NetSuite: The True Cloud ERP for Businesses Leaving Infor
Executive Summary
This white paper explores the compelling reasons why businesses are migrating from Infor ERP systems to NetSuite’s industry-leading cloud-based solution. We delve into the limitations of “fake cloud” offerings and on-premise solutions, highlighting how they hinder business agility, increase costs, and ultimately limit growth potential. We will examine how NetSuite’s true cloud platform, coupled with its innovative SuiteSuccess methodology, empowers businesses to achieve greater efficiency, improve customer satisfaction, and gain a competitive edge.
The Challenges of Legacy Systems
Many businesses today continue to grapple with the limitations of outdated, fragmented IT systems. These legacy systems, often rooted in on-premise deployments or “fake cloud” solutions, present significant obstacles to growth and innovation:
Data Silos: Critical business data remains trapped within isolated systems, hindering real-time insights and informed decision-making. Departments operate in silos, lacking the comprehensive view necessary for effective collaboration and optimized processes.
Complex Integrations: Integrating disparate systems is a complex and costly undertaking. These integrations often require significant IT resources and can lead to data inconsistencies, errors, and delays.
Limited Scalability: Adapting to changing business needs, such as rapid growth, new market entry, or evolving customer demands, becomes a significant challenge. Scaling on-premise systems can be expensive, time-consuming, and disruptive.
High Maintenance Costs: On-premise systems require substantial ongoing investment in hardware, software maintenance, and IT personnel. This ongoing expenditure can drain valuable resources and divert attention from core business activities.
Slow Innovation: Legacy systems often lack the agility and flexibility to support rapid innovation and respond quickly to emerging market trends.
The Rise of Cloud ERP
Cloud ERP has emerged as a transformative solution for businesses seeking to overcome these challenges. By leveraging the power of the cloud, organizations can:
Increase Agility: Rapidly adapt to changing market conditions, respond quickly to customer demands, and launch new products or services with greater speed and efficiency.
Improve Efficiency: Streamline operations, automate manual tasks, and eliminate redundant processes, leading to significant cost savings and increased productivity.
Enhance Visibility: Gain real-time insights into key business metrics, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions that drive growth.
Reduce Costs: Lower IT infrastructure costs by eliminating the need for on-site hardware, software maintenance, and dedicated IT staff.
Foster Innovation: Embrace a platform that supports rapid innovation, facilitates collaboration, and empowers employees with the tools and information they need to excel.
Why Oracle NetSuite?
Many businesses today continue to grapple with the limitations of outdated, fragmented IT systems. These legacy systems, often rooted in on-premise deployments or “fake cloud” solutions, present significant obstacles to growth and innovation:
Data Silos: Critical business data remains trapped within isolated systems, hindering real-time insights and informed decision-making. Departments operate in silos, lacking the comprehensive view necessary for effective collaboration and optimized processes.
Complex Integrations: Integrating disparate systems is a complex and costly undertaking. These integrations often require significant IT resources and can lead to data inconsistencies, errors, and delays.
Limited Scalability: Adapting to changing business needs, such as rapid growth, new market entry, or evolving customer demands, becomes a significant challenge. Scaling on-premise systems can be expensive, time-consuming, and disruptive.
High Maintenance Costs: On-premise systems require substantial ongoing investment in hardware, software maintenance, and IT personnel. This ongoing expenditure can drain valuable resources and divert attention from core business activities.
Slow Innovation: Legacy systems often lack the agility and flexibility to support rapid innovation and respond quickly to emerging market trends.
Why Migrate from Infor?
Many businesses that rely on Infor ERP systems are facing increasing challenges:
Complexity and Fragmentation: Infor’s product portfolio is complex and fragmented, often requiring multiple systems and complex integrations to achieve basic functionality. This complexity can lead to increased costs, decreased efficiency, and limited scalability.
“Fake Cloud” Limitations: Many of Infor’s cloud offerings are not true cloud solutions. They often lack true multi-tenancy, resulting in delayed upgrades, limited flexibility, and ongoing maintenance challenges.
Limited Scalability: Scaling Infor systems can be difficult and expensive, hindering businesses from adapting to changing market conditions and pursuing new growth opportunities.
High Total Cost of Ownership: The total cost of ownership for Infor solutions can be significant, encompassing not only software licenses but also ongoing maintenance, support, and integration costs.
Case Study: CMP Corporation
1. Introduction
CMP Corporation, a leading manufacturer of high-quality commercial-grade compressors for HVAC and refrigeration systems, faced significant operational hurdles with its existing ERP system, an on-premise solution from Infor. The legacy system proved to be a bottleneck, hindering the company’s ability to compete effectively in a global market characterized by increasing competition and evolving customer demands.
