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Fully managed EDI service VS HTTP Web Service: Which is Better for Your Business ?

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and all the services around it are becoming more and more popular, regardless of the industry, for one major reason: EDI transactions are replacing paper documents exchanged between trading partners, and helping companies in their digital transformation projects, for a “greener” planet.

Retail was one of the first industries to fully adopt EDI, and it is still the most active vertical in its usage. EDI is a proven and effective alternative to fax, e-mail, and manually entering or re-entering data such as Invoice, Purchase Order, Inventory and many others…

There are various types of EDI and several approaches to integrate Electronic Data Interchange in a business community. Each EDI provider can offer a different EDI integration methodology, in order to become EDI compliant. We at EDI2XML, offer two options for to integrate EDI into your company, and make your business “EDI compliant”, while shortening the integration project:

Fully Managed EDI Service

HTTP EDI Web Service

How to select? What kind of EDI integration solution is a better option for your business?  First, let’s understand both options.

Fully Managed EDI Service

The EDI2XML service offered as “fully managed” includes translation and communication service offering to businesses of all sizes, from different industries.

Our team at EDI2XML, takes care of ALL the aspects of the integration project. With this model, we offer a “Turnkey EDI Solution” where we take on our shoulder all setup, configuration, testing, certification with the EDI partners …

EDI Fully Managed Service

In other words, with this option, we take care of everything: all the steps of the project from A to Z. We can even integrate directly into your ERP or CRM system. We provide certified connectors for leading IT systems such as Salesforce, JD Edwards, SAP, Dynamics CRM, Dynamics AX, and more.

EDI integration platform

a) Technical Details

A setup phase is mandatory for all new Trading Partners and/or EDI document implementation. This stage includes the project analysis, setup of Trading Partner accounts, configuring Partner specs and platform, defining the transfer file structure, building and setting up all required connectivities and communication protocols. It also includes an end-to-end full cycle data testing and certification.

To learn more about EDI service, download our free introductory guide here

b) Pricing

As for the pricing, it is based on pre-defined monthly service packages, including a pre-defined volume of data processed. All our packages are billed monthly based on the entry level plan (Business Light) at the beginning of each month. Subsequent month billing will include the basic plan fee PLUS the difference between the plan we billed initially (Business light) for previous month, and the plan that we were supposed bill for the previous month based on real volume of data processed for that month.

All this to say, our monthly pricing packages are dynamic, they go up and down based on the volume of data we process and integrate, and our clients are not locked in in any of the packages.

For more information about pricing, fill out a form: EDI2XML Translation Service Pricing Package

HTTP EDI Web Service (REST API)

EDI2XML Web Service is an HTTP service running over the internet, on EDI2XML’s own platform that is capable of receiving HTTP requests to translate EDI messages to XML, and XML messages to EDI (based on EDI2XML’s proprietary format).

EDI2XML Web Service is much more cost-effective, and meant for companies who got their own technical resources to work with REST API (call and consume HTTP Rest Web services)

The principles of the mechanism of the EDI2XML Web Service is schematically illustrated in the diagram below.

API-Converter for EDI XML and JSON

a) Advantages

EDI2XML Web Service is the way to go for the following reasons:

  • Self-service solution
  • Low cost
  • We offer a 15 days free trial, without any commitment.
  • Get started with less than an hour
  • There is no contract, no commitment.
  • Payments are month to month; Cancel anytime with a 30 days’ notice.
  • A very simple and dynamic pricing scheme
  • Availability and reliability
  • Based on proven technology in the field for over 18 years now
  • Outstanding technical support

b) Technical Details

Implementation time: Getting started with EDI2XML Web Service, is very simple and quick. Within less than an hour, you can issue the first Call to the Web Service and see the response. Our HTTP EDI Web service is very clearly documented, and we provide instructions with each subscription.

