NetSuite 10.6 Breaks Usability Barriers of Browser-Based Business Applications
New "AJAX-Powered" Dashboards Combine Advanced Business Intelligence and Analytics with Powerful Workspace in a Browser
New NetFlex Custom Centers Allow Custom Applications to be Hosted Within NetSuite
New Integration Technology Seamlessly Integrates NetSuite with Microsoft® Outlook, Microsoft Excel, Google® and Others
SAN MATEO, Calif., — August 4, 2005 — NetSuite, Inc.,the leader in on-demand business management software, today announced Version 10.6, a new release of NetSuite's on-demand solution that breaks user interface barriers associated with browser-based applications. With NetSuite 10.6, users can perform complex business functions that dynamically change data without regenerating the browser page, extend NetSuite with any application, and simply integrate with widely-used applications like Microsoft Office and Google Maps. With these new capabilities, NetSuite combines rich business intelligence and analytics with seamless business process management in a single, hosted application designed to meet the needs of growing small and medium-sized businesses. For more information about the new functionality, visit www.netsuite.com.sg/ui.
Building productive, Web-based applications requires new thinking and new technology. NetSuite's "one system" approach of combining ERP, CRM and Ecommerce functionality to run a company's core business processes was the first step in creating a new class of applications. The new functionality in NetSuite 10.6 solutions adds a host of new user interface, application extensibility and productivity tools:
1. The New "AJAX" Dashboard
NetSuite is the leader in dashboard-centric business management, and NetSuite 10.6 takes this capability to the next level by being the first major business application with broad support of AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML). AJAX encompasses several different ways of presenting and manipulating data in a Web page. The basic functionality of AJAX is to provide a way for end-users to dynamically change data without having to regenerate the whole HTML page. NetSuite 10.6 solutions take this basic concept and apply it in several patent-pending techniques to provide an incredible, high-performance user experience.
Virtually every page uses one or more aspects of AJAX, including:
- Drag and drop technology reconfigures browser-based dashboards on the fly.
- Extreme list editing allows for quickly changing large lists in the browser. For example, a sales representative could edit a list of calls to make on their dashboard without drilling into each record to update it.
- Populating subordinate forms from a master form. For example, when generating an opportunity record, any common fields can automatically be populated from the master customer record.
- "Quick add" forms that allow new records such as leads, opportunities and calendar events to be created easily and quickly with just the right information.
- Lists of customers, vendors, and transactions can quickly be sorted and reconfigured without having to regenerate the underlying data. For example, an opportunities list could be instantly sorted by largest to smallest deal simply by clicking on the header.
The NetSuite 10.6 dashboards also benefit from some new visualization and alerting technologies to add to NetSuite's existing capabilities, including:
- Graphical KPI Meters convert any key performance indicator (KPI) into a visually distinguishing gauge including comparison, time periods and threshold values for at-a-glance recognition of performance and identification of issues.
- Trend Graph Average Comparisons let users display a "Rolling Average" line on its trend graphs.
- Saved Search Email Alerts initiate an email alert for records that match any user-defined criteria. Any data tracked in NetSuite can now be the source of an alert. For example, NetSuite could email an alert whenever a new opportunity over $100,000 is created, or when an outstanding balance is more than 90 days past due, complete with any data that resides in the corresponding records.
2. NetFlex Custom Centers Enable Total Customisation of UI and Entirely New Applications
The new Custom Center capabilities of NetSuite 10.6, used together with the NetFlex AppBuilder toolset, allow users to design, build, deploy, manage and access entirely new applications through a unified interface. Custom Centers let companies tailor a custom user interface (tabs, menus, dashboards, etc.) for a variety of application usage. Custom Centers can be used to give a particular user a whole new view of NetSuite resident data. For example, a CEO Center could be created to organise information in exactly the way a CEO chooses to see it. Alternatively, it could be used to build a whole new application leveraging NetSuite's NetFlex environment. Either way, these custom-built applications share the benefits of a robust on-demand architecture provided by NetSuite solutions such as:
- A unified data structure and data relationships that allow for easy linking to core objects such as customers in complex many-to-many or simple one-to-one organisations.
- A single role-based graphical user interface designed to match the user's function within an organization.
- A comprehensive security and permissions model to ensure users can only access information pertinent to their department and position.
- A drop-down menu navigation model proven to help users transition from Windows-based applications to browser-based solutions.
- Analytic capabilities instantly built-in with powerful real-time Dashboards.
- Custom Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), graphical KPI meters and Custom Report Snapshots that allow at-a-glance insight into business metrics.
- Patent-pending eXtreme List Editing providing tremendous gains in productivity.
3. Fast, Seamless Third Party Integration
Even when using one system to streamline and run major business operations, companies sometimes have a need to easily tap into other applications such as popular productivity tools from Microsoft, or access information over the Web such as maps from Google.
NetSuite 10.6 solutions add several new ways to easily integrate with these types of systems:
- Microsoft Excel Web Query improves data transfer and analysis capabilities for customer, contact and operations intelligence. Data from reports generated in NetSuite is easily transferred to Microsoft Excel for further analysis and can be refreshed with the latest information when needed. This can be done directly from NetSuite at the click of a button without needing to re-export and re-generate the spreadsheet.
- Microsoft Outlook-specific integration complements NetSuite's previously available, patent-pending "no click" email integration. Now incoming and outgoing Microsoft Outlook email messages can be directly attached to NetSuite records throughout the customer lifecycle including Contacts, Customers, Opportunities, and Cases.
- Dynamic Hyperlinks provide a quick and easy way to access information on Web sites and Web applications without requiring any coding. This powerful new capability uses tag substitution, or "merge," to build URLs on-the-fly that redirect the user to new pages based on information on the current record. For example, a custom field called Address Map can be created on the customer record with tags appended to the standard Google Maps URL. The tags generically represent billing address fields. When a user pulls up a customer record, the generic tags are processed and "merged" to represent a dynamic, customer-specific URL. So when the user clicks this hyperlink, they are taken to Google Maps and the billing address from the customer record they were on is automatically passed through so the map displayed is specific to that customer.
- Custom Buttons offer more flexibility in workflow and are another way in which external applications can be easily integrated with NetSuite solutions. Custom Buttons can be added to any form to call custom code scripts written in JavaScript. These scripts can query information in other systems, provide validation or even invoke external Web Services.
"NetSuite is all about making it simpler to manage a business better," said Zach Nelson, CEO of NetSuite. "Our latest release is focused on making every employee's job—the work they do with others inside their company and with their industry's customers and suppliers—better. We've even combined the world's most popular desktop productivity tools with the world's leading business management application to give
customers the equivalent of one tool kit to meet their business management, communication, and analysis needs."