2. The Challenges
Limited Visibility: The fragmented nature of the Infor system created significant data silos, hindering real-time visibility into key business metrics such as inventory levels, production schedules, and order fulfillment. This lack of transparency made it difficult to make informed decisions, identify potential bottlenecks, and optimize operational efficiency.
Slow Order Fulfillment: Manual processes and cumbersome workflows within the Infor system resulted in lengthy order fulfillment cycles. This negatively impacted customer satisfaction, delayed revenue recognition, and hindered the company’s ability to meet tight deadlines.
High Maintenance Costs: Maintaining the on-premise Infor system required significant IT resources, including dedicated personnel for system administration, hardware maintenance, and software upgrades. This ongoing expenditure diverted valuable resources away from core business activities.
Lack of Scalability: As CMP Corporation continued to expand its global footprint and customer base, the limitations of the Infor system became increasingly evident. Scaling the legacy system to accommodate increased order volume, new product lines, and international operations proved to be a complex and costly endeavor.
Inefficient Production Planning: The company struggled to effectively plan and schedule production, leading to inefficiencies, increased inventory costs, and missed delivery deadlines.
3. The Solution: Embracing NetSuite
Recognizing the limitations of their existing system, CMP Corporation embarked on a comprehensive search for a modern, cloud-based ERP solution that could address their specific business needs. After careful evaluation, the company selected NetSuite, recognizing the significant advantages of its cloud-based platform:
Unified Platform: NetSuite’s integrated suite of applications, encompassing financials, CRM, ecommerce, inventory management, and more, provided CMP Corporation with a single source of truth for all critical business data. This eliminated data silos and enabled seamless information flow across departments, fostering better collaboration and improved decision-making.
Industry-Specific Functionality: NetSuite’s pre-configured solutions for manufacturing, coupled with its flexible platform, allowed CMP Corporation to tailor the system to their specific industry needs and business processes. This included features such as advanced inventory management, production scheduling, and quality control, all integrated within a single platform.
Enhanced Visibility and Reporting: NetSuite provided CMP Corporation with real-time visibility into key performance indicators (KPIs), such as inventory levels, production schedules, order fulfillment status, and customer profitability. This improved data visibility enabled the company to identify areas for improvement, optimize operations, and make data-driven decisions that drove growth.
Streamlined Order Fulfillment: NetSuite’s automated workflows streamlined order processing, reducing manual data entry and minimizing the risk of errors. This resulted in faster order fulfillment, improved customer satisfaction, and accelerated revenue recognition.
Improved Production Planning: NetSuite’s advanced planning and scheduling tools enabled CMP Corporation to optimize production schedules, minimize inventory costs, and ensure timely delivery of orders. This enhanced planning capability improved operational efficiency and reduced production lead times.
Reduced IT Costs: By migrating to NetSuite’s cloud-based platform, CMP Corporation eliminated the need for on-premise hardware, software maintenance, and dedicated IT staff. This significantly reduced IT costs and freed up valuable resources for other critical business activities.
Enhanced Scalability: NetSuite’s cloud-based architecture provided CMP Corporation with the scalability and flexibility to accommodate future growth, including expanding into new markets, launching new product lines, and increasing order volume.
4. The Results
The implementation of NetSuite delivered significant benefits for CMP Corporation:
Significantly Reduced Production Lead Times: By streamlining production processes and improving inventory management, CMP Corporation achieved a dramatic reduction in production lead times, from an average of 85 days to just 10 days.
Increased Revenue: Faster order fulfillment, improved customer satisfaction, and expanded market reach contributed to a significant increase in revenue, exceeding 26% within a short period.
Reduced Costs: The elimination of on-premise infrastructure and the streamlining of operations resulted in a 25% reduction in overall operating costs.
Improved Customer Satisfaction: Reduced lead times, enhanced order accuracy, and improved communication with customers led to significantly higher customer satisfaction levels.
Enhanced Decision-Making: Real-time access to critical business data empowered management to make more informed decisions, identify areas for improvement, and drive continuous operational enhancements.
5. Conclusion
CMP Corporation’s successful migration to NetSuite demonstrates the transformative power of cloud ERP in driving business growth and operational excellence. By leveraging the power of NetSuite’s integrated platform, the company was able to overcome the limitations of its legacy system, streamline operations, and achieve significant improvements in efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction.
This case study underscores the importance of selecting the right ERP solution to support business growth and competitiveness in today’s dynamic market. By embracing cloud technologies and leveraging innovative solutions like NetSuite, businesses can unlock new levels of efficiency, agility, and profitability.