NetSuite Support Partner Evaluation Checklist

This checklist covers the questions to ask before signing an engagement, organized by the six areas that separate good-fit partners from poor-fit ones.

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Part 1: Who actually does the work

The gap between what a firm sells and who delivers it is the most common source of post-go-live support problems. Ask these questions before the engagement starts.

• Who specifically will be working on your account? Get a name, not a team description.
• Is that person a senior developer or a coordinator who manages offshore delivery?
• If the named person is unavailable, who covers? Is that person equally qualified?
• Does the firm use offshore delivery for any part of the work? If so, which parts?
• Will you have direct access to the person doing the work, or does communication go through an account manager?
• What happens to your account if the assigned consultant leaves the firm?

Red flag: Answers that describe a "team" without naming individuals, or proposals that describe an offshore delivery model for a "local" engagement.

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Part 2: Certifications and verified credentials

NetSuite certifications are not a guarantee of quality, but they are a verifiable baseline. Uncertified consultants working on complex accounts is a documented risk pattern.

• Does the firm hold Oracle NetSuite SuiteCloud Developer II certification?
• Does the firm hold Oracle NetSuite Administrator Professional certification?
• Are those certifications held by the individual who will work on your account, or only by someone else at the firm?
• Ask to see the certification credential. Oracle certifications are verifiable.
• How long has the primary consultant been working with NetSuite specifically?

Red flag: Certifications listed at the firm level that are not held by the person assigned to your account.

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Part 3: Billing model and how ongoing work is scoped

The billing model determines how much overhead is added to every request. This is the single biggest driver of total cost for ongoing work.

• Does the firm require a Statement of Work for each individual request?
• If yes: what is the typical turnaround time from request to approved SOW before work can begin?
• Is pricing per hour, per project, or a fixed monthly retainer?
• If per hour: what is the minimum billable increment per request?
• Are there minimum engagement requirements per request (e.g., a 4-hour minimum for any change)?
• What is the process for a small request: a field change, a saved search update, a script fix?
• Under a retainer: what is included and what triggers additional billing?
• What is the contract minimum and what are the exit terms?

Red flag: Requiring a new SOW for every request, regardless of size. This adds days of overhead to work that should take hours and is the structural reason large implementation firms are expensive for ongoing support.

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Part 4: Response time and urgency handling

Response time commitments are easy to make and hard to verify until you need them. Ask how they work, not just what they are.

• What is the committed response time for a production outage?
• What is the committed response time for a non-urgent request?
• How do you contact the support partner for an urgent issue: email, phone, Slack?
• What happens during holidays or if your assigned consultant is out?
• Can you speak to a current client about their experience with urgent issue response?

Red flag: SLA commitments that are vague ("we respond quickly") or that describe a ticket system as the primary escalation path for urgent production issues. Urgent issues in a live account require direct access to someone who knows the account, not a ticket number.

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Part 5: Release handling and proactive work

NetSuite releases twice a year. Accounts without proactive release review accumulate script failures and workflow breaks after each cycle.

• Does the firm review the release preview in your Sandbox before each bi-annual NetSuite release?
• Who does that review: the same person working on your account, or a separate team?
• How are release-related issues communicated before they reach Production?
• Does the firm proactively flag potential issues, or only respond after something breaks?
• What is the typical turnaround on a release-related fix?

Red flag: No Sandbox-first policy. Any firm deploying directly to Production without Sandbox testing is a liability on your account.

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Part 6: Documentation and offboarding

What a partner builds in your account belongs to you. Verify that they operate that way before the engagement starts.

• Does the firm document scripts and workflows as part of the engagement, or only on request?
• What does offboarding look like if you end the engagement?
• Is any of the work they build dependent on proprietary tooling or wrappers that would make it inaccessible after the engagement?
• Will they provide a handoff document to a successor partner?
• Do they require any credentials, access, or assets that would not remain with your account?

Red flag: Any firm that uses proprietary tooling that makes your customizations inaccessible after the engagement. Everything built in your NetSuite account should remain in your NetSuite account, accessible to any successor without cooperation from the previous partner.

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Summary: Signs of a good fit vs. a poor fit

Signal	Good fit	Poor fit
Who does the work	Named senior developer with direct access	"Our team" with offshore delivery
Certifications	Held by the person on your account	Firm-level, not individual
Billing	Monthly retainer or flat-rate	SOW per request with minimums
Response	Direct access, same-day for urgent	Ticket system, account manager relay
Releases	Proactive Sandbox review	Reactive post-release fixes
Offboarding	Full documentation, clean handoff	Proprietary tooling, dependency on the firm

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See also: how to evaluate a NetSuite support partner for a narrative walkthrough of these questions, red flags when evaluating a NetSuite support partner for warning signs to walk away from, and NetSuite Care plans for SuitePacific's own engagement model and pricing.