Without the right tools, system integrators and developers can find enterprise platforms more of a hindrance than an asset. When we built SuiteCloud, we listened to the frustrations SIs and developers had encountered with other enterprise systems and made developer productivity a priority. That means providing powerful and accessible interfaces which can be learned quickly, visual interfaces to manage complex processes, and ensuring that the complete power of NetSuite is available to all our third-party development partners.
The NetSuite experience is a browser-based, point-and-click interface, so why shouldn't our developer tools follow the same paradigm? With SuiteBuilder, form customization is an intuitive and visual process, giving developers the ability to quickly tailor screens and tabs to their unique needs without requiring complex database coding. We believe in customization without arbitrary constraints, so there is no limit to the number of custom fields that can be added to a form. Creating custom, role-based tab groupings and role-based permissions is equally simple. The Point-and-click form customization means that you can see your application concepts take shape as you work.
Deploying efficient, managed workflows to meet a client or vertical's unique requirements is one of the most significant opportunities for SuiteCloud developers(opens in new tab). Our SuiteFlow workflow management tool makes it easy to build trigger events, apply business rules and enforce approval processes to satisfy any customer's needs. Once again, we designed SuiteFlow with a point-and-click interface that takes the guesswork out of translating business requirements into valuable action.
It used to be the case that developing additional functionality and customizations for a business system also meant mastering a third-party analytics and reporting package such as Crystal Reports. But relying on outside systems is inefficient and often meant worrying about multiple codebases. Because SuiteCloud gives our developers complete access to the underlying power of NetSuite, the powerful business intelligence engine built into our solution is available for SuiteApps in the form of SuiteAnalytics. By providing a graphical toolset that accesses the analytical power in NetSuite, we help developers bring powerful insights to market more quickly than they could with separate reporting tools, data integration and data warehousing.
In my next blog, I will talk in detail about the deeper levels of cloud(opens in new tab) development, including our SuiteScript coding language and SuiteTalk Web Services, as well as the packaging and distribution process in SuiteBundler. In the meantime, explore some of the success stories(opens in new tab) from developers already thriving in the SuiteCloud ecosystem.
-Raghu Gnanasekaran, Senior Director Business Development, NetSuite