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NetSuite, Inc., the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites, today announced that Network Communications Inc. (NCI) (nci.com), the largest U.S. publisher of local printed and online magazines for the multi-family rental, real estate, home design and home improvement markets, has gone live on NetSuite to transform its business operations and drive business growth with a fully integrated cloud business management suite. NCI deployed NetSuite to replace an Infor on-premise ERP solution and a cloud-based CRM application that were limited in flexibility, functionality and scalability. This modernization effort also eliminated NCI's paper-based manual processes and replaced numerous Excel spreadsheets. With NetSuite, NCI is able to run mission-critical business processes from financials, recurring billing, order management, purchasing, and revenue recognition to employee center and customer relationship management (CRM). As a result, NCI has gained unprecedented business visibility, efficiency and control.
"We had to make a choice of spending a million dollars to upgrade the Lawson system or go with a system that was cloud-based and easy for everyone in the field to access, which Lawson couldn't provide," said Diana Young, NCI Senior Vice President. "One reason we chose NetSuite was that it provides ERP and other applications like CRM so that we have a one-stop shop."
Frustrated with the inflexible, stone-age Infor Lawson system that was built before the Internet, NCI was eager to modernize the old technology platform with a flexible and agile software solution. After evaluating 13 competing solutions that included SAP, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Oracle and Sage, NCI selected NetSuite.
Additionally, NCI leverages NetSuite's CRM and recurring billing capabilities for the print and digital editions of its flagship publication Apartment Finder, which generates 12 million leads a year for advertisers in 120 markets. By using NetSuite, NCI is able to gain:
• New flexibility and speed in processing approximately 18,000 invoices a month.
• Improved ability to accommodate specific billing requirements of its advertising customers.
• Business agility to introduce digital editions of Apartment Finder into new markets.
"We are definitely seeing better scalability and efficiency, and real-time information that help us shape strategic objectives," NCI's Young said. "One of the key benefits that we'll see with CRM and recurring billing is very robust reporting on revenue and other metrics that's going to be a huge benefit for us."
NetSuite has enabled NCI to:
• Gain real-time visibility across key business metrics and a new ability to meet the specific requirements of approximately 20,000 advertising customers that depend on its publications for lead generation.
• Scale back demands on the finance department thanks to automation and efficiency in NetSuite.
• Leverage NetSuite Financial Planning for budgeting and planning that is more streamlined and efficient than its previous practices involving Lawson, Excel and paper printouts.
• Reduce its reliance on paper financial and expense reports, and postal mail invoices, as well as manual work required to manage complex billing processes.
• Access real-time information on demand in NetSuite, enabling NCI to make informed data-driven decisions that grow the business.
• Realize double-digit revenue growth.
NCI has also taken advantage of deep customization capabilities in the SuiteCloud Development Platform to tune the solution to its needs. For instance, a customized opportunity-to-estimate-to-sales order workflow provides sales reps and management with better insight into and control over the sales process. Custom integration between NCI's homegrown content management systems (CMS) and NetSuite supplies visibility across uploaded assets and advertiser customer accounts.
"If we had a problem with our current CRM, we'd have to submit a ticket and they'd have to go to their developers it could be eight or 10 weeks before we got an answer," NCI's Young said. "Now, if we have an issue, it's fixed in two to three hours."
Today, more than 20,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite (netsuite.com) has established itself as the leading provider of enterprise-class cloud financials/ERP suites for divisions of large enterprises and mid-sized organizations seeking to upgrade their antiquated client/server ERP systems. NetSuite excels at streamlining business operations as demonstrated in a recent Gartner study naming NetSuite as the fastest growing financial management software vendor on a global basis. NetSuite continues its success in delivering the best cloud ERP/financials suites to businesses around the world, enabling them to lower IT costs significantly while increasing productivity, as the global adoption of the cloud is accelerating.
About Network Communications, Inc. (NCI)
Network Communications, Inc. (nci.com) provides lead generation, advertising and Internet marketing solutions to businesses in a wide variety of categories. NCI utilizes prospect-focused distribution, social media and online franchises, industry events, and content marketing strategies to provide high-quality and measurable marketing solutions. NCI products help its advertisers connect with their prospective customers at key decision points in their buying processes. NCI utilizes multiple formats and channels including digital products, social media, printed magazines, promotional materials and mobile applications. Consumers find NCI advertisers whether they are shopping at their favorite store, eating out at their favorite restaurant or surfing the Internet at home. Headquartered in Norcross, Ga., NCI proudly serves more than 20,000 advertisers and generates more than 12 million actionable leads every year.
NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are registered service marks of NetSuite Inc.
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