NetSuite : OneWorld Enhancements Give Enterprises Agility and Lets Startups Operate Like Global Firms

Posted by Tony Kontzer, Guest Blogger

As technology makes the world smaller, today's companies are going global sooner than ever. Whether that means a startup making global expansion a part of the business from day one, or an established company being forced to expand into new markets earlier than anticipated, it translates to added complexity.

NetSuite OneWorld was introduced in 2008 to help ease this transition, but as global business management becomes more complex and ubiquitous, more sophistication is needed. To that end, NetSuite announced a flurry of new OneWorld features at this week's SuiteWorld conference in San Jose intended to enable enterprises to transform themselves with the agility of a startup, while also supporting young companies as they grow into global players.

'Almost every company is becoming global,' NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson said during his keynote presentation Tuesday. 'We're trying to make it as simple as possible for companies to manage that complexity.'

Flurry of New Capabilities

Specifically, NetSuite has added enhancements to OneWorld 16 that are designed to help global companies increase operational efficiency, streamline financial reporting, deepen local and global compliance, and localize business processes, all of which should deliver peace of mind to CFOs, controllers and the IT teams that support them.

New OneWorld features that are available immediately include global entity management (which enables a global company's customers and vendors to interact with any of its subsidiaries around the world in any supported language), automated intercompany processes, and automated elimination and consolidation.

Over the ensuing six to 18 months, NetSuite will add additional features, such as enhanced multi-currency support, deeper localization, and expanded capabilities in areas such as cash management, financial reporting and analysis, and financial governance, risk and compliance.

Victor Varela, CIO of Panamanian Toyota parts distributor Ricardo Perez S.A., told the SuiteWorld keynote audience that he was looking forward in particular to the single global entity feature, as well as the expanded currency support. Varela said that NetSuite had already delivered significant benefits to Ricardo Perez, but he was clearly pleased that NetSuite was keeping up the pace of innovation as Ricardo Perez grows in complexity.

'Consolidation is a big issue for us,' Varela said. 'Enhancements to consolidation and multi-currency are very attractive.'

But Wait, There's More

In addition, two of the components of the OneWorld 16 release, SuitePayments and SuiteTax, bring new capabilities. SuitePayments enables merchants to accept credit card payments, manage complex alternative payments, and offer fraud solutions. SuiteTax, meanwhile, centralizes all tax functions within NetSuite, thereby eliminating the need for tax partners to perform calculations.

The message to NetSuite's customers is clear: It's not enough to simply provide a global soliution with language and currency support. The technology has to evolve as the reality of becoming a global business changes.

'We are putting a stake in the ground,' said McGeever. 'We want NetSuite to be the first and last financial system you'll ever need.'