Ken:
I disagree with the premise that EDI does not scale well. If a
company carefully defines their integration process for each
type of transaction (order, invoice, etc.), and their data is
clean, then implementing new trading partners is a very simple
process, which gets quicker for each successive one.
And, I have to ask, what's the difference between manually
handling data that doesn't match with your system, which is
received via EDI, and having to manually handle error data with
anything else? It's the cost of having "un-clean" data at
either your end or your trading partner's end, and is
unavoidable by any electronic integration method.
I myself have designed, implemented, and integrated several
hundred trading partners in very short time frames, using
different specifications. I think you're understimating the
power of EDI.
As for "business exchanges", more of them are going belly-up
these days than are being started, and IMHO, for good reason.
EDI's been around for a long time, and will be around for a
long time more. It may not be the "killer app" or a 100%
problem-free solution, but it works, and it works for several
hundred thousand companies world-wide.
The primary reason that EDI is out of reach of the small
business is simply that their chosen ERP system won't handle
integration without costly customization. It's not an EDI
issue, it's a poor choice of ERP systems. EDI translators are
pretty cheap, and experienced EDI administrators can be had
fairly easily, or one trained.
Sorry, got a little off-topic on you there. Congrats, Michael,
on your success story. I've got a few myself.
John Miller
Miller Associates
Data Integration Consultants
(616) 460-1092
---- On , Ken Steel ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) wrote:
> Michael Mattias wrote:
>
> > Over the last couple of months they had invested a lot of
time and
> money to get
> > ANSI X.12 running with a number of other customers who had
requested
> it over the
> > past couple of years, but still no one had seen any
tangible benefits;
> it seemed
> > EDI support was a "cost of sales" rather than an "aid to
order
> processing."
>
>
> The enthusiasm for a single success is nice to see. But a
note of
> caution needs to be added.
>
> One of the problems of trad-EDI is that it does not scale
very well.
> While there are few trading partners it can be forced to
work, but as
> the number of inter-trading partners increase, it becomes
more and more
> difficult to the point of becoming impractical. Don't expect
switching
> to XML sytax to help, either. That just adds more complexity
and a new
> set of problems on top of the trad-edi problems.
>
> If it takes a week to implement a new trading partner using
trad-EDI and
> there are 500 trading partners, it will take 10 years to
cover the
> partner base. In practice, as more trading partners start to
intertrade,
> each implementation will take longer and cost more as the
amount of
> customisation required to implement each trading partner
starts to
> conflict with customisation added to enable trading partners
implemented
> earlier. The chaos caused by additive error rates will also
take their
> toll.
>
> Some of the points NOT mentioned in that eulogy should also
be noted:
>
> * What was the error rate?
> * How long did they take to fix?
> * How much disorganisation and chaos was caused by full order
rejection
> and part order rejection to both organisations in those tens
of
> thousands of lines per day?
> * How much did it cost to customise both business systems and
operating
> procedures to incorporate the new trading relationship?
>
> etc etc
>
> There apears to be more people dropping trad-edi and
switching to
> adaptor technology and "business exchanges" than are adopting
it these
> days, for good reason.
>
> So let's not get too carried away.
>
>
> --
> Ken Steel ICARIS Services
> Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Technology: http://www.icaris.net/
>
>
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