ERP implementations always look good in a proposal. Then the real work begins.
You get the green light. The kickoff meeting is full of optimism. A few weeks in, your finance lead is confused, your operations team is tired of talking about workflows, and someone just remembered the warehouse team still uses spreadsheets. Welcome to ERP reality.
Implementing NetSuite in 2025 isn’t just about software—it’s about steering your entire organization through change. And doing it in a way that doesn’t just work for now—but continues to serve you two, three, or even five years down the line.
Let’s skip the fluff. If you want long-term success, here are five things you need to get right from day one—and probably revisit again later.
1. Map What You’re Actually Doing—Not What’s on the Slide Deck
It’s one thing to talk about streamlining procurement or improving visibility across entities. It’s another to actually lay out what’s going on today.
What system is Finance using to track approvals? Is that inventory sync between eComm and fulfillment automatic—or does someone fix it manually every Friday?
Here’s a mistake too many companies make: they design the NetSuite solution based on how things should work. But the system you configure will only be as accurate as the assumptions you start with.
Take the time. Sit down with the people who know how things really get done—purchase managers, fulfillment coordinators, your finance ops lead. Map out the mess if needed.
Even if the process is clunky, write it down. Because when you move to NetSuite, that’s your baseline. If you don’t know where you are, you can’t build something that fits—or improves it.
And by the way, if a consultant says “NetSuite can do that out of the box,” pause and ask if they understand your business or if they’re just quoting features.
2. Go Phase by Phase. No, Seriously.
Trying to launch everything at once? You’ll regret it.
It’s tempting. The team wants to move fast. The board wants ROI yesterday. But an “all-at-once” rollout often means all teams are scrambling, support tickets pile up, and what gets lost is clarity—on both sides.
You’re better off breaking it down.
Start with financials. General ledger. AP/AR. Make sure those numbers are tight. Then move to procurement. Inventory. CRM. Or whatever is the next core area.
Rollouts aren’t just about getting the system working—they’re about giving each team space to learn, adjust, and speak up. One team’s insight might completely change the approach for the next phase.
And this isn’t just for your sake. NetSuite’s power is in its interconnectivity. If you misconfigure one part under pressure, it’ll haunt you in reports, audits, or integration errors for years.
One client we worked with paused after Phase 1. They realized their item categories were inconsistent. Fixing it there saved them from misreporting inventory value across four subsidiaries. That’s the value of breathing room.
3. If People Don’t Buy In, The System Won’t Work
This might be the part that gets underestimated most.
People don’t adopt ERPs just because leadership says so. Especially if the change feels rushed or imposed. If someone’s been using Excel for 8 years to reconcile vendor bills, they won’t love a new 10-click process—even if it’s “better.”
You need buy-in. That starts early.
Involve power users before the build. Let them see test environments. Ask what they don’t like. Give them room to suggest small things—field names, report formats, saved searches.
And don’t just train people once before go-live and call it done. Build a hub. Record short videos for routine tasks. Host weekly Q&A calls in the first month. Make NetSuite feel like a shared tool—not a black box someone else controls.
A quick example: a company with 80+ employees built a lightweight internal help center—just Google Docs and Loom videos. Result? Fewer support tickets, faster onboarding for new hires, and fewer process gaps.
People make the ERP work—not the other way around.
4. Don’t Just Pick a Partner. Pick One That Gets You.
There are hundreds of NetSuite partners out there. Some are big firms with shiny presentations. Others are lean teams who’ve been in the trenches.
Here’s the thing—technical skill is a given. What matters more is: do they understand your business?
If they’ve never worked with a company that ships physical goods and runs a subscription model, you may spend a lot of time explaining things. If they’ve never handled multi-subsidiary NetSuite OneWorld setups, brace yourself for currency and consolidation issues.
Choosing the right NetSuite implementation partner is about more than certifications or logos. You need someone who listens, challenges, and builds with your future in mind.
Ask them:
- Who’s on the project team—junior resources or actual solution architects?
- How do they handle change requests during the build?
- What happens when your team gets stuck two weeks after go-live?
Good partners don’t just follow your requirements—they refine them. They tell you when something’s overkill. They ask questions like, “Why are you doing it that way?” Not because they want to challenge you, but because they’re thinking long-term.
One underrated move? Ask them to walk you through a failed project. What went wrong. What they’d do differently. If they dodge the question, keep looking.
5. Go-Live Isn’t the End. It’s the Beginning of Real Work.
Here’s what no one tells you before go-live: the “final phase” is not final at all.
Sure, you’ve made it. The system is live. POs are flowing. Invoices are being booked. You’ve even got a dashboard showing weekly revenue.
But the moment you go live, you’re operating in a living system. Things change. Teams evolve. Business lines expand.
What worked during testing might feel clunky in production. A workflow might miss edge cases. Or worse, someone figures out a “shortcut” that breaks downstream logic.
This is normal. In fact, it’s good—it means your business is using the system.
What matters is having a plan to refine and adapt.
Block time monthly for internal feedback. Keep a backlog of system tweaks. Don’t let user frustration simmer. Revisit saved searches, forms, roles, and approvals quarterly.
Also—keep an eye on NetSuite’s updates. Twice a year, NetSuite releases features. Some are minor. Some are game-changers. Ignoring those means leaving efficiency on the table.
A client of ours rolled out NetSuite CRM but skipped the SuiteAnalytics pivot reports. Six months in, they enabled it—cut their monthly sales reports from three days to one hour. Small features, big impact. But only visible after the dust settled.
Final Thoughts
There’s no perfect ERP rollout. Not in 2025. Not ever. But the best ones? They’re thoughtful. They evolve. They start with business needs and build systems that support them—not the other way around.
Whether you’re mid-implementation or just exploring NetSuite, remember: the real win isn’t going live. It’s staying valuable.
And that takes a blueprint that reflects your business, a rollout that respects your teams, a partner who sees the big picture, and a mindset that expects change.
Author Bio:
David is a seasoned NetSuite consultant at ERP Peers, a trusted NetSuite partner in India, where he supports clients with end-to-end implementation, optimization, and integration services. With deep expertise in both NetSuite and Celigo, he helps businesses streamline operations, integrate systems, and maintain seamless data flow across their processes.