  • Quick entry: you can be up and running in less than an hour, and it is proven; we provide everything to your developers to get started, a java client with its source code and instructions on how to work with it.
  • We offer the schemas(xsd) of the XML format our API expects, and all what you need to do is to format your data according to that format and you will be up and running.

c) Pricing

EDI2XML API service fee to use the HTTP / Web Service calls, has a very simple pricing scheme. The price consists of two elements:

  1. Monthly mailbox fee: a “fixed” monthly fee for the Web Service Mailbox usage on EDI2XML platform. It is a nonrefundable fee.
  2. Data processing fee: a “variable” fee based on the volume of data processed and translated between EDI and XML, during a calendar month. The volume of data processed is computed in both directions:
  • Incoming, and
  • Outgoing

Click here to request EDI2XML Web Service Price List

d) How to get started with EDI2XML API

To get started with our EDI Web Service three steps you need to follow:

1. You need to provide us the list of documents/transactions you want to be activated under your trial account.

2. We will simply set you up with a 15 days trial account, without any commitment from you. Just let us know when do you want to kick off, and we can take care of setting you up on a trial account.

3. We provide a Java client and its source code. You can get started with less than an hour, this will allow you to try and see the results by your own.

We’ve recently launched EDI2XML Web Service v2.0 – a smarter, faster, and more secure version of our REST API. It supports improved token-based authentication and better performance for X12, XML, and JSON document exchange. Learn more: What’s New in Version 2.0?

Watch the Video and discover which solution aligns best with your business needs and goals.

 

Compare key features of Fully Managed EDI Service and HTTP EDI Web Service

key feature

Fully managed EDI service

HTTP EDI Web Service
 Type of EDI solution Full service Self service
 Contract Yes No
 Commitment 24 months No
 Implementation time   (approximately) 2 weeks 1 hour
 Real-Time Connection Yes Yes
 Free Trial account No 15 days
 Data processing fee Based on the appropriate plan. It works in both directions: when the volume goes up and  when the volume goes down.   “Variable” fee based on the   volume      of data processed     and translated         between   EDI    and XML, during a         calendar    month.
 Need for internal   resources No Yes
 Need for in-house EDI expertise No No
 Technical Support Yes Yes
 Hardware Installation  Required No Yes
 Software Installation Required No No
Communication with the trading partner: setup and testing in both directions Yes

No
Free edi consultation

We, at EDI2XML, provide an EDI integration solution for every type of business. Contact us today for a free consultation and we will help you find the most appropriate option for your business.

 

Integrating EDI into your Management System


This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


EDI Communication is one of the best ways to exchange important business documents with Trading Partners. Documents such as Purchase Orders, Invoices and ASNs can be safely exchanged electronically with business partners, like retailers, in a matter of seconds. In many cases however, Small and Medium Enterprises do not have the budget for some of these EDI communication solutions out there and do not have any in-house staff experienced with EDI exchange. What should these businesses do?

EDI Solution as a Service for SMEs

After over a decade of working hand in hand with Small and Medium Businesses, we’ve come up with a solution. Our EDI specialists realized that it might not be realistic to have SMEs hire in-house EDI experts or purchase expensive EDI communication solutions on the market. This is when our experienced team designed and developed a tool that can be implemented as a Service – no need for any setup or equipment on premises – called EDI2XML as a Service. Here’s how it works:

  1. We communicate with your EDI Trading Partner in order to pick up any incoming EDI documents from their mailbox
  2. We convert all EDI documents into XML or CSV format (whichever works best to be integrated into your management system (ERP suite, CRM system, etc.))
  3. We push all XML documents to you, to be integrated into your system
  4. You will be notified every time EDI documents are sent and received
  5. The opposite process (from XML to EDI) works for outgoing documents.

Click here to view an infographic on EDI2XML as a Service.

Converting from unreadable formats like EDI x12 or EDIFACT (for those companies in Europe) to XML or CSV, allows for easy integration into ERP suits or CRM systems out on the market. On top of this, XML format is easy to read by any businessperson. Our goal was and continues to be to simplify the EDI communication process for Small and Medium Enterprises that are looking to increase efficiency. It’s time SMEs eliminated manual data entry (or human intervention) and enjoyed a smooth, continuous order processing flow.

