Professional services is by definition a project-based business. Services firms can have dozens of projects in the pipeline at any given time. Executing those projects on time and on budget is critical to business success. Managing projects effectively is extremely difficult if you rely on cumbersome spreadsheets, manual processes and ad hoc solutions.

A disjointed and siloed approach to project management in professional services wastes time and money. It obscures visibility into project lifecycles and utilization rates. It means running a constant treadmill to track project accounting, time and expenses, personnel, billing, project status and more. It introduces the risk of error and misjudgment that can translate into lost revenue and client dissatisfaction.

And ultimately, it means that management can’t gain the clear, real time view of overall performance and profitability it needs for business agility in a fast-paced and highly competitive environment.

Professional services firms recognize the pains that spreadsheets and ad hoc systems introduce into project management. But until recently, they didn’t have much choice because ERP solutions weren’t geared for project-based businesses. That’s now changed.

NetSuite Services Resource Planning (SRP) gives professional services firms a cloud-based solution that automates and streamlines project management as well as other aspects of the business, including resource management, project accounting and billing and client management. Cloud SRP represents a revolutionary approach to running a professional services firm, much like materials resources planning (MRP) in the 1990s gave manufacturers a single solution to run their business.

On November 1, NetSuite will host a webinar with Forrester Research to size up the emergence of project-based ERP. Forrester Analyst China Martens will explore the challenges and pressures that professional services project managers face and how project-focused ERP can address those issues.

Register now, and you’ll also hear how NetSuite SRP has improved project management and visibility from two NetSuite customers, Calvin Jackman of MyCom Global Solutions and Christopher Nelson of Splunk. I will discuss what makes SRP one of the leading software innovations of the 21st century.

If your services organization is looking to streamline project management, gain real-time visibility into crucial metrics and increase project margins, don’t miss this event! Sign up now for the webinar, Driving Success in a Project-Based Business.

- Ed Marshall, NetSuite SVP of Product Strategy