- Backups – Have I confirmed that any customization/development work performed in this sandbox environment has been backed up or already migrated to production? It would be advisable to give all NetSuite sandbox users at least one week’s notice of the proposed refresh date.
- Timing is everything – NetSuite production snapshot timing varies, but usually taken the night prior to the actual refresh request. Am I certain that the NetSuite production environment has all data/configuration to be included in the refreshed sandbox?
- Sandbox access post refresh –Have I considered the group of non-administrative users that will require sandbox access following the refresh? You should give thought to who will require sandbox access for development/testing purposes. Consider that not all production users will require access to the sandbox.
- Specific URL references – Certain areas of NetSuite, including custom development, require a reference to a NetSuite production URL. This could be a reference to the NetSuite file cabinet, to a specific NetSuite record or object. Consider the impact of the URL changing in your NetSuite sandbox automatically e.g. by appending the account ID with “-sb1” or something to that effect. Am I working with specific environment URL changes following the sandbox refresh? If so, it would be advisable to implement a NetSuite sandbox refresh checklist.
- Email capture plug-ins – Similar to specific URL references, if you are using the NetSuite email capture plug-in functionality it is worth double checking email address associated with each implementation to ensure it includes the appropriate sandbox account identifier. You would not want to risk generating test emails in your sandbox environment only to find them in production. Am I using email capture plug-ins? If not certain, double check. Navigate: Customization – Plug-ins – Manage Plug-ins
- Credit card processing – Credit card payment processing via NetSuite is becoming more and more popular. Unfortunately following a sandbox refresh you must re-enter the payment processor credentials for each profile. Have I re-entered credit card payment processor credentials? Navigate: Setup – Accounting – Financial Statements – Payment Processing Profiles
Suite Note – You must be an assigned “Administrator” in your sandbox environment to re-enter the payment processor credentials.
- Single Sign-on (SSO) – SSO/SAML configuration is not copied to the sandbox environment following a refresh. Have I reconfigured my SSO tool to authenticate with the newly refreshed NetSuite sandbox? If users are complaining that they are unable to access the sandbox environment following a refresh, but you have granted access, this is likely and authentication issue.
- Token-based authentication (TBA) – Many integrations nowadays are authenticated via tokens. If you have connected sandbox environments across multiple platforms (think ERP/CRM) then timing is of the essence. You will want to create new NetSuite sandbox tokens in a timely manner to ensure integrations do not fail between these sandbox environments. Have I reset my NetSuite sandbox security tokens?