NetSuite's Evan Goldberg: The Latest Disruption Is 'The Consumer Cloud'

NetSuite Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Evan Goldberg on Wednesday introduced a range of new e-commerce tools and functionality designed to power what he described as the industry's latest disruption: "the Consumer Cloud."

Speaking to partners and customers of the cloud company he founded 17 years ago at the SuiteWorld 2015 conference, he said the new features for enabling online business, from the front ends that face customers to back-office systems, will help NetSuite users pursue "an omni-business model" and "omni-channel customer experience."

With those forces reinventing the way companies engage their customers, online and in the store, "our technology is accelerating. We're constantly trying to disrupt ourselves," Goldberg told conference attendees in San Jose, Calif.

[Related: NetSuite Reveals Integrated E-Commerce Solutions To Partners At SuiteWorld 2015]

In his keynote, Goldberg ran through several new features being integrated into NetSuite's business management platform, including a B2B procurement system called "procure-to-pay," which aims to provide vendors stocking their inventory the ease and elegance of a business-to-consumer-style experience.

Goldberg also demonstrated NetSuite for Android, a "full-featured" mobile app, also available for iOS, that helps users remotely manage their ERP, CRM and e-commerce systems.

In its next release, NetSuite will also deliver "custom segments" -- functionality allowing users to break down their commercial data across numerous, well-defined categories to gain greater insights into their business patterns and customer buying habits.

Other new functionality Goldberg touched on in his keynote supports app development, empowering developers working with the platform. To complement those efforts, NetSuite is also debuting a tool for monitoring application performance, the CTO said.

Technology obtained through the recent acquisition of Bronto will enhance the consumer marketing component of the company's e-commerce portfolio, he said.

At the same time, NetSuite is working in its labs on a project to develop more-advanced intelligent marketing capabilities. "We built a data science team to build features that offer insights," Goldberg said.

Igor Peshkov, vice president of partnerships and client services at San Francisco-based Astound Commerce, told CRN that the many features that NetSuite's founder discussed in his keynote represent the kind of development consistent with NetSuite's core strength.

"When it comes to NetSuite, what we see is a unified platform. That's what gives our clients the opportunity to work with the same company, same suite of products, to have them covered for all their front end and back end," Peshkov told CRN.

As a solution provider that prides itself on its e-commerce expertise, with 15 years of experience in that field, Astound sees the industry constantly evolving, with clients constantly looking to tap new capabilities for a competitive edge, according to Peshkov.

"E-commerce is a pretty dynamic industry," Peshkov said. "What we expect from NetSuite, or any platform provider, for that matter, is to be innovative. Innovation is what drives this market. Innovation is what helps us win deals."

Goldberg also announced in his keynote that NetSuite is adding three new data centers -- one in North America that just went live and two more to be introduced later this year in Europe.

PUBLISHED MAY 6, 2015