Hosted enterprise software, popularised by companies such as
SalesForce.com, has become a straightforward way for users to add
enterprise resource planning or customer relationship management
functions to their businesses.
Last week Microsoft Business Solutions launched Great Plains 8.0,
its hosted finance service for small businesses, which will give
users a suite of enterprise software with an Office look and
feel.
The update increases the choice of hosted finance and CRM services
for small and medium-sized businesses, which also includes Oracle
spin-off NetSuite, Salesforce.com and Epicor.
One firm that has been using a hosted finance and CRM service since
January is specialist chocolate retailer Rococo Chocolates, based
in London's Kings Road.
It wanted its accounts system to be more flexible as it went
through a period of growth. The confectionery business is highly
competitive and Rococo wanted to concentrate on its core business
as well as getting a better view of its finances.
It swapped its Sage Line 50 accounts system for a hosted service
from NetSuite because it no longer wanted to manage the hardware
and software.
Rococo Chocolates' financial controller Gerry Kerins said, "With
Sage, everything was on one box, so no one really knew how the
business was doing. [The NetSuite] system is more transparent, has
key business indicators and makes me more accountable, which is a
good thing."
NetSuite offers a dashboard view of key financial indicators and
has given Rococo's customers browser-based access to the system to
place orders. Users can view a new order within minutes of it being
received.
"We were pointed towards a network-based system but we wanted a
system that would wrap around the business, rather than the
business wrapping around it," said Kerins.
Rococo now plans to scale the system to cover a second London shop.
It also plans to use the CRM functions of the NetSuite
service.
"We are now looking to integrate the website into the NetSuite
portal. The CRM aspect is important to us and we have input all the
product codes. [Our CRM system] used to be an Excel spreadsheet,
which was printed out and put in my in-tray to input into Sage,"
said Kerins.
Counting the cost
Rococo's NetSuite licence costs are £2,500 a year, but the hosted
service saved £6,000 a year on IT costs. Financial controller Gerry
Kerins said he was quoted £30,000 for a five-user network to run
Sage. "Switching to NetSuite has meant a fraction of that cost."