NetSuite targets vertical industries

Hosted software specialist NetSuite has released a version of its service tailored for software companies, and announced that versions for other industries will follow.

The NetSuite Software Company Edition is designed to manage a software business, from the customer leads to contract renewal. The vendor said the release is the first of several that will see it use new and existing functionality and overlay processes to meet the needs of companies in specific industries.

The latest release adds new financial management functions, including revenue recognition and usage-based billing tools, alongside new versions of dashboard performance indicators.

Dashboards can be set up for specific roles from the chief executive downwards. Microsoft is taking a similar roles-based approach with its Dynamics business applications.

“As a software firm we have been running our own business on NetSuite for seven years so we’ve taken our learning and productised that,” said Craig Sullivan, NetSuite director of product management. The firm will also offer consulting expertise to customers, he added.

An early customer is Surgient, a developer of virtual lab applications to automate software testing. “NetSuite had a strong time and expense module, as well as project management, revenue recognition, and a host of other things, all integrated,” said Kevin Thompson, Surgient’s chief financial officer. “It’s much easier to use than the large-scale enterprise resource planning [ERP] systems I’ve used in the past.”

NetSuite said UK pricing for the software company edition would be in the same range as US pricing of $2,999 (£1,700) per month.