On-demand applications vendor NetSuite has launched a major new component of its SuiteFlex development and integration platform that could allow firms to take advantage of more highly-customised, quicker to deploy vertical applications.

SuiteBundler has been designed to enable ISVs, VARs and systems integrators to bundle up vertical solutions, add-on applications and integration solutions, and target them out to multiple customer accounts, according to NetSuite's vice president of international products, Craig Sullivan.

The technology, which was first unveiled last October as part of the launch of SuiteFlex, has been made generally available today.

"In the same way that SaaS [software-as-a-service] changed the software industry, SuiteBundler will bring about a revolution in the service industry," Sullivan said. "It allows VARs to turn their service into a software application, which can be delivered on demand and re-implemented into as many customers as possible."

The new technology will help businesses get up and running with their NetSuite implementations faster, as well as providing partners with the ability to reuse specific customisations, Sullivan explained.

"These niche verticals all have specific requirements and [our] partners have the strongest idea what their problems are," he said. "We deliver the broad business platform and with SuiteBundler the people who have the time and the focus can take the core capabilities and configure them for those businesses."

NetSuite has also announced new micro vertical solutions already enabled by SuiteBundler and delivered by its partners, including one for electronics wholesale distribution and another customised for shipping materials franchises.

Peter Marston of analyst Forrester Research said that customers with enough i n-house expertise could use the SuiteBundler tool to develop their own customised solutions. He added that the technology is likely to be easier for in-house developers to use as it is not as proprietary as that of Salesforce.com.

"It's a win-win on both sides of the equation, NetSuite is hedging its bets well," he added. "They're making sure the market knows they are comparable to Salesforce.com and can provide the same types of services."