Databases
Finance & Ops Analytics

How to load data from Netsuite to Postgres

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your Netsuite data into Postgres within minutes.

TL;DR

This can be done by building a data pipeline manually, usually a Python script (you can leverage a tool as Apache Airflow for this). This process can take more than a full week of development. Or it can be done in minutes on Airbyte in three easy steps:

  1. set up Netsuite as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
  2. set up Postgres as a destination connector
  3. define which data you want to transfer and how frequently

You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud.

This tutorial’s purpose is to show you how.

What is Netsuite

NetSuite is a comprehensive cloud-based business management suite that provides an integrated platform for managing various business processes, including financials, customer relationship management (CRM), e-commerce, inventory management, and more. It offers a unified system that eliminates data silos and enables real-time visibility across an organization. NetSuite's core features include financial management, order and billing management, supply chain and warehouse management, project management, and customer support management. With its flexible and scalable architecture, NetSuite can adapt to the unique needs of businesses across different industries and sizes. By consolidating multiple business functions into a single platform, NetSuite streamlines operations, improves efficiency, and provides actionable insights for informed decision-making.

What is Postgres

An object-relational database management system, PostgreSQL is able to handle a wide range of workloads, supports multiple standards, and is cross-platform, running on numerous operating systems including Microsoft Windows, Solaris, Linux, and FreeBSD. It is highly extensible, and supports more than 12 procedural languages, Spatial data support, Gin and GIST Indexes, and more. Many webs, mobile, and analytics applications use PostgreSQL as the primary data warehouse or data store.

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Prerequisites

  1. A Netsuite account to transfer your customer data automatically from.
  2. A Postgres account.
  3. An active Airbyte Cloud account, or you can also choose to use Airbyte Open Source locally. You can follow the instructions to set up Airbyte on your system using docker-compose.

Airbyte is an open-source data integration platform that consolidates and streamlines the process of extracting and loading data from multiple data sources to data warehouses. It offers pre-built connectors, including Netsuite and Postgres, for seamless data migration.

When using Airbyte to move data from Netsuite to Postgres, it extracts data from Netsuite using the source connector, converts it into a format Postgres can ingest using the provided schema, and then loads it into Postgres via the destination connector. This allows businesses to leverage their Netsuite data for advanced analytics and insights within Postgres, simplifying the ETL process and saving significant time and resources.

Step 1: Set up Netsuite as a source connector

1. First, navigate to the "Sources" tab on the Airbyte dashboard and click "Create a new source."
2. Select "Netsuite" from the list of available connectors.
3. Enter a name for your Netsuite source and click "Next."
4. Enter your Netsuite account ID, email address, and password in the appropriate fields.
5. Click "Test connection" to ensure that your credentials are correct and that Airbyte can connect to your Netsuite account.
6. If the connection is successful, click "Save" to add your Netsuite source to Airbyte.
7. You can now configure your Netsuite source by selecting the tables and fields you want to replicate and setting any necessary filters or transformations.
8. Once you have configured your Netsuite source, click "Create a new destination" to select where you want to send your data.
9. Follow the prompts to set up your destination and map your Netsuite data to the appropriate fields.
10. Once you have configured your destination, click "Create connection" to start replicating data from your Netsuite source to your destination.

Step 2: Set up Postgres as a destination connector

1. Open your PostgreSQL database and create a new user with the necessary permissions to access the data you want to replicate.

2. Obtain the hostname or IP address of your PostgreSQL server and the port number it is listening on.

3. Create a new database in PostgreSQL that will be used to store the replicated data.

4. Obtain the name of the database you just created.

5. In Airbyte, navigate to the PostgreSQL source connector and click on "Create Connection".

6. Enter a name for your connection and fill in the required fields, including the hostname or IP address, port number, database name, username, and password.

7. Test the connection to ensure that Airbyte can successfully connect to your PostgreSQL database.

8. Select the tables or views you want to replicate and configure any necessary settings, such as the replication frequency and the replication method.

9. Save your configuration and start the replication process.

10. Monitor the replication process to ensure that it is running smoothly and troubleshoot any issues that arise.

Step 3: Set up a connection to sync your Netsuite data to Postgres

Once you've successfully connected Netsuite as a data source and Postgres as a destination in Airbyte, you can set up a data pipeline between them with the following steps:

  1. Create a new connection: On the Airbyte dashboard, navigate to the 'Connections' tab and click the '+ New Connection' button.
  2. Choose your source: Select Netsuite from the dropdown list of your configured sources.
  3. Select your destination: Choose Postgres from the dropdown list of your configured destinations.
  4. Configure your sync: Define the frequency of your data syncs based on your business needs. Airbyte allows both manual and automatic scheduling for your data refreshes.
  5. Select the data to sync: Choose the specific Netsuite objects you want to import data from towards Postgres. You can sync all data or select specific tables and fields.
  6. Select the sync mode for your streams: Choose between full refreshes or incremental syncs (with deduplication if you want), and this for all streams or at the stream level. Incremental is only available for streams that have a primary cursor.
  7. Test your connection: Click the 'Test Connection' button to make sure that your setup works. If the connection test is successful, save your configuration.
  8. Start the sync: If the test passes, click 'Set Up Connection'. Airbyte will start moving data from Netsuite to Postgres according to your settings.

