Posted by Kimberly Odom, Director of Vertical Marketing, Software at NetSuite

Migrating to a new ERP platform is a major undertaking, and it's an even bigger challenge for international companies with multiple offices and subsidiaries. Such was the case with Openwave Messaging and Openwave Mobility, U.S. technology companies that provide messaging, mobility and mobile analytics software to telecom companies around the world.

So when Openwave made the critical decision to move both companies onto a single ERP platform, it naturally drew up a list of core requirements that any potential ERP contender had to meet. The most important requirements were an integrated environment, easy access from all locations, fast deployment, and support for Openwave's own cloud-based product roadmap.

Single view of the enterprise. Openwave Messaging, which provides enterprise messaging solutions, and Openwave Mobility, which develops software to help operators manage and monetize mobile data, are two companies being run through one single instance of NetSuite. These two companies, in turn, oversee other business units, making global financial consolidation a challenge with disparate on-premise ERP systems. By moving to a single, cloud-based platform, Openwave was able to centralize all of its data and financial consolidation processes, while also being able to separate out data for individual departments and subsidiaries.

"We need to run two companies out of the same NetSuite instance," explained Marie Weston-Smith, director of business systems and IT for Openwave. "Now we're able to share components like chart of accounts, yet also separate the subsidiaries."

Accessible worldwide. Openwave operates in multiple countries, with customers in North America, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. So its employees and management need to be able to easily access data and reports from anywhere in the world, via desktops, laptops or mobile devices.

Fast deployment. Cloud-based applications can be up and running much faster than on-premise solutions due to their easy configurability and lack of hardware requirements at the customer's site. That is important when you have to roll out an ERP application across a large enterprise and do it quickly. Openwave was able to deploy NetSuite OneWorld to meet a tightly compressed timeframe of two and a half months.

Support for growth and future development. That short deployment timeframe was dictated in part by Openwave's growth strategy and the need to streamline business operations. As Openwave transitioned to a cloud-based model for its own commercial solutions, leadership recognized the benefits of using the cloud for ERP. By running ERP in the cloud, Openwave was able free up internal IT resources to focus on value-added services, as opposed to managing an antiquated on-premise ERP system.

"When we evaluated products we focused mainly on cost and fit to our technology strategy. When we chose NetSuite, they fit our budget, and they were a cloud vendor, which is where we want to go with our applications model.” said Weston-Smith

To learn more about Openwave and its move to the cloud, watch the video: