I once worked with a mid-sized enterprise that used 3 sandboxes extremely well.
I'm working with an implementation team at a global corporation right now, and I'm trying to advocate a similar approach.
Would love to hear how you use multiple NetSuite sandboxes.
That team that used their sandboxes like they knew what they were doing:
1️⃣ Sandbox 1: "Dev"
Dev work only.
Refreshed whenever, but not a big deal when - say 3-4 times per year.
2️⃣ Sandbox 2: "QA" (AKA "Staging")
Changes that are ready for business testing are deployed here before going to Production
Any followup changes are made in the "Dev" environment and released to "Staging" again
Refreshed on a semi-regular basis (maybe once every 1-3 months)
3️⃣ Sandbox 3: "Training"
Dedicated to giving users an environment that mirrors 100% the Production environment
Used for, well - training, and for any simple "testing something out" by users
Refreshed on a regular basis AND after any change is deployed to production
A few tips to make this all work:
1. Create a schedule for sandbox refreshes and make that information available to all users.
2. Allow users to request a re-schedule, but follow always come back the original schedule.
3. Document an SOP for how to perform each sandbox refresh:
a. Maybe for SB2 you need to re-establish some connections after each refresh
b. "Dev" should never be refreshed with access for all users, but Staging and Training might
With a system like this, you'll avoid dozens of headaches.
What headaches do you encounter with your sandbox environments right now?