We asked ourselves, "why do businesses build a SuiteApp?" Then we realized, we could just ask them.
ExtendApps works with dozens of NetSuite SuiteApp partners, and we talk to many more. We decided to leverage this access for a survey about why they invest in SuiteApps, and what it means to their business.
Here are a few findings from our inquiry. You can review the entire survey here.
Most organizations are driven to build NetSuite Apps by their clients.
Nearly half of the people we spoke with stated that requests from their existing customers that were also using NetSuite was the the chief factor in deciding to build a SuiteApp. Though, most also admitted that the revenue/lead generation opportunity was a close second.
Most SuiteApp projects were completed in 4-6 months.
With planning and design taking roughly 50% of the time and the actual build-out the rest, building a SuiteApp is a ~6 month proposition, end-to-end.
SuiteApps are a good source of revenue.
With an average of 22 new qualified leads per year and an ROI on their SuiteApp investment inside 6 months, a NetSuite App was a good investment for these organizations.
A few anecdotal notes.
Of the of NetSuite Partners developed their apps using in-house teams, most admitted that the lack of NetSuite expertise and experience slowed the process and continues to present challenges in supporting their SuiteApps. Many stated that if they were to do it all over, they would've gone with an experienced partner.