 

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SaaS EDI or On-Premises EDI Translation Software: What you should know

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.



Should we migrate our EDI integration and processing platform to a SaaS EDI platform or instead, adopt an EDI translation software on-premises?

The above question is asked by many business executives when involved in EDI integration projects, either when a contract or license with their current EDI provider or translation software comes to an end or before signing for a new EDI business relationship with a new partner. All of these reasons are valid and lately, this topic of discussion is being brought up much more, simply due to the popularity of “cloud” enhanced capabilities and security and Software as a Service (SaaS).

More and more enterprises are working to improve their supply chain management, which leads to companies adopting software applications (as a service). This allows them to increase efficiency, provide higher availability, reduce costs and increase profitability.

Today’s article will address the points every business owner should be evaluating when looking for an answer to the above question.

Enterprise IT Governance & Policy

The first thing to look at before making a decision on whether to go with SaaS EDI or to adopt an EDI translation software, is the company’s policy and IT governance, i.e. the rules and procedures that govern technological implementations and processes. What is the policy and general rule to implement software systems (including EDI)? What are the security measures and privacy rules?

Most companies of different sizes establish strict IT governance rules and procedures and follow these guidelines as much as possible. From my own observations, I have noticed that many enterprises, that have more than 20M of revenues per year and that use enterprise software such as JDE or SAP, have strict rules stating that they can only deploy software solutions on their own premises. However, today we are seeing more of these enterprises going for cloud and SaaS offerings, as it fits their needs much better.

EDI Volume

The second important point to look at is the volume of EDI data you wish to exchange with your business partner (or the current volume if you are already on EDI). This will give a good indication as to what direction your company should be leaning towards. In my professional opinion, the volume of EDI transactions is not the only factor when deciding to convert to SaaS EDI or to adopt translation software, but it is an important parameter.

Point-to-point EDI or VAN

The third point is to look at statistics about EDI connectivity with your current EDI partners, or forecast them if you are new to the EDI world. In today’s digital world, most EDI transactions are going point-to-point between business partners in a very secured manner using the Internet pipeline and secured protocols such as AS2, sFTP, FTP, etc. There are less transactions going through a VAN in comparison to a few years ago, as VANs charge additional expenses for EDI connectivity, which can add up and become quite costly.

Current IT Architecture & Team

A company’s IT architecture and team are extremely important when making decisions about EDI integration and implementation. If the company decides against the SaaS EDI model, does it have all the necessary hardware infrastructures, connectivity protocols and security to internally handle all kinds of EDI processing? Is the IT team equipped to handle such a project? Do they have the expertise and know-how to implement, manage and monitor EDI processes, transactions and translations? If the answers to the above questions are ‘no’, then the enterprise is better off with the SaaS EDI model.

EDI Translation Software Licensing

Don’t forget to evaluate the EDI translation software itself, from cost to functionalities to yearly maintenance and support to the ongoing development and programming during and after the implementation phase. It is also important to evaluate the capability of the IT team working with the EDI translation software.

Read: Take this QUIZ: Is your business cut out for on-premises EDI software?

SaaS EDI Service Provider

Whether using the services of a provider under the SaaS model or on-premises, it is crucial to select the right service provider for EDI. SaaS EDI providers should have a lot of experience in not only EDI but also in EDI and systems’ integration. In addition, the turnaround and customer service and support for that provider are key points for a decision. Keep in mind that some major SaaS EDI providers only see your business as an opportunity to increase revenue and stock value instead of focusing on giving a personalized and amazing customer service.

Conclusion: SaaS EDI or EDI Translation Software?

We are aware that the selection process and choice between SaaS EDI and EDI translation software is a challenging one. We believe that by having the right mechanism and people in place, enterprises of any size can make educated decisions based on what’s best for their business.

If you need more information or help in determining which model you should go with, please contact our EDI team for a free consultation.

Free EDI consultation

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