It’s 4pm, and you’ve just been asked to deliver a custom report by tomorrow morning. You quickly realize the task at hand: adjusting an existing Saved Search in NetSuite, pulling data from your CRM, e-commerce systems, and spreadsheets, and manually joining everything together. Hours pass as you juggle multiple sources, checking for accuracy before sending off the final report. Sound familiar? It's a frustrating scenario many businesses face daily.
A study by Forrester Consulting found that employees spend up to 12 hours per week just tracking down data for reporting and analysis. Additionally, according to Experian, 40% of critical business data is stuck in silos, disconnected from other systems. As a result, businesses struggle to extract meaningful insights and make timely, informed decisions.
Imagine if there was a solution that could eliminate this chaos, giving you quick access to reliable data and insights with minimal effort.
Enter NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW).
Designed to automate and centralize your data processes, NSAW is a unified platform that streamlines reporting and analytics—helping you make faster, smarter decisions without the data headaches.
What is NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW)?
NSAW is an all-in-one data analytics platform tailored for businesses using NetSuite. It integrates multiple data sources - both internal and external, into a unified, cloud-based platform. Powered by Oracle’s advanced technology and AI, NSAW makes it easy for business users to gain valuable insights without relying on IT experts.
Here’s how NSAW can transform your data management:
Single Source of Truth
Data fragmentation across silos is a persistent challenge when businesses rely on multiple systems (ERP, CRM, e-commerce, etc.). NSAW consolidates everything into one centralized hub, reducing errors and manual effort. No more endless versions of “final_report_v35.xlsx” floating around in email threads.
All-in-One Platform
Traditional data warehouses require businesses to piece together various tools for extraction, storage, and reporting. This can involve multiple platforms and specialized teams. NSAW simplifies this by integrating data pipelines, cloud storage, and reporting tools into one seamless platform, cutting down complexity, time, and costs.
Pre-Built Data Pipelines and Models
NSAW’s pre-configured models, including over 600 tables and 88 business-friendly subject areas, get you up and running in as little as 24 hours. No need for complex setups or technical roadblocks - start analyzing your data instantly.
Advanced Reporting Capabilities
NSAW ships with Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC), Oracle’s premier data analytics platform, which helps you create interactive reports, dashboards, and visualizations. Drag-and-drop features and AI-powered insights allow you to generate reports without needing a technical background.
Integration Flexibility
NSAW integrates seamlessly with over 40 external systems, including Salesforce, Google Analytics, QuickBooks, and more. You don’t need to juggle multiple platforms or manually combine data - NSAW does it all.
Built-In AI/ML Capabilities
NSAW goes beyond just consolidating data - it turns it into actionable insights. Features like anomaly detection, predictive forecasting, and automated insights help uncover trends that might otherwise go unnoticed.
How NetSuite Analytics Warehouse Works: Key Components
NSAW ships with three core products; Oracle Analytics Cloud, Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse, and the pre-built components consisting of data pipelines from NetSuite, data models, and business-friendly subject areas.
Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC)
OAC is a user-friendly platform that helps businesses analyze their data and make decisions faster. It’s packed with tools that make it easy to:
Visualize Data: Create custom reports and dashboards that bring your data to life.
Spot Trends: OAC automatically analyzes your data, helping you identify patterns and predict future trends — no data science experience required.
Create Reports: Quickly generate beautiful reports with just a few clicks, freeing up time to focus on strategic decisions.
Access Data on the Go: Stay connected to your business from anywhere with the OAC mobile app.
Collaborate in Real-Time: Share insights with your team and make decisions together, faster.
Robust Data Governance: Keep your data secure through integrated security features ranging from general user access to row-level security, backed by Single-Sign on and Multi-Factor Authentication processes.
Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse (ADW)
ADW is a cloud-based data warehouse that automatically manages your data, taking care of areas like security, backups, and performance optimization, so you don’t have to. This means:
No Maintenance: ADW takes care of updates and scaling automatically.
Faster Performance: It automatically adjusts its performance to ensure fast data processing.
Top-Tier Security: ADW comes with built-in security features to keep your data safe and accessible.
Together, OAC and ADW make data management and analysis a breeze, enabling faster, smarter decision-making across your business.
Accelerating Time to Value with Pre-Built Components
NSAW’s pre-built components drastically reduce the time it takes to move from raw data to actionable insights. Traditional data warehouse setups can take months (or even years), but NSAW delivers a fully functional solution in as little as 24 hours.
Pre-Built Data Pipelines: Automate the data extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) process for consistent and accurate data.
Optimized Data Models: Pre-configured models, such as the data models (star schemas), semantic models (subject areas) and KPIs, help you start analyzing your data right away.
Business-Friendly Language: NSAW’s subject areas are written in terms that everyone, from finance to operations, can understand, making data accessible for all teams to slice and dice to their heart’s content.
How NSAW Compares to Traditional Solutions
NSAW vs. Saved Searches/SuiteAnalytics
While NetSuite offers tools like Saved Searches and SuiteAnalytics for reporting, NSAW offers several advantages:
Broader Data Access: NSAW consolidates data from multiple platforms, while Saved Searches are primarily confined to the NetSuite ecosystem.
User-Friendly Interface: NSAW’s pre-built models and intuitive interface make it easy for non-technical users to access and analyze data, whereas Saved Searches require more technical knowledge to do the same level of comprehensive analysis.
Speed: NSAW separates transactional data from reporting systems, enabling faster analysis, and reducing the complexity of running reports.
