NetSuite's Latest CRM Releases Announced

NetSuite, Inc., a vendor of on-demand business software suites, has unveiled a new user interface as part of its NetSuite Version 11.0 release.

"For the first time in a Software as a Service business application," company officials claim, "NetSuite's AJAX user interface moves the technology beyond personal productivity and into functional product areas such as reporting, graphing, scheduling, Excel-like editing and document management."

In 2002, NetSuite used AJAX in their on-demand business applications, adding Windows-like navigation in NetSuite Version 8.0. Subsequent releases had real-time dashboards featuring drag-and-drop personalization, and the product announced today uses AJAX on every application page.

Net Suite's also announcing SuiteScript, what excited company officials are calling "a new platform and toolset that delivers unprecedented user-defined extensibility through robust, completely flexible business process customization."

This "new technology" is built on industry standard JavaScript, and introduces customization capabilities that allow complex processes with branching logic and time-based decision trees to be automated using scheduled SuiteScripts or user-event based SuiteScripts.

"SuiteScript delivers a unique tool set that encompasses everything needed to provide growing businesses across all industries with a flexible, powerful and extensible business management product," reads a statement from company officials.

SuiteScript is part of NetSuite's NetFlex customization and integration offering, a technology platform that delivers customization and extensibility to NetSuite products.

The NetFlex platform consists of SOAP standards-based Web Services and the advanced customization capabilities of NetFlex AppBuilder, a tool set that allows entirely new applications to be built and hosted within NetSuite.

The company's also announcing the addition of NetSuite Services Company Edition for services industries.

Offered as Software as a Service, NetSuite Services Company Edition is being marketed as helping consulting and professional services companies "manage their clients, projects and entire business operations without the investment in an expensive computing infrastructure."

NetSuite Services Company Edition provides consulting and professional services firms with an integrated suite of business applications especially designed for project-based companies. Through role-based dashboards, consultants, managers, and clients themselves can track the status of projects and the tasks and activities.

And for good measure they're announcing the release of NetSuite Wholesale/Distribution Edition as well, which they're billing as "the first on-demand vertical suite for distributors."

With NetSuite Wholesale/Distribution Edition, company officials say, wholesalers and distributors can "manage their entire business cycle from lead generation through sales, warehouse and inventory management and shipping, with accounting support throughout."

The wholesale/distribution industry is among the largest in the world, representing almost a quarter of the United States economy alone. The vast majority of these businesses are small and mid-sized, and 90 percent have fewer than 500 employees.

David Sims is contributing editor for TMCnet. For more articles please visit David Sims' columnist page.

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