Gathering requirements and interviews

In any software project, understanding the users’ requirements is a key step in the early process. However, for NetSuite implementations, we want to be careful about how we start to ask our questions and talk to users. You might think that the right approach is to start by asking the client how they do things now and then translate that into NetSuite terms and processes. But doing that can lead to a lot of unnecessary customizations if you’re not careful, and that means delays and cost overruns.

When gathering requirements, it’s always beneficial to put yourself in your client’s shoes; try to anticipate how they will receive every question you ask and everything else you tell them. If you were them and you heard the question, how might you respond? If you realize your first idea for a question is too hard to answer, you need to ask the question differently.

For instance, asking How many expense accounts...