NSAW vs. Typical Data Stacks
Many businesses rely on separate platforms like FiveTran for data extraction, Snowflake for storage, and PowerBI/Tableau for visualization. However, this approach can lead to complexity, higher costs, and slower time-to-value. Here's how NSAW stacks up:
All-in-One Solution:
Businesses often opt for platforms like FiveTran (ETL), Snowflake/BigQuery (data warehouse), and PowerBI/Tableau (visualization), which requires integration between multiple tools to handle the full analytics workflow. This can lead to complex configurations, separate vendor relationships, and higher costs.
NSAW, on the other hand, integrates all of these functions into a single platform, reducing complexity and overhead.
Pre-Built Data Models:
NSAW comes with pre-configured, optimized data models (including Kimball star schemas, the defacto standard for data modelling) that allow businesses to start analyzing data immediately. With FiveTran, Snowflake, and PowerBI/Tableau, businesses must build these models from scratch or rely heavily on consultants, which can take months, if not years to fully come to fruition.
Time-to-Value:
NSAW’s pre-built components and user-friendly design allow businesses to generate insights in 24 hours, significantly faster than stitching together solutions like FiveTran/Snowflake/BigQuery, which often require months of setup and configuration.
Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO):
Integrating multiple vendors for data ingestion, storage, and reporting can lead to a higher total cost of ownership with solutions like FiveTran, Snowflake, and PowerBI/Tableau. NSAW’s integrated approach simplifies your tech stack and reduces costs.
Streamlined Maintenance and Updates:
With multiple vendor solutions, updates and maintenance become a complex orchestration - each component needs to be tested for compatibility when any single vendor pushes an update, often requiring specialized expertise for each platform.
NSAW eliminates this headache with Oracle managing all updates across the entire stack. When Oracle enhances the platform - whether it's new AI features, additional data connectors, or performance improvements - these updates are seamlessly rolled out across all components, ensuring everything continues to work together flawlessly. This coordinated approach means you're always running on the latest technology without the burden of managing multiple upgrade cycles or compatibility issues.
How to Know if NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW) is Right for Your Business
Choosing the right analytics solution for your business depends on your data needs, challenges, and future goals. Here are some signs that NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW) could be a game-changer for your organization:
You Struggle with Disconnected Data Sources
If your data is scattered across multiple systems (CRM, e-commerce, marketing tools), NSAW’s 40+ integrations help centralize your data, making it easier to generate comprehensive, real-time reports.
Why it matters:
You’re wasting time hunting for data or manually merging reports, leading to delays and inaccuracies.
How NSAW helps:
By unifying all your data, NSAW provides a single source of truth, streamlining reporting and decision-making.
You Need Faster, More Insightful Reporting
If your current reporting system is slow, static, or requires manual effort, NSAW’s real-time data access and AI-powered insights enable dynamic, on-demand reports.
Why it matters:
You need reports that are not only fast but also relevant, helping you act on data without delays.
How NSAW helps:
NSAW automates insights, delivering accurate reports instantly, so your team can make quicker, more informed decisions.
You Need a Scalable Solution
As your business grows, so do your data needs. NSAW’s scalable architecture ensures it adapts to increasing data complexity without additional overhead.
Why it matters:
Your current system may be struggling to keep up with your growing data, leading to inefficiencies.
How NSAW helps:
With automated data pipelines and seamless integration, NSAW scales effortlessly alongside your business.
You Want to Reduce Complexity and IT Dependency
If your IT team is overwhelmed managing complex analytics tools, NSAW’s user-friendly interface allows business users to easily access and analyze data, reducing the need for IT involvement.
Why it matters:
You want to empower your team to make data-driven decisions without relying on IT.
How NSAW helps:
With pre-built models and a simple interface, NSAW frees up IT and lets non-technical teams dive into the data.
You Need Advanced Analytics and AI Capabilities
For businesses that want to go beyond basic reporting, NSAW offers AI-driven insights and advanced analytics (like trend analysis and anomaly detection) to help predict future outcomes.
Why it matters:
You need deeper insights to drive smarter business decisions.
How NSAW helps:
NSAW’s AI tools identify patterns and trends, providing insights that traditional tools can’t.
You Need to Lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
Managing multiple analytics tools is expensive and complex. NSAW consolidates all your analytics functions into one platform, helping you cut costs on licensing and vendor management.
Why it matters:
You want a more efficient, cost-effective solution that doesn’t require managing multiple tools.
How NSAW helps:
With a unified platform, NSAW reduces operational costs and streamlines your tech stack.
You Need Better Data Governance and Security
With stricter regulations around data security, NSAW offers enterprise-grade security features like encryption and role-based access to protect sensitive information.
Why it matters:
You need to ensure your data is secure and compliant with industry regulations.
How NSAW helps:
NSAW’s robust data governance ensures your business stays secure and compliant, reducing the risk of breaches.
Ready to Transform Your Business with NSAW?
If you’re tired of spending hours manually managing and analyzing data, NSAW offers a unified solution that delivers actionable insights in real-time—without the complexity and IT overhead.
Start making smarter decisions today—book a free, no-obligation consultation with one of our experts. We’ll assess your current data setup and show you how NSAW can streamline your reporting, reduce costs, and accelerate decision-making.
Schedule Your Free Consultation Now to learn more.
Unlock your business’s potential with the power of unified, AI-driven analytics—NetSuite Analytics Warehouse has the tools you need to succeed.
Author:
Aaron Leggett - Senior Data Engineer