NetSuite Administration 101: Key Responsibilities and Best Practices

June 5, 2024
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Are you ready to dive into the world of NetSuite Administration? 

As a NetSuite Administrator, your role is crucial in maintaining the smooth operation of your organization's NetSuite system. But what exactly does that entail?

In this guide, we'll uncover the key responsibilities and best practices that will set you up for success in your role. From managing user access and roles to customizing the system to fit your organization's unique needs, you'll learn everything you need to know to excel as a NetSuite Administrator.

Explore the ins and outs of NetSuite Administration, and discover how you can optimize your organization's NetSuite investment for maximum efficiency and effectiveness. 

Setting Up and Managing User Access

As a NetSuite Administrator, one of your key responsibilities is to set up and manage user access to the system. 

This involves creating and assigning roles, implementing security measures, and enabling two-factor authentication to ensure the security of your NetSuite account.

1. Creating and Assigning Roles

Roles are a defined access configuration that determines the pages users can see and the actions they can perform within the system. 

You must have the Administrator role to set up roles that can be assigned to users.

When creating roles, carefully consider the level of access required for each role. You can use NetSuite’s predefined roles or create custom roles tailored to your organization's needs. 

Once roles are created, you can assign them to users based on their job functions.

2. Implementing Security Measures

Implement security measures such as password policies and IP restrictions to ensure the security of your NetSuite account. 

Password policies can be set up to enforce strong passwords and password expiration dates. IP restrictions can be used to limit access to the system based on specific IP addresses.

In addition, you can enable audit trails to track user activity within the system, which can help identify any unauthorized access or suspicious activity.

3. Two-Factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an additional layer of security that requires users to provide two forms of authentication to access the system. This can include a password and a unique code sent to a user's mobile device.

Enabling 2FA can significantly increase the security of your NetSuite account, as it makes it much more difficult for unauthorized users to gain access to the system.

Optimizing System Performance

As a NetSuite Administrator, optimizing system performance is one of your key responsibilities. Poor system performance can lead to decreased productivity and user frustration. 

Here are some best practices for monitoring and enhancing ERP efficiency, managing integrations and workflows, and conducting regular data audits.

Monitoring and Enhancing ERP Efficiency

Monitoring and enhancing ERP efficiency is crucial to ensure that NetSuite runs smoothly. 

You can use the NetSuite Application Performance Management SuiteApp to examine system performance, including customizations and mission-critical processes, in greater detail. 

You can also double-click the Oracle NetSuite logo in the top left-hand corner for quick details on the performance of your NetSuite instance to quickly identify potential issues.

To optimize NetSuite preferences for a quicker page loading time, try these quick adjustments:

  1. Go to the Appearance Subtab (Centers & Dashboards section): Customize the Landing Page preference to open NetSuite on your most-visited page, bypassing the Home page.
  2. Check the Delay Loading of Sublists box to load NetSuite pages without data on subtabs initially. When this box is checked, the data on each subtab is loaded only when the subtab is clicked, shortening the initial page loading time.

Managing Integrations and Workflows

Integrations and workflows can have a significant impact on NetSuite's performance. 

Review, optimize, and renew integrations regularly to ensure they run efficiently. You should also audit workflows to ensure they are not causing unnecessary delays or errors in NetSuite.

To manage integrations and workflows effectively, follow these best practices:

  1. Use the NetSuite Integration Monitor to track the status of integrations and identify any issues.
  2. Schedule integrations to run during off-peak hours to minimize the impact on NetSuite's performance.
  3. Regularly review workflows to ensure they are not causing unnecessary delays or errors in NetSuite.

Conducting Regular Data Audits

Data integrity is essential to NetSuite's performance. Conducting regular data audits can help you identify and fix data issues before they cause problems. 

You should also regularly clean up old data to ensure that NetSuite is running efficiently.

To conduct regular data audits, follow these best practices:

  1. Use NetSuite's data audit tools to identify and fix data issues.
  2. Regularly clean up old data to ensure that NetSuite is running efficiently.
  3. Create data governance policies to ensure that data is entered consistently and accurately.

Following these best practices can optimize NetSuite's performance and ensure it runs efficiently.

Download the Salary Guide to compare average salaries of top NetSuite ERP professionals.

Ensuring Effective NetSuite Utilization

As a NetSuite Administrator, one of your key responsibilities is ensuring that the system is effectively utilized to support the business. 

This involves providing training and support to end users, customizing the system to match business processes, and analyzing data through reporting and KPIs.

1. Training and Supporting End Users

Ensuring effective utilization of NetSuite hinges on providing comprehensive training and support to end users. This encompasses initial training for newcomers and ongoing assistance to maximize system utilization.

To deliver effective training and support, it's crucial to tailor your approach to the diverse needs of user groups. While some may benefit from hands-on guidance, others may prefer self-paced learning resources. 

Understanding these differences is key to ensuring everyone can harness the system's capabilities efficiently.

2. Customizing for Business Processes

Customizing the NetSuite system to align with your organization's distinct business processes is a pivotal responsibility of a NetSuite Administrator. This entails crafting custom fields, workflows, and scripts to streamline operations and enhance efficiency.

To guarantee the success of customization endeavors, collaboration with stakeholders throughout the organization is essential. 

This collaborative approach involves conducting interviews, soliciting feedback, and conducting user testing to ensure that customizations are not only effective but also user-friendly and aligned with organizational needs.

3. Reporting and KPIs Analysis

Mastering NetSuite involves more than just navigating the system; it's about harnessing the power of data analysis through reporting and KPIs. 

This means crafting custom reports and dashboards to monitor crucial metrics and glean insights into business performance.

To ensure these reporting endeavors hit the mark, collaboration with stakeholders is key. By understanding their reporting needs and requirements, we can tailor custom reports and dashboards accordingly. 

Plus, providing training and support ensures users can fully leverage these tools to drive informed decision-making.

Maintaining System Health and Compliance

As a NetSuite Administrator, ensuring the health and compliance of your system is paramount. 

This section delves into three crucial facets of maintaining system integrity and adherence to regulations: executing regular updates and backups, adhering to financial and data regulations, and performing risk management and quality assurance.

Executing Regular Updates and Backups

To keep your NetSuite system running smoothly and safeguard your data, regular updates and backups are imperative. 

While NetSuite provides automatic updates, scheduling manual updates ensures your system remains current with the latest features and security patches. 

Additionally, performing regular backups safeguards against data loss or corruption, offering various options from full system backups to incremental backups.

Adhering to Financial and Data Regulations

As a NetSuite Administrator, upholding financial and data regulations is part of your mandate. 

NetSuite equips you with features like audit trails, role-based access controls, and compliance reporting to facilitate compliance. 

Moreover, establishing clear policies and procedures for handling sensitive data, coupled with regular training programs, fosters employee compliance with these regulations.

Performing Risk Management and Quality Assurance

Risk management and quality assurance are cornerstones of system security. Regular risk assessments help identify vulnerabilities and threats, while quality assurance testing ensures system functionality. 

NetSuite offers various tools, including automated testing and performance monitoring, to aid in these endeavors. 

By consistently undertaking these tasks, you bolster your NetSuite system's security, reliability, and compliance.

Conclusion

Being a NetSuite Administrator is pivotal for any organization leveraging the NetSuite platform. 

Your role entails configuring and maintaining the software, offering post-implementation support, and spearheading testing and planning efforts.

To excel in this role, one must have a profound understanding of the platform and effectively communicate with stakeholders and end-users. 

Staying updated on the latest NetSuite trends and practices is also crucial to maximizing your organization's platform benefits.

By adhering to the best practices discussed in this article and continually enhancing your skills, you can become an invaluable asset to your organization, driving its success with NetSuite.

For further insights into the market trends and salary benchmarks for NetSuite Administrator positions, download Atticus Solutions' Salary Guide today. 

Gain expert insights to elevate your career and stay ahead of the curve in the industry.

Aspect
Offshoring
Nearshoring
Outsourcing
Long-Term Costs
Cost-effective for skilled talent
Cost-effective but needs initial investment
High, offers control and flexibility
Investment
Moderate, reduces overhead
Initial training and technology
Highest initial and ongoing costs
Benefits
Access to nearby skilled talent
Large global talent pool
Maximum control over operations
Download the Salary Guide to compare average salaries of top NetSuite ERP professionals.
Key Differences
BPO
EOR
Not over PHP 250,000
Tax-exempt
Not over USD 434.49
Over PHP 250,000 but not over PHP 400,000
15% of the excess over PHP 250,000
Over USD 434.49 but not over USD 695.18
Over PHP 400,000 but not over PHP 800,000
PHP 22,500 + 20% of the excess over PHP 400,000
Over USD 695.18 but not over USD 1,390.36
Over PHP 800,000 but not over PHP 2,000,000
PHP 102,500 + 25% of the excess over PHP 800,000
Over USD 1,390.36 but not over USD 34,759.04

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