Change Management in
NetSuite
Automate and accelerate your change processes
NetSuite accounts are changing constantly. End users change saved searches; Administrators change fields, forms and list values; developers create and change scripts and workflows. In a typical NetSuite account, this can be hundreds or thousands of changes per month — and up to tens of thousands of lines of system notes.
Systems leadership can take a reactive approach to this, troubleshooting problems when they arise and struggling to manage big-picture goals like compliance and internal governance. Or they can be proactive, with smart policies based on real-world risk, and automation that takes the work out of reviews and approvals.
How Strongpoint Helps
Strongpoint is the only native NetSuite system that reviews all changes to customizations. It logs every change and uses dependency documentation and impact analysis to determine the level of risk associated with each one.
Then, based on policies you’ve set out, appropriate controls are applied to risky changes — elevation for approval by the appropriate resource, or testing in Sandbox/across the SDLC as necessary. All of this is captured in an immutable log, which greatly simplifies reporting requirements if SOX is in scope.
Change Logging
Some companies track changes using system note searches focused on critical scripts and workflows. However, auditors increasingly criticize these searches as incomplete, since they do not include changes to objects that can impact a script or workflow, such as fields and searches used in the script. By definition, this method also misses critical changes that are not tracked in system notes.
Strongpoint's change logs capture all development activity in your account — even the things that aren't captured by system notes. That's a lot of data, but we also give you tools to work with it, automatically sorting the wheat from the chaff, alerting your team to critical changes and providing simple explanations about what changed and why.
Stop relying on system notes for change review and audit prep
Capture critical changes to scripts and workflows
Get alerts for potentially risky changes
You don't need a formal change management system in place to benefit from Strongpoint's change logging.
Visit the blog for a quick tutorial showing you how one customer built out a custom Strongpoint report to track development activity that required additional oversight:
Change Policies
In NetSuite, some changes — deprecating an unused report, for example — are harmless. Others, such as altering a data model, are high risk, and should be tested in the sandbox or across the development lifecycle.
When it isn’t possible to differentiate between what's risky and what's safe, all changes require the same level of investigation. As a result, resources and expertise are applied inefficiently.
With Strongpoint’s change management policies, however, expertise can be allocated when and where it’s needed most — and safe changes can be pre-cleared without a time-consuming investigation.
In addition to giving you the ability to create custom change policies based on risk, Strongpoint also gives you a complete system for tracking change requests and approvals in accordance with those policies. Requests are automatically sent to the correct approver based on the policy, and their response is recorded in the change log — so you can see, at-a-glance, whether the change followed policy (ie, whether it was approved by the correct person.)
Here's a short demo showing you how to create a request:
Pre-clear safe changes that don't require review
Track requests and approvals within NetSuite
Implement easily without changing your processes
Watch a Demo
In this clip, Paul Staz outlines the different levels of change control available with Strongpoint's change policies.
A "Closed Loop" System
Strongpoint is a true closed loop change management system. Every change is captured in an immutable log. Every completed change is reconciled back to an originating request and, if necessary, an approval.
Every change and approval is checked for compliance with the policies you’ve set out. Anything that doesn’t follow policy is captured in a noncompliant changes report for review and clearance.
The best part? Changes to your policies are logged and monitored using the same process. This makes it impossible to alter an approval after the fact or artificially resolve a noncompliant change.
In other words, the whole process is airtight and fully validated — something that’s critical to security, governance and audit readiness.
Why Strongpoint is "Audit Candy"
Here's Strongpoint founder, Mark Walker, with a walkthrough of the closed-loop change process — and why auditors love it.
Watch the Webinar
Check out our recent presentation on automating change management in NetSuite to learn how smart controls can make audit prep simple.
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Next Step: Reporting and Reconciliation
Review, reconcile and report on the changes in your account — automatically.