EDI Software Solution

In the world of EDI there are a number of ways of gaining access to the technology and service necessary in order to become "EDI enabled." While many businesses don't begin by using an EDI software solution ultimately this may end up being your best long-term bet. While there are a number of web-based EDI services and EDI VANs that can provide very affordable and easy to use EDI services, most of these quickly become too expensive to manage on a long-term basis. The reason for this is that unlike with an EDI software solution, a third-party service organization will charge you based on the amount of data you transmit. These "per use" charges are an affordable means of getting started with EDI, but long-term become overly expensive.

Bringing EDI Software Solution in-house

If like many businesses you have made the decision that it's time to bring EDI in house, one of the key decisions you will need to make is to select an EDI software solution. Before you can begin the process of evaluating and selecting the EDI software solution you should look inwards to understand what your business requirements are and what the critical features any EDI software solution will need to support. When selecting the list of requirements your software will need to support consider not only the EDI features you may want (like the trading partners supported and the EDI formats supported) but also the business requirements your EDI software solution will need to provide. For example, one requirement may be that the EDI software solution allow you to automate as much of the EDI processing as possible, or maybe it might need to provide means of sending the EDI data directly to your back-end ERP system. Regardless of your needs, having a clear understanding of what your business needs from EDI is a critical first step to selecting the right EDI software solution.

Talking to Your Vendors for an EDI Software Solution Once you have your list of requirements the next step in the selection phase is to create a 'short list' of EDI software solution vendors who you will need to speak to. As you create your short list be sure to take advantage of as many avenues to collect information as possible. Many EDI software solution vendors will provide white papers and other material you can read to give you an indication of their level of familiarity and expertise with EDI. As you talk to possible vendors also be sure to ask for references. Speaking to actual users of the EDI software solutions is the best way of ensuring that you are talking to a vendor that can ultimately meet your needs.

Testing your EDI Software Solution

Once you have your short list of vendors you should request evaluation samples of each EDI software solution you plan to consider. This type of in-house evaluation should be standardized and should test how well each EDI software solution meets the selection criteria you established earlier in the process. Through a formalized and uniform testing process you will be able to get a balanced look at each EDI software solution in order to make a more informed decision. 

Ultimately however don't rely simply on the features of the EDI software solution to help you make a selection. As you begin to understand which EDI software solution will best suit your needs, begin to take into consideration the companies behind each alternative. What kind of support services do they offer? How many clients do they have? How much experience do they have working with companies like yours? Questions like these can be as critical - and often even more critical - in selecting the right EDI software solution as the software itself.