Remember, Airbyte keeps your data in sync at the frequency you determine, ensuring your Postgres data warehouse is always up-to-date with your Netsuite data.

Use Cases to transfer your Netsuite data to Postgres

Integrating data from Netsuite to Postgres provides several benefits. Here are a few use cases:

  1. Advanced Analytics: Postgres’s powerful data processing capabilities enable you to perform complex queries and data analysis on your Netsuite data, extracting insights that wouldn't be possible within Netsuite alone.
  2. Data Consolidation: If you're using multiple other sources along with Netsuite, syncing to Postgres allows you to centralize your data for a holistic view of your operations, and to set up a change data capture process so you never have any discrepancies in your data again.
  3. Historical Data Analysis: Netsuite has limits on historical data. Syncing data to Postgres allows for long-term data retention and analysis of historical trends over time.
  4. Data Security and Compliance: Postgres provides robust data security features. Syncing Netsuite data to Postgres ensures your data is secured and allows for advanced data governance and compliance management.
  5. Scalability: Postgres can handle large volumes of data without affecting performance, providing an ideal solution for growing businesses with expanding Netsuite data.
  6. Data Science and Machine Learning: By having Netsuite data in Postgres, you can apply machine learning models to your data for predictive analytics, customer segmentation, and more.
  7. Reporting and Visualization: While Netsuite provides reporting tools, data visualization tools like Tableau, PowerBI, Looker (Google Data Studio) can connect to Postgres, providing more advanced business intelligence options. If you have a Netsuite table that needs to be converted to a Postgres table, Airbyte can do that automatically.

Wrapping Up

To summarize, this tutorial has shown you how to:

  1. Configure a Netsuite account as an Airbyte data source connector.
  2. Configure Postgres as a data destination connector.
  3. Create an Airbyte data pipeline that will automatically be moving data directly from Netsuite to Postgres after you set a schedule

With Airbyte, creating data pipelines take minutes, and the data integration possibilities are endless. Airbyte supports the largest catalog of API tools, databases, and files, among other sources. Airbyte's connectors are open-source, so you can add any custom objects to the connector, or even build a new connector from scratch without any local dev environment or any data engineer within 10 minutes with the no-code connector builder.

We look forward to seeing you make use of it! We invite you to join the conversation on our community Slack Channel, or sign up for our newsletter. You should also check out other Airbyte tutorials, and Airbyte’s content hub!

What should you do next?

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Here are the 3 ways we can help you in your data journey:

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Easily address your data movement needs with Airbyte Cloud
Take the first step towards extensible data movement infrastructure that will give a ton of time back to your data team. 
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Talk to a data infrastructure expert
Get a free consultation with an Airbyte expert to significantly improve your data movement infrastructure. 
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Connectors Used

What should you do next?

Hope you enjoyed the reading. Here are the 3 ways we can help you in your data journey:

flag icon
Easily address your data movement needs with Airbyte Cloud
Take the first step towards extensible data movement infrastructure that will give a ton of time back to your data team. 
Get started with Airbyte for free
high five icon
Talk to a data infrastructure expert
Get a free consultation with an Airbyte expert to significantly improve your data movement infrastructure. 
Talk to sales
stars sparkling
Improve your data infrastructure knowledge
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and get the community’s new enlightening content along with Airbyte’s progress in their mission to solve data integration once and for all.
Subscribe to newsletter

Connectors Used

Frequently Asked Questions

What data can you extract from Netsuite?

Netsuite's API provides access to a wide range of data categories, including:  

1. Financial data: This includes information related to accounting, billing, payments, and financial reporting.  
2. Customer data: This includes data related to customer profiles, orders, transactions, and interactions.  
3. Inventory data: This includes information related to inventory levels, stock movements, and product information.  
4. Sales data: This includes data related to sales orders, quotes, and opportunities.  
5. Marketing data: This includes data related to campaigns, leads, and marketing automation.  
6. Support data: This includes data related to customer support cases, tickets, and resolutions.  
7. Employee data: This includes data related to employee profiles, time tracking, and payroll.  
8. Custom data: This includes data related to custom fields, records, and workflows that are specific to a company's unique needs.  

Overall, Netsuite's API provides access to a comprehensive set of data categories that can be used to support a wide range of business processes and decision-making activities.

What data can you transfer to Postgres?

You can transfer a wide variety of data to Postgres. This usually includes structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data like transaction records, log files, JSON data, CSV files, and more, allowing robust, scalable data integration and analysis.

What are top ETL tools to transfer data from Netsuite to Postgres?

The most prominent ETL tools to transfer data from Netsuite to Postgres include:

  • Airbyte
  • Fivetran
  • Stitch
  • Matillion
  • Talend Data Integration

These tools help in extracting data from Netsuite and various sources (APIs, databases, and more), transforming it efficiently, and loading it into Postgres and other databases, data warehouses and data lakes, enhancing data management capabilities.