The Big Firm Temptation
When you're selecting a NetSuite partner for implementation, optimization, or ongoing support, the big names feel safe. They've done hundreds of implementations. They have armies of consultants, offices in every city, glossy marketing materials, and impressive client logos. Nobody gets fired for hiring them, right?
Then you start the project and meet your actual team: the junior consultant who's learning on your dime, the project manager juggling ten other clients simultaneously, and the expert from the sales process who you'll never see again except maybe at steering committee meetings.
The disconnect between who sold you and who serves you is one of the most consistent complaints about large consulting firms. It's not that they're incompetent—they have genuine expertise somewhere in the organization. It's that the expertise often isn't deployed on your project.
Where Big Firms Struggle
The B-Team Problem
Large firms have a structural challenge: they need to win work with their best people but deliver it with whoever's available. The partner who understood your business and the senior manager who impressed you in the sales process hand you off to associates who are capable but inexperienced.
This isn't malicious—it's economics. Senior people who are good at sales need to be selling, not delivering. The firm's utilization model requires leverage: senior people supervising junior people doing the work. You're paying for the brand, but you're getting the bench.
The symptoms are predictable: the team needs more hand-holding than expected. They ask questions you answered during sales. They don't know your industry's nuances. Progress is slower than the timeline suggested.
Cookie-Cutter Methodology
When you've done hundreds of implementations, you develop templates. Templates become methodologies. Methodologies become mandates. Your unique business requirements get forced into standardized phases, deliverables, and checkpoints that don't quite fit.
Large firms often optimize for their own efficiency rather than your outcomes. Their methodology ensures consistent (mediocre) results across clients. It protects them from failure—if the methodology was followed, any problems must be your fault.
This creates rigidity. When your requirements don't fit the template, you hear: "That's out of scope." "The methodology doesn't include that." "We can do that, but it's a change order." The firm protects their process at the expense of your results.
Aversion to Customization
Large firms often push "vanilla" implementations—minimal customization, stick to native features, adapt your business to the software rather than the software to your business.
There are legitimate reasons to avoid unnecessary customization. But the big firm bias goes beyond that. They push vanilla because:
Customization requires skill and experience their junior teams may lack
Custom solutions create support complexity they don't want to manage
Standard implementations are faster, which improves their utilization metrics
They can blame the software if vanilla doesn't work; they own the outcome if custom fails
The result: you get a system that technically works but doesn't match how your business operates. You adapt your processes to accommodate software limitations instead of the software adapting to enable your processes.
Overhead Economics
Large firms have large overhead. Downtown offices. Partner compensation. Marketing departments. Recruiting teams. Administrative staff. Training programs. All of this is built into your hourly rate.
A $250/hour rate from a big firm might represent $75/hour to the actual consultant, with the rest going to overhead and profit. You're paying for infrastructure that doesn't benefit your project.
Compare that to a boutique firm where less overhead means more of your fee goes to actual expertise. The economics favor getting senior people for the same budget.
The Boutique Difference
Senior People, All the Time
When the team is small, there's no B-team to delegate to. The experts who scoped your project are the same people doing the work. Every hour you're billed, you're getting experienced professionals, not associates learning on your project.
This shows up in velocity: experienced people solve problems faster. In quality: fewer mistakes, less rework. In insight: they've seen your problems before and know the solutions. The hourly rate might be similar, but the value delivered is higher.
Flexibility Over Methodology
Boutique firms can adapt to your business because they don't have institutionalized processes protecting themselves from variation. They can be flexible because they don't have a thousand other clients requiring standardization.
Need to adjust the scope mid-project? A boutique can pivot. Discover requirements that weren't anticipated? They can address them. Have an unusual situation? They can handle uniqueness without forcing you into templates.
Process serves outcomes, not the other way around. The goal is your success, not methodology compliance.
Genuine Customization Capability
Smaller firms with deep technical expertise can build exactly what you need—not what's easiest to support across hundreds of clients. They're not afraid of customization because they have the skills to do it well and the relationship to support it ongoing.
When your business genuinely requires custom solutions, boutique firms deliver them. They understand that well-built customization is a competitive advantage, not a liability to be avoided.
Direct Accountability
When the owner's name is on the firm, they care about your success differently than an employee of a 5,000-person company. Boutique firm principals have personal reputation at stake. They don't hide behind corporate policies or process documentation.
If something goes wrong, you're talking to decision-makers, not account managers. Problems get resolved because the people who can solve them are the people you work with.
Economics That Align
Lower overhead means more value per dollar spent. You're paying for expertise, not infrastructure. The boutique firm's success depends on your success and ongoing relationship, not on churning through to the next logo.
Many boutique firms also offer more flexible engagement models. Not every project needs a full-scale implementation methodology. Sometimes you need focused expertise for a specific problem. Boutique firms can structure engagements around your actual needs.
When Boutique Makes Sense
Boutique isn't always better. There are situations where large firms have advantages:
If you need 50 consultants simultaneously, a two-person shop can't help
If you're a Fortune 500 company with Big 4 requirements for compliance reasons, boutique isn't an option
If you need global presence with consultants on every continent, boutique can't match that
If your primary goal is risk mitigation and defensibility ("we hired the best"), big firms provide cover
But for mid-market companies who want senior attention, flexible engagement, genuine customization expertise, and consultants who care about outcomes—boutique firms often deliver more for less.
Evaluating Boutique Firms
Not all boutique firms are equal. Here's what to look for:
Deep Platform Expertise
Small doesn't automatically mean expert. Verify that the firm has genuine NetSuite depth—certifications, years of experience, demonstrated capability in your specific needs (ARM, SuiteBilling, specific industries, etc.).
References You Can Verify
Ask for references specifically relevant to your situation. Then actually call them. Ask about the team they worked with, challenges encountered, and outcomes achieved.
Cultural Fit
You'll be working closely with these people. Do they communicate in a way that works for you? Do they understand your business context? Do you trust them?
Support Model
What happens after implementation? How do they handle ongoing support? Is there a relationship structure or are you starting from scratch each time?
Honest Assessment
Good boutique firms tell you when something isn't a fit. If they say yes to everything without pushback, they might be over-promising.
Bottom Line
The question isn't big vs. small—it's who's actually doing the work, and are they invested in your success? Sometimes the safest choice is the big name. Sometimes it's the small firm that will fight for your project like it's their only one.
For mid-market companies that value expertise over brand, results over process, and partnership over vendor relationships, boutique often wins.
