Business Software

You might recall a couple weeks ago, when Microsoft (News - Alert) tried to lure midsize businesses away from NetSuite back to the reservation, offering “a new incentive to switch from NetSuite (News - Alert) to Microsoft Dynamics ERP.”

The Redmond behemoth is offering companies in the U.S. a credit of up to $850 “for every NetSuite user that switches to either Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV or Microsoft Dynamics SL through June 25.

The NetSuiters were tickled.

“An internal memo from NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson (News - Alert) dismisses Microsoft's bid to attract NetSuite customers as ‘the last gasp of a dinosaur trying to protect its Stone Age software products’,” CRN reported a few days later.

Not that NetSuite's above a little good old-fashioned used car salesmanship itself. The company is trying to expand its channel partner ranks by offering resellers 100 percent margins on first-year subscription revenue, targting resellers of Microsoft, Sage and SAP (News - Alert), among others, CRN noted.

Nelson’s memo, with the subject line 'The Netsuite comet officially hits the Microsoft ERP dinosaur,' characterized Microsoft's announcement as 'an obvious act of desperation as Microsoft's customers and partners defect en masse for NetSuite and the cloud,” CRN said.

“Clearly Microsoft is extremely concerned about the sheer number of customers switching from Great Plains to NetSuite, otherwise they wouldn’t have made this announcement,” NetSuite officials told TMC (News - Alert). “They’re feeling the pressure.”

Today's businesses “want more,” NetSuite officials continued. “They're moving to the modern, integrated, web-native and cloud-based simplicity of NetSuite. In fact, with the announcement of the NetSuite SP100 program last week, Microsoft resellers are now making the move to NetSuite.”

“I had been a Great Plains user for about two years, but then about three years ago I switched to NetSuite,' Jerry Lawrence, Controller, Christian Care Ministry told TMC. 'At first I was resistant to the change, but once on the NetSuite system I was amazed at the ease of use. I especially like the flexibility in the reporting module. NetSuite is much easier to use and navigate and generate complex financial statements. I love the ease of file conversion, which I feel is head and shoulders above Great Plains.”