NetSuite emerges from Oracle's shadow

Application service provider NetSuite has said that customers will be able to extend the features of its small business suite, after the company ended its marketing deal with Oracle.

The hosted enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendor was launched three years ago with Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison as one of its founders and Oracle's small business suite at the heart of the its product line-up.

But while Oracle technology will still underpin much of NetSuite's product offering, the co-marketing relationship is now over.

Zach Nelson, chief executive at NetSuite, explained that the vendor would rebrand the Oracle offering as NetSuite Small Business Suite from the first week of July.

The firm claims to have 7,500 customers worldwide using its ERP software through a hosted delivery model.

"Customers are going to be able to extend the features and functionality of the updated suite because they share the same code base," Nelson told vnunet.com.

"Previously you could not add new modules to the existing Oracle suite. Now you will be able to add important modules like our popular shipping integration with UPS or Fed-Ex to the base Small Business Suite."

Nelson added that Oracle agreed to separate the marketing of the two companies in order to distinguish between them more clearly in the market.

"It is essentially the end of the marketing relationship," he said. "We will still be a big user of Oracle technology, although we now have a consistent brand across the products sold by our company."

The company's portfolio now comprises NetSuite, NetCRM, NETERP and NetSuite Small Business Suite.