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RE: Re: What sort of group is this?
I agree with William here. It would seem to me that small to medium size
business' (small to medium- by employee count not productivity) would ALMOST
always benefit by outsourcing EDI. There is the old saying "Do one thing -
and do it good" or something like that. Why would a business want to
allocate resources - hardware, software and personnel to an aspect of their
business for which they do not specialize in or wish to concentrate on?
This certainly holds true for businesses that do not deal with IT directly.
There is also the learning curve of E-Commerce to consider. Why invest the
additional funds in training for new technologies not directly related to
the goals of the business? There was an informative thread not too long ago
about separating the translator processes from other business logic that
fits perfectly here. Also, while the fundamentals of EDI have not changed
drastically the transport methods have - HTTPS, FTP, AS2, VPNs, etc. When
an entity begins to establish itself and take on more and more trading
partners the list and requirements for connectivity grows! Customer service
needs can be accommodated by selecting an outsourcer with a proven track
record of consistency, quality of service, amount of downtime, (based on
recent threads we could put a stipulation about Outsourcer location, i.e.
Domestic) etc. In some ways this can even enhance customer service and
support.
Just my opinion,
Chris Burns
EC/EDI INC.
330.425.0584
www.ecediinc.com
* Isn't EDI a natural for out-sourcing? Lots of fine red-blooded
American
companies make their living doing EDI for small suppliers, insulating
their customers from the expense of a translator and the headaches of
mapping. Is there a particular competitive advantage to a company having
knowledgeable EDI staff on board when an out-sourcer can do the job?
There's no proprietary knowledge of the business involved in mapping
EDI, is there? About the only thing I can figure out is that the
outsourcer might then know customers, prices, terms and buying patterns.
But most folks trust other third-parties, like VANs, who have access to
the very same information simply by reading the EDI that passes under
their noses!
And if good reasons hold for small companies to outsource EDI, why
wouldn't they apply to big companies? - aside from the fact that it's
easier for a big company to achieve economies of scale doing EDI (and
EDI-INT to bypass VAN intermediaries) themselves.
William J. Kammerer
Novannet, LLC.
Columbus, US-OH 43221-3859
+1 (614) 487-0320
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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