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5 Questions with NetSuite’s CFO: Jim McGeever on SaaS in 2009

In a 2009 CIO interview, NetSuite CFO Jim McGeever discussed selling SaaS, expanding accounting customers into more modules, and the role of Larry Ellison’s name.
From TheFinanceBase Team3 min to read
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In a November 3, 2009, interview with CIO senior editor Thomas Wailgum, NetSuite CFO Jim McGeever explained why he joined some sales calls, how he viewed integrated business software, and why he thought criticism of software as a service (SaaS) helped NetSuite. His answers offer a snapshot of how the company described selling cloud business software at the time—not current product, ownership, or pricing information.

1. Why did NetSuite’s CFO join sales calls?

McGeever said he joined selected customer calls, sometimes demonstrating NetSuite early in the sales process and sometimes returning near the end. He described his value as practical rather than ceremonial: he could discuss how a software business operated and connect those details to the product.

He said this approach worked especially well with software companies. For example, he could discuss operational matters such as amortizing sales commissions and explain how NetSuite had changed its own process. The pitch rested on firsthand operating experience as well as a finance executive’s credibility.

2. What did McGeever mean by a business application?

McGeever contrasted two models. In the older one, departments used separate applications, with business-intelligence tools layered over their separate data. He summarized that arrangement this way: “It used to be that every [department] had a separate application, and those workers sat at their desks and used them all day.”

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He presented the newer model as an integrated suite combining those functions and making information available in real time. In his words, “With the new generation of apps, where NetSuite is a good example of that, we combine all of that together. And everything is in real time.”

His example was the difference between waiting weeks for a close and checking cash collected yesterday—or that morning. This was McGeever’s description of the value of integrated applications in 2009, not an independently measured comparison of systems.

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3. How did NetSuite expand customers beyond accounting?

McGeever said NetSuite generated more incremental revenue from its installed customer base than from new business. He described a gradual expansion path: a customer might begin with back-office accounting, then add shipping, salespeople, support staff, and a commissions module.

In his account, starting with accounting gave the customer a base of employee, customer, and vendor information that could make later additions easier and quicker to implement. This was his explanation of NetSuite’s expansion strategy and customer behavior, not a published revenue statistic or a claim that every customer followed the same path.

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4. What did McGeever say Larry Ellison contributed?

McGeever called Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s association with NetSuite an enormous positive in the company’s early days because it gave NetSuite credibility. He said sales teams once mentioned Ellison frequently, but later the company had enough brand recognition of its own that it did not need to lead with his name.

That answer describes a change in how McGeever said NetSuite positioned itself: borrowed recognition mattered early, while the company later relied more on its own name.

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5. How did McGeever respond to predictions that SaaS would fail?

Wailgum asked about Lawson’s 2008 prediction that SaaS would collapse within two years. McGeever rejected the forecast as evidence of a fundamental misunderstanding of the direction of the market. He said he used quotations from Lawson and SAP in presentations intended to debunk SaaS myths, and believed the criticism helped NetSuite make its case.

He also said of the Lawson prediction, “I don’t think there’s a single person who read that and said: I agree with that!” The remark captures his response in that interview; it does not establish what happened to every SaaS forecast or how the market developed afterward.

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