That was quick.
Just a few weeks after the long-awaited launch of the consumer-focused iPhone, NetSuite
is launching SuitePhone, an integrated set of business management programs
for the hot-selling device.
Actually, SuitePhone isn’t so much a new set of applications but NetSuite
for the iPhone. NetSuite officials say Apple’s announcement that its Safari
browser should be the target for iPhone developers was music to its
ears.
“We’ve always supported multiple browsers, so Apple putting Safari on the
iPhone made it a simple process,” Sean Rollings, senior director of product
marketing at NetSuite, told internetnews.com.
Current NetSuite users can simply access their accounts on an iPhone at
no additional cost for the hosted, on-demand applications. NetSuite said new
customers who want to use the iPhone will be able to start next month.
NetSuite’s on-demand, integrated business management applications
includes enterprise resource planning (define), Customer Relationship
Management (define) and e-commerce functionality. The applications
are geared to small-to-medium-sized businesses and departments at large
corporations.
While NetSuite offers end-to-end business management capabilities (from
taking orders, checking availability, supporting customers, etc.), it sees
the portable iPhone as more a complementary platform.
“We don’t see people abandoning their office notebooks or PCs to use
iPhone,” said Rollings. “But it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that
salespeople will be able to get a lot of their work done on an iPhone. You
have the ability to check inventory for the availability of a product and
get an answer in real time. The cross-process view in NetSuite is a huge
enabler.”
Brad Kugler, CEO of Distribution Video and Audio in Palm Harbor, Florida,
was one of the many thousands to rush out and buy an iPhone the first day it
was released, but not so much with his business in mind.
“After I got the iPhone, I started poking around and thought I’d see if I
could access my NetSuite account. I didn’t think it would work, but to my
surprise it did,” said Kugler. “First I was looking
up sales records, then I tried reports and graphs and they all displayed
beautifully.”
Kugler said he recently bought eight Blackberrys for his salespeople but
now he’s thinking the iPhone will be a better way to go. “There’s third-party software that lets you view NetSuite data on the Blackberry, but it’s
fairly expensive,” said Kugler. “With the iPhone I’m able to run NetSuite
right away and there’s nothing extra to buy and no middleware.”
Sheryl Kingstone, director of enterprise applications and mobility at
Yankee Group is bullish on the iPhone for business use and NetSuite’s
support of it.
“The iPhone is one of the most gorgeous form factors to hit the market in
a while and manipulation through an application is much easier using touch,” said Kingstone. “What’s nice about NetSuite here is
that it’s all one application, you don’t have to worry about integrating
separate parts. Also, it’s SaaS (define)so you don’t have to
worry about VPN (define)access.
This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.