Companies have long complained about the cost and complexity of implementing EDI. They also complain about being dragged into EDI by their larger trading partners with limited payback to their company. A vocal and growing group of IT professionals has been advancing XML as the solution to these problems and the key to the broader adoption of more electronically sent business documents between trading partners. Is this push towards XML another fad or is it an approach that will succeed where other initiatives have failed? If XML does work out, how will it affect existing business systems to control the movement of business documents between trading partners. While no one can say for sure, there are a number of givens to what will happen.
A lot of "visionaries" have stated that XML is a magic elixir in a cloudy bottle these days: cheap data exchange, document structure, and a proven cure for warts. In reality, XML is no more a "magic elixir" than EDI was when it was first invented. The first (and still most widely used) widespread use of integration technology between companies is Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI is a series of standards that allow companies to exchange business documents electronically. Although it does not garner much attention, EDI is still a critical part of the integration equation as most Fortune 500 companies utilize EDI formatted business documents to communicate with their partners. It is doubtful that companies such as Wal-Mart, Sears, Ford, GM etc., which have built EDI interfaces into their back end applications will abandon them in the near future for the sake of being "leading edge".
This is not to say that XML based formats will not eventually take hold as large supplier such as Dow Chemicals and Weyerhaeuser are committed to both EDI and XML to transfer business information to their trading partners. While XML is much more than the "roll-your-own-tags" hype that often gets the most press, is it enough to replace the complex formats, industry experience, and careful standardization that have gone into traditional EDI? The real key is if small to mid-sized organizations can understand the business process that goes behind the format of XML when they are integrating XML formatted documents into their businesses.
Some visionaries have said that combining XML formatting with a way to publish business process is the way. The first implementation of this approach (Rosetta Net in the Electronics industry) has netted great results. The move to a formalized approach for all industry is called ebXML. ebXML combines data structure with the ability for organizations to register their business processes to process the data in a publicly accessible repository. While still a ways off in its implementation, this approach may in the future provide the key to longer term implementation of structured data transfer between retailers and their suppliers.
One of the strengths of EDI has been the ability to track the movement of business documents between trading partners (either via a traditional EDI VAN or more recently via the Internet) with functional acknowledgments. With XML, there is just a great a need for auditing the movement of documents but at present, communications of documents is a secondary thought. The real key with implementing EDI or XML or ebXML is not to determine what will be the ultimate solution but to have a solution which can audit, manage and control the movement of business documents no matter what the format in one system.
SoftCare's traditional business focus was in the development and implementation of EDI systems. Its "TradeLink EDI Management System" manages EDI and XML documents from inception until received by the trading partner. It's optional XMAPPER component manages and transforms business documents from one format to another and provides a complete audit of the tasks required to create, transform, validate and send documents to your trading partners no matter what the format (EDI, XML etc.). It's fully integrated AS2 communications module allows a retailer or supplier to eliminate the cost of transmitting EDI documents while ensuring that all transactions sent or received are secure, audited and if there are any errors, the end user is alerted via an email.
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