Hi Dave,
>From my perspective, it seems that you are not very experienced with BISYNC. Of
course I may be totally wrong, but I had to put my two cents in.
Bisync may be old, but it is tried and true. And even though it is slow, which
is only because
people do not want to put in dedicated lines (bisync does run over T1), it is
secure.
I will not dispute the fact that WAL-MART is a pain to work with. I have been
dealing
with them since day one, and will never step foot in their stores. (my choice I
know)
The WIN (Walmart Information Network) runs on Sterling Commerce Products.
Years ago it was SUPERTRACS, now I think it is CONNECT:Mailbox and others.
To help lighten the weight on an 800 pound gorilla, you have to stop feeding it,
and
try working with it.
The Internet has no security without pouring out lots of money, time, and hiring
the
experts on firewalls, who seem to be x-hackers anyway. And after all that, it is
still not secure.
Now there are companies creating their own proprietary private Internets
(i,e,ANX)
and requiring their buyers and suppliers to use it. ANX it not cheap.....nor is
it inexpensive.
I have no problem with wanting to use the Internet. I think that it is a
valuable
asset and a great opportunity for the future. And there are even a couple of
Internet Vans
out there helping it along.
What I do have a problem with is people pushing the Internet. Pushing it as the
cheap way to do business. There may be some people who are
ready to deal with it, but most are so inexperienced with it they have no idea
what they
are getting themselves into, all they know is that someone who thinks they have
the
answers said it is faster, better and cheaper. A lot of times I have found that
these
people with the answers cannot even provide the solution.
This includes people who are constantly pushing XML, especially to replace EDI.
Some of
these people do not have a clue about what it is all about, or the years and
tears that it
took to get to where we are with EDI today. Plus they do not have a clue about
the years
and tears it will take to standardize XML. But they continue to push it on
people and
companies as being the way out of EDI and Bisync. The so called "cheap" way out.
Well, they get what they pay for.
Opinion submitted without charge.
D'Anne Weitzman
|--------+-------------------------->
| | Dave Taylor |
| | <sysmark@WORLDNE|
| | T.ATT.NET> |
| | |
| | 10/13/00 10:50 |
| | AM |
| | Please respond |
| | to Dave Taylor |
| | |
|--------+-------------------------->
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] |
| cc: (bcc: D'Anne Weitzman/ecbridges.com) |
| Subject: Re: walmart VAN |
>----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Hi EDI at Helion,
First, just a semantic point: you're not edaling with "Walmart's VAN",
you're dealing with Walmart directly.
Walmart's Electronic Services group publishes a document entitled "Getting
Started with EDI" which they will send or e-mail to their Vendor (your
customer). You can ask your customer to request that document and forward
it to you, or you can contact the Walmart Fax-On-Demand at 501-277-5505.
Use Option 1 to get a list of available EDI documents and go from there.
This document contains their communications interface specs, support desk
phone number and hours and testing procedures.
If their numbers haven't changed, you can contact their support desk at
501-273-4556, Mon-Fri, 8AM-5PM Central Time. Their testing group is Option
3 on their phone menu. You will need your customer's Vendor No. and other
information defined in the above document.
Technical information about the bisync modem required to connect with
Walmart is available at Interface Systems, Inc., 815-654-8110.
Now, for the editorial break:
I've been asking this 800lb gorilla for 2 years now about an internet
connection option. They had a person assigned to such a development
project, but that person left the EDI department and no one has picked up
the ball. This bisynch modem stuff is an absolute pain every time we turn
around.
If you or your customer have any influence, you (and everyone else on the
list) can do us all a big favor by exerting every pressure possible on
Walmart to join us in the 21st Century by adding a communications option
other than bisynch, and preferably (for us) an internet-based option.
Good luck to you and your customer. Let us all know how you progress.
Dave Taylor
Sysmark Information Systems, Inc.
800-797-6275
P.S. Another editorial:
While I hear grumbling from time to time about "vendors" taking commercial
advantage of the list, I must say that a great deal of the most valuable
information comes from the vendors, because we are all out in the industry
meeting and greeting these opportunities every day.
It's a real pleasure for us to be able to provide some assistance to those
who have assisted us so often. Thank you all for your continued
participation.
----- Original Message -----
From: "edi" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Friday, October 13, 2000 9:35 AM
Subject: walmart VAN
> Howdy -
> can anyone share any info/suggestions/experiences regarding testing with
> walmarts' bisynch VAN? We have a client who is a walmart vendor, and we're
> trying to hook them up, however, we are finding walmart less than
> cooperative.
>
> helion
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
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