NetSuite, which markets Internet-based applications, has signed Hein & Associates, a Denver-based CPA firm, to offer implementation services for NetSuite's customers in a number of vertical markets. The San Mateo, Calif.-based vendor indicated it may recruit other third parties, including more accounting firms, to implement NetSuite products in other specialized areas.
"A number of customers we were running across are doing implementation in areas that aren't in our sweet spot; things such as regulatory compliance and IT readiness," says Michael Kulisch, NetSuite's director of business development.
Kulisch said NetSuite chose Hein because it is a regional firm and has strong practices that include the technology, manufacturing, distribution and energy fields. As part of its agreement with NetSuite, Hein will promote specialized services, including customized accounting.
While there is a possibility other kinds of organizations might be recruited for a similar role, CPA firms will likely remain the best candidates because of the types of requests for assistance NetSuite has received from clients for issues surrounding its products, largely the OneWorld platform.
Kulisch said NetSuite was not slighting its reseller channel in setting up a system to refer implementations to Hein and perhaps other firms. Resellers have more expertise in selling and implementing software, Kulisch said, not in addressing the kinds of issues for which Hein is the preferred provider.
Bob Scott has provided information to the tax and accounting community since 1991, first as technology editor of Accounting Today, and from 1997 through 2009 as editor of its sister publication, Accounting Technology. He is known throughout the industry for his depth of knowledge and for his high journalistic standards. Scott has made frequent appearances as a speaker, moderator and panelist and events serving tax and accounting professionals. He has a strong background in computer journalism as an editor with two former trade publications, Computer+Software News and MIS Week and spent several years with weekly and daily newspapers in Morris County New Jersey prior to that. A graduate of Indiana University with a degree in journalism, Bob is a native of Madison, Ind
