When it comes to cloud-based business solutions, NetSuite is at the top of its class. Providing their cloud ERP to over 80,000 organisations globally, NetSuite has been at the forefront of cloud-based technology for the past twenty years.
Their software is easy to use, highly customisable and exceptionally scalable, making it a firm favourite with many businesses. As a cloud-based solution, users can access it from anywhere, at any time and on any device. The software is offered as Software-as-a-Service (Saas), existing in the cloud with organisations paying a license subscription per user.
NetSuite’s vast experience in providing solutions to all types of organisations has allowed them to improve and innovate continually, ensuring users have the tools they need to perform their tasks. With that, NetSuite offers various user types, all of which can be customised further to suit individual organisations better.
There are four types of NetSuite user:
- Employee User – (can be a Full User licence or a Self-Service Employee licence).
- Vendor User.
- Customer User.
- Partner User.
Below we will look at the different user types that NetSuite offers to help you understand your requirements.
Employee User
Employee users are people who work within your organisation. There are, however, two different licenses available. A Full User license is for anyone who needs to use the software daily to perform their job role. An excellent example of this would be someone involved in inventory management or accounting.
The license allows the user access to all of the software’s functionality, providing access hasn’t been restricted. It’s unlikely an organisation would want all users to have access to all business areas. Therefore they can restrict specific permissions to ensure that the right people will only see sensitive business information such as financials or payroll.
Another type of license is the Employee Self-Service license aimed at users who would only need to access the software occasionally to perform brief tasks. A perfect example of this would be a travelling sales representative accessing the software to update project tracking or submit expenses. The Employee Self-Service license costs are significantly less than a Full User license for obvious reasons.
Owners can customise both Full User and Employee Self-Service roles further by way of an access tab on every Employee Record in NetSuite, allowing administrators to amend a user’s access and permissions. The user can be assigned permissions, or administrators can set up roles and assign users to them.
For example, a business may set up one role with a particular set of permissions for its payroll department and another with different permissions for its logistics department. When a new employee starts in the payroll department, they are assigned the correct role, with all accompanying access and permissions.
When considering a NetSuite installation, many businesses choose NetSuite SuiteSuccess, which aims to have your business solution live in the cloud within 100 days. It does this by using a phased deployment method with pre-defined stages. You can read the article here.
As part of SuiteSuccess, NetSuite has already pre-configured many user roles, designed explicitly with pre-defined access and permissions for typical roles to save time when deploying a NetSuite project. Again, these roles aren’t set in stone and can still be customised further.
Vendor User
Allowing vendor access to your business software might seem scary on the first reflection, but it can help strengthen the relationship, avoid conflicts and even save you time. If you don’t want vendors to have access, then you don’t enable the feature.
If enabled, Vendor Users can access the Vendor Centre, where they can view purchase orders you have placed with them and review payment history to name just a couple. As already mentioned, this can save your business time as vendors would usually need to contact you if they had any queries.
Vendor User licenses are entirely free, and there is no limit to how many you can have. You don’t need to worry about vendors seeing sensitive information either. Each vendor will only be able to view their transactional history with you and nobody else’s.
Customer User
Customer users work in a similar way to Vendor Users. If enabled, you can allow your customers access to the Customer Centre. Here they can change various preferences such as billing, review their purchase history with you and update their details. The Customer Portal can also facilitate payments meaning your customers can transact with you.
As with the Vendor Centre, the Customer Centre can deliver real benefits to your business. Customers can access information that they would typically need to contact you for, saving them time and avoiding frustration.
With the information all in one place and easily accessible, it may also reduce the chance of conflict when exchanging data between you and your customer gets overly confusing and misunderstood. As with Vendor Users, the only information a customer has access to is their own and customer users are free and unlimited.
Partner User
Partner Users are 3rd party organisations that are certified with NetSuite. For a Partner User to access your NetSuite solution, the 3rd party organisation must be part of one of NetSuite’s Partner Programmes, namely;
- Alliance Partner.
- Solution Provider.
- Commerce Agency Partner.
- SuiteCloud Development Network (SDN) Partner.
These types of 3rd party organisations are usually development and design agencies. They are typically brought on board to implement a NetSuite installation or help deliver integrations, development work, and maintenance.
You can assign one role per partner by assigning a partner for free to the Partner Centre or assigning them to the Advanced Partner Centre, where there is a nominal charge. You can also create a customised Partner User based on specific requirements. You can assign other partner contacts based on their email address.
If you would like to learn more about NetSuite and it’s functionality, please read our article What is NetSuite and how does it work?
Why choose Eventura to deliver your NetSuite ERP Project?
As an official NetSuite solution provider, we have successfully delivered countless NetSuite implementations. Our expert team of business analysts, developers, consultants, technicians and support staff can guide you through your entire project, from initial scoping through to implementation and on-going support.
We believe that NetSuite offers its customers a comprehensive suite of products that can digitally transform their businesses, replacing a range of disparate systems and softwares with one unified solution to business management.
If you would like to speak to one of our NetSuite experts, you can request a free call back here.
