In the last few months, Salto has released several noteworthy product updates that enable our NetSuite customers to find and identify the right configuration elements faster, save time, and streamline deployments to complex environments. In this blog post, I want to explore some of the improvements we’ve made, with real-life examples of how our customers already use them.

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Account-specific values (ASV) in workflows and data elements

As part of our latest update, we changed how you handle workflows and data elements during deployments by addressing the challenge of [ACCOUNT_SPECIFIC_VALUE] (ASV). Traditionally, deploying workflows and data elements required users to manually replace ASV references with actual internal IDs—a process that was tedious and prone to errors. This manual step was necessary because ASVs mask real values to facilitate deployment across different environments without relying on environment-specific data.

Our new feature automates this step and significantly reduces manual workload. By leveraging additional heuristics and our SuiteApp, Salto can now automatically identify and replace ASVs with their corresponding real values during deployments:

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By automating the resolution of ASVs, Salto not only enhances deployment efficiency but also gives you visibility into the real values behind masked data (which can help you make better-informed decisions).

The best part is that this feature was initially sparked by user feedback–we’re always open to exploring what you need and improving our platform accordingly.

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Aliases: easily recognize your metadata elements

Identifying metadata elements in NetSuite can be a complex task. To simplify this for Salto's users, we've implemented aliases that utilize a specific field of the element to represent its alias. This value already exists in NetSuite and doesn't need to be explicitly set in Salto. Rather than dealing with default Script IDs, this approach allows for more intuitive naming:

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By using these existing fields as aliases, we aim to enhance the overall clarity of your instance and streamline system management.

For example, one of Salto’s customers, a multi-subsidiary business, has created aliases to distinguish between financial reports from different subsidiaries at first glance. Aliases can also be helpful when you’re trying to find a specific saved search in your environment (some of our customers have hundreds of them!) or backtrack an element in your change log.

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Better visibility with bundle IDs

Another useful thing we’ve added is filtering by bundle ID. In Netsuite, bundle IDs are used to organize related configuration objects. Now you can search and filter your metadata by bundle ID in Salto and find all the elements from that bundle:

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This improvement made searching for related dependencies even easier, allowing you to clearly see the full scope of every change.

Another customer of ours, a large manufacturing company, has numerous bundles in their NetSuite configuration, and each contains many different element types. With this update, it's much easier for the team to see all related elements at once when filtering by bundle ID.

The ability to exclude based on bundleID is coming soon to Salto too.

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SuiteScript references for streamlined deployments

NetSuite professionals often struggle with understanding SuiteScript dependencies, especially if they are not comfortable with code. Now Salto can extract and identify SuiteScript references, allowing you to easily determine dependencies between elements:

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Let's say you are using a reference from a SuiteScript to one of your saved searches. Salto will highlight the connection and show exactly what saved search is referenced there. This improvement helps assess changes correctly and ensure that every deployment goes smoothly.

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Analytics support: Workbook and Dataset

When comparing Saved Searches with Analytics Workbooks and Datasets, a key difference stands out. Saved Searches are limited to a single join, which can restrict your analysis of complex data relationships. On the other hand, Analytics Workbooks and Datasets allow for multiple joins, enabling you to include and analyze a wider array of data for a fuller understanding of your business metrics.

Additionally, Workbooks offer more dynamic data presentation options, like pivot tables and charts, going beyond the basic lists of Saved Searches. This flexibility in data visualization helps interpret your data more effectively:

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Workbooks also provide better control over who sees what data, functioning like a scoped version of a Dataset. This feature is essential for maintaining data confidentiality and integrity, making Workbooks a more versatile tool for strategic data analysis.

To enable Analytics in your account, remove the metadata types from your adapter configuration exclude list (more on that can be found here).

I hope you find these updates helpful and keep exploring Salto for NetSuite deployments and configuration management. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch.