October 2025 saw a contingent of the Shepherd Team converge on Las Vegas for SuiteWorld. This blog is not a review of events in Nevada, but they did prompt the topic it covers. You see, Las Vegas saw a lot of traffic heading Shepherd’s way with a plethora of questions. Some were from Partners, fellow members of the Suite Development Network, and, of course, some from potential Shepherd customers eager to know more, be it regarding FSM, the Rental Module or any other solution we offer.
This blog is for that last cohort, with a look at what implementation actually looks like and to show that acquiring the Shepherd solution, much like using it, is an efficient process designed to remove hurdles wherever possible.
You’ve discovered Shepherd but don’t know what to expect
What is involved? Firstly, there’s the fact there are typically at least three parties involved. One is you, or whoever is running the Shepherd roll-out for your organisation. Then, there is your dedicated Shepherd implementation team typically made entirely of Shepherd employees.
Coupled with Shepherd’s own goal of customer satisfaction, this means that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Their work therefore becomes one that is agile and responsive. This operational contrast with other service providers whose teams are made of contractors, or freelancers whose goals are their own and perhaps not the company’s is a point of pride for Shepherd.
Last, but not least, there is the NetSuite implementation team since Shepherd can’t run unless NetSuite is set-up. In some cases, there can be other parties with their own solutions to implement alongside NetSuite. But being a NetSuite-native solution provider, Shepherd’s goal is to go live the day NetSuite does. While Shepherd can move very fast if needed, Shepherd recommends banking on 20-weeks for implementation, assuming it is only this trifecta of interlinked contributors.
Banking on that duration before you’re up and running helps avoid any confusion or unrealistic expectations as well as making scheduling simpler. Shepherd’s team will have set contact points with you, the new customer, but behind the scenes, they will primarily be matching their progress with or just ahead of Netsuite’s own to ensure that all-important, same-day go-live target. However, while it is important for Shepherd to monitor NetSuite’s progress, it is not important for NetSuite to monitor Shepherd’s, and NetSuite sets the overall progress speed. Only occasional customer-led joint update calls will see all three parties interacting.
It could be that you are an existing NetSuite customer, and it is only the Shepherd solution you are missing. When that happens, the requirements change and things can move far faster with a roll-out period of some 8 to 10 weeks being very achievable. With that said, if the need exists, and the circumstances make it possible, the Shepherd team can move faster still.
From kick-off call to Business Review Document
For Shepherd, the game is on with the kick-off call. This lets the Shepherd team get an idea of which aspects of implementation will need more work and which will be straightforward. It allows them to start cataloging what documents and processes are relevant to the implementation. The good news for you is many implementers within Shepherd have in-the-field experience and so they know which questions to ask.
This all leads to the creation of the Business Review Document or BRD. This is more of a collection than a single document as it may include charts, diagrams, videos and other tools to allow you to verify the Shepherd team has indeed understood what is needed from the system to meet your operational needs. This is something you can comment on, clarify or simply sign off if you agree. That will form the foundation on which your implementation will evolve.
With that said, it can often be the case that a company’s operations run like clockwork and everyone knows what they need to do, but there isn’t a formalised operating procedure in sight for any of it.
Fear not: if this is the case, it becomes the perfect opportunity to review those processes, agree on the details and let Shepherd transmogrify how you work into a configuration of the system. In fact, Shepherd sees it as part of their service to do this, and even offer up best practices that they have seen in other companies, leaving you with tuned, personalised standards by which to work.
Training based on your own data
Alongside this BRD, Shepherd will provide you with its own data template to which you can add your data. Where fields are missing, Shepherd can add them. Eventually, that creates a virtual system where real-world values from your records serve as a proving ground for the system and an arena for you and your team to start getting to know the system, using data that is already familiar to you. That training environment can be up and running in the first 2-3 weeks, giving you plenty of time to get well and truly comfortable with the system before things get real and you go live: no deep-end, no sink-or-swim ethos.
In terms of real world commitments, new customers in the implementation phase can expect about 1 hour of meetings per week with Shepherd, and hopefully, not too great a disruption. After the BRD sign-off, those meetings become about introducing new aspects of the product, starting with those most relevant to your business.
At the end of a meeting, the purpose of that module and the use of its fields will be clear. It is also the point at which you can ask for configuration tweaks based on your preferences. The next time, those adaptations are presented. All going well they are approved, a practice script is provided for your own use in the sandbox, and the next topic can be introduced.
This schedule does not take into account similar meetings with NetSuite during that period, which might be greater in number as per NetSuite’s own implementation protocols. In any case, the principle for Shepherd is simple: take the time needed from the customer to make sure the process is smooth, complete, and efficient, but no more than that. After all, you have your own day-to-day operations to run, too.
Adaptive support for even ambitious timelines
If your schedule requires it and your time allows for it, those meetings can be more frequent, and therefore the overall journey can go faster. Whichever pace you decide on, most of the processes at work for Shepherd are uniform across all implementations. But Shepherd is like a suit you buy, then have fitted. It’s those finishing touches that make the product yours, set-up perfectly to your needs. And it’s those steps that will be the greater challenge for the team.
If there is a function that is not currently available, or a feature in question that you wished had a little more reach or scope because how you work requires it, it is possible to have this developed for you. This is assuming it is not too niche for the Shepherd product as a whole.
As explained in the blog piece linked above, you might need to decide if you want to finance the development yourself and get a hold of it as soon as it is ready, or if you want Shepherd to foot the bill, you’d get access when the feature is done and made available to all users in a software release, whenever that might be. And that is it. A process that you have control over, and where you are given the tools you need to succeed in a steady, measured way, so that your move from apprentice to practitioner will be as smooth and swift as possible.
If you’re interested in FSM, Rental management or a full-blown EAM solution for your business, Shepherd, and NetSuite could well be the answer you’re looking for and this blog should go some way to assuring you that you’d be in good hands. Why not call for a demo today?
