Non-Standard Third-Party Integrations: If one of your go-to tools isn’t in NetSuite’s library of known integrations, you can still connect it to your new ERP. NetSuite custom developers can use SuiteScript to make your legacy systems and unique tools interact with NetSuite correctly.
NetSuite also regularly creates updates and new capabilities across all three of these integration tracks. You and your development team can constantly be on the lookout for new modules, new in-house or third-party integrations, and updates to SuiteScript.
Newest NetSuite Integration Developments
Just like any software, NetSuite is constantly evolving. Because of its size and the number of businesses running on Oracle platforms, NetSuite evolves at a much faster pace than many other tools. Therefore, a constant stream of new tools, integrations (within and outside of the platform), and in-depth modules are available.
Take a glance at these popular new options or browse product release news to see what tools belong in your 2024 operations. You can also reach out to NetSuite Certified Partners for professional insights into which tools offer the most value for your business.
AI: Constantly Under Development to Release New Functions
Ever since ChatGPT opened to the public near the end of 2022, artificial intelligence has been the primary force for change across B2C and B2B business functions. Technologies and business platforms have rapidly built out suites of tools and functionalities that use generative and predictive AI to increase efficiency, from marketing tools that support campaign generation to accounting tools that predict or cross-reference errors.
NetSuite has kept pace with this rising trend, offering a wide selection of AI tools in its standard software and advanced modules. Some of the recent integrations of AI into existing products include:
- Advanced OCR text recognition and AI data recognition tools to fill out invoices with little to no manual oversight in NetSuite Bill Capture
- AI predictive analytics and forecasting tools in NetSuite Planning and Budgeting
- Coming soon: Generative AI tools to create sales descriptions based on company knowledge bases
Currently, NetSuite has 80 AI tools either available for use or in the middle of planning and development.
Logistics Integrations: New Tools for an eCommerce-Focused Market
While eCommerce has been an ignored industry for years, companies of all sizes now need to make online shopping a major part of their business strategy. In the recent NetSuite 2023 Release 1, Oracle prioritized integrations between NetSuite and business-critical eCommerce functions. The new release includes SuiteCommerce 2023.1, which communicates with more ACH payment processes and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to generate more sales.
Efficiency-Focused Capabilities Ready for a World Near Recession
While AI and eCommerce have been growing, positive trends for most industries, another global trend has been emerging: the possibility of a recession. Companies need to be increasingly efficient in serving customers while material costs, interest rates, and inflation concerns continue to rise. Many of NetSuite’s latest integrations and tools focus on these worries by using AI and automation to lower reliance on manual tasks.
Recent releases include electronic invoicing tools, an Analytics Warehouse toolset for visualizing warehouse and logistics data, and bundles of accounting tools in their EPM product. NetSuite has also recently acquired Next Technik and created field service management tools for the field services industry that integrate with standard NetSuite functions. This manages calls and appointments to ensure teams are deployed efficiently with everything they need to complete business in a single appointment.
More Integration Within the NetSuite Ecosystem
NetSuite OpenAir 2023 is a recently released project management solution that plugs straight into the ERP. With this tool, project managers can oversee product releases, localized campaigns, and behind-the-scenes logistics projects in more detail. To make the experience as cohesive as possible, NetSuite has created a 2023.2 version with more integrations, such as more controlled synchronization capabilities, auto-recovery, and easier sign-on through OpenID Connect.
How NetSuite Implementation Partners Help You Harness NetSuite Integrations
Having a glittery array of new tools and technological capabilities is just the first step. Qualified NetSuite experts can select the right integrations or custom coding choices to introduce the new capabilities into your company’s systems with minimal disruption. For companies that don’t have a full team of NetSuite developers, this starts by working with a trusted NetSuite implementation partner. These organizations can help with the following projects:
Develop the Right ERP Implementation Plan
If you’re new to NetSuite, you can incorporate integrations from the start. Your implementation partner should begin the project with a discovery stage, which involves extensive research into how your business works and how NetSuite can be modified to suit and enhance your operations. A NetSuite consultant can put together a plan for which modules, specific integrations, and custom coding are right for your business, as well as an actionable plan for migrating your data and unrolling the new ERP.
Have Data Architecture So Your Integrations Work Seamlessly and Flawlessly
Under every reliable ERP system is an almost invisible ecosystem of data streams. Each platform within your business’s tech stack generates data streams. Integrated fields and platforms will read those streams and automatically update data housed within themselves. But if you can’t control which data source should update which, accurately translate data across different types of fields, or ensure bad data doesn’t corrupt your records, then all of your tools will fall apart.
Related: 8 Differences That Set Top NetSuite Implementation Partners Apart
As part of your NetSuite implementation project, it’s important to adhere to a solid data architecture that guarantees data accuracy. Another important factor is guaranteed data security, especially if you have global operations that reach countries with varying privacy and security laws.
Customize Your NetSuite ERP With All the Integrations Your Team Needs
NetSuite implementation partners with experienced developers can do more than roll out NetSuite and plug in modules. They can also thread in the right in-house and third-party integrations to protect the integrity of your data. Some useful integrations that help virtually every business include:
- ShipStation integration for order fulfillment
- PayPal integration for managing credit card payments in NetSuite
- Slack integration for in-platform instant messaging and collaboration—as well as automatic notification
- Marketo integration for pulling data from submitted forms straight into NetSuite contact and lead records
- Custom integrations that can leverage APIs built into various other related business tools
Pave the Rest of the Way With Efficient Customizations
Custom development is a vital tool for any ERP implementation. However, it should be the last tool your implementation team picks up. Custom development is often expensive and time-consuming, and it can quickly bloat any implementation project.
Whenever possible, opt for existing capabilities and integrations, and then you can have developers create custom SuiteScript lines that do what’s never been done before. Your chosen implementation partner should be on the exact same page rather than trying to push a fully custom job onto your books and timeline.
See Where the Newest NetSuite Integrations Fit Into Your Business Ecosystem
Having a NetSuite ERP opens the door to efficient business operations and scalable growth in a way that manual processes simply can’t match. NetSuite integrations push the door open even wider so you can work with data from multiple different platforms, all in one workspace and with more automation than ever before.
At Limebox, we offer comprehensive NetSuite implementation services, sturdy integrations that bridge gaps between NetSuite and the tools you love most, and custom development to make sure there are no missed opportunities. Reach out today to see how NetSuite integrations increase productivity and performance.