Evan Goldberg, founder and vice president of Oracle NetSuite, dismissed the threat posed by smaller professionals operating in overlapping markets.
During the press conference at SuiteWorld 2022Goldberg was asked if he was concerned about NetSuite being outmaneuvered by more agile players who focus more on one solution.
“I’m not worried about [smaller players] because of the tremendous possibilities we have, the depth of the packet and the way we can scale, ”he replied. “We’ve made huge investments in 23 years, so I’m not afraid of getting flanked.”
“But we need to make sure that customers don’t lose anything when they come to us and that they still get all the benefits they had with the small business package.”
NetSuite ERP
The NetSuite ERP platform offers a wide range of features, including bookkeeping, CRM, HR, e-commerce and more. The idea is for users to be able to execute critical business processes from one platform, rather than struggling with dozens of different applications.
However, as highlighted at the press conference, it could be argued that salespeople specialize in one category (e.g. Quick Books) are better placed to deliver cutting-edge functionality in their niche.
While Goldberg was eager to consider the concept, he said he was nevertheless convinced of the NetSuite approach, which takes advantage of the close relationships between the components of the portfolio.
Goldberg also suggested that NetSuite serves a slightly different customer demographic than point solution providers, which are mostly medium-sized, fast-growing companies.
“Our customer base is focused on people who are developing, companies that have outgrown their existing accounting solutions. We are trying to make these companies successful as they grow, ”he explained.
“Customers take full advantage of NetSuite when they use the full package. That was the idea from the beginning. The choking companies are that they get stuck with many different systems. As customers consume more of the package, they gain in exponential value. ”