Look Before You Leap: 4 Steps For Embracing Change Management for NetSuite OpenAir

Let’s face it; things change in any organization. In some cases, it is due to improving your process and in other cases it may be due to organizational change such as a merger or acquisition. Are you keeping up with change in your organization? Here are four steps to embrace change and keep your NetSuite OpenAir system in sync with organizational and business process changes.

Step 1: Admit there is a problem

It only makes sense that your PSA tool was built to support an initial set of processes. If those processes have changed, why are you still keeping the same configurations? Change management is often the elephant in the room for organizations and avoided until a significant break in process or reporting becomes glaringly apparent, or when a consultant is brought in to complete a business evaluation. PSA tool reviews are usually initiated as a result of the software no longer meeting your organizational needs. So, let’s get to work!

Step 2: Consult the experts

For the past several years, NetSuite OpenAir has released updates to the software and provide release notes for review including guidance on performing your own testing. A preview environment has recently been provided during each release window for organizations to check changes and new features out in the context of their own setup, or you can use your sandbox account, if you have one. Your administrator and possibly power users can review new functionality, test it in a non-production environment, and proceed with making changes in production based on new functionality and enhancements. There are many reasons why you may not have stayed up to date – do these sound familiar?

• Your administrator (if you have one) wears multiple hats, and there is never enough time in the day to review and understand all the new features,
• You don’t have a steering committee in place and have always made on-the-fly configuration changes
• You have had a lot of internal change, and there has been no time to make the updates to your system.

To ‘catch up’, it’s best to engage with a consulting partner that can help you focus on the areas of enhancement that will benefit you the most and save yourself some time and energy in research and testing. Let’s make that software work for your business and, once again, meet your needs.

Step 3: Avoid costly rework: Look before you leap

It might be tempting to implement all the new features of a new release or quickly make a seemingly minor change to a table. We highly recommend you first research the organizational impact. Ensure that your needs have been fully vetted against the functionality of NetSuite OpenAir and that you have a complete understanding of what the current configurations are driving and will drive. Will the change impact operations or disrupt workflow or data capture? Enabling new features or making changes without going through a formal change management process may allow inefficiencies, confusion, and result in costly rework. Take your time and do it right the first time. There is a great phrase from an old television show that is worth repeating here: patience, young grasshopper.

Step 4: Embrace and execute

Rather than defaulting to your comfort zone and doing what you have always done, embrace the changes and put forth a positive outlook. Set aside time to better your processes. Establish a steering committee who meet on a regular basis to review requested changes and document the need, impact, and expected results. Twice a year set aside a week to invest in evaluating new release features. Continuous and well thought out changes are likely to result in better user engagement, more accurate and complete reports, and return on your investment in NetSuite OpenAir. Accept that things change and that organizational and software change can be great; it’s the impulsive updates and lack of communication which often give change management a bad rap. Most importantly, make sure that you have a deliberate and well thought out plan for testing, documenting and communicating.

For more change management information and considerations for PS or OpenAir, check out the recorded webinars for Change Management. For more information on our process workshops and business efficiency assessments, visit our website for details.