This book provides a friendly introduction to NetSuite. If you’ve picked up this book, chances are you already know something about the product, but here’s a quick summary: NetSuite is the number one, Web-based business software suite available as of early 2010. NetSuite offers an integrated application that wraps all the essential information technology needs — ERP, CRM, HR, customer service, ecommerce, warehouse and inventory management, and project management — into one tidy application.

NetSuite is part of the larger trend of Software as a Service (SaaS). In the SaaS model, users no longer have to buy on-premise software like ERP packages. Nor do they have to host their own servers in those all-too-familiar airconditioned, glassed-in computer rooms. Instead, they can simply purchase a subscription to a software service and access it online. They don’t have to maintain their own server rooms, pay huge up-front infrastructure costs, or worry about upgrades. A SaaS customer only needs some computers and an Internet connection. In short, the IT burden shifts from customer to vendor. The SaaS model is growing increasingly popular. One recent study by the research and intelligence firm IDC predicted that nearly 45 percent of U.S.