The cliff is fast approaching, it is time to change direction or parish,
but alas their stockholders will not let them...
I sincerely feel sorry for the pressures that many of the EDI translator/VAN
companies must be feeling right now. Companies like webMethods, Vitria,
Netfish and many other new real-time B2B, XML based systems have been able
to enter the market without the baggage of legacy EDI architecture and a
history of poor support.
These new breeds of real-time B2B systems are yet to be accountable for
profits, so they can afford to actually "care and ask their customers and
potential customers" what they need in a B2B system and make a credible
attempt to address these issues. The legacy EDI translator/VAN companies
have long ago been required to be accountable to their stockholders for
profits so must focus all of their time and efforts on squeezing dollars out
of their remaining customer's pockets. An unfortunate position to be in.
This effort will simply encourage their customers to expedite their
migration to the real-time, XML based B2B systems that can still paint a
rosy picture of the future with some credibility.
What is most sad to me is the legacy EDI translator/VAN companies were in
the best position to jump into this market and address the evolving needs of
their existing client base, but for a variety of reasons they will not be
able to lead and make this quantum leap into the new millennium.
0============================0
| Kevin Benedict
| "The Process is the Product"
0============================0
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