Posted by John Asi on Tue, Jun 01, 2010 @ 03:23 PM
Okay, so that is not how the line from Hamlet went (in more ways than one), but what is happening with traditional EDI in the industry these days. For a standard that has been around for quite some time without much change, is it still relevant in the modern day world of the Internet, Web 2.0, XML, Web Services, etc.
I was curious to see what the X12 Organization had to say about the future of EDI.
Interesting bit of reading, if we were in 1990. We are in 2010. This is the future. The day and age of ultimate connectivity to data, instantaneous communication, endless content, and more than enough blogs to numb the mind is here whether we like it or not. Not sure if you have heard, but there is so much data out there on so many websites that the IPV4 address space may be depleted as soon as September of 2011. And I was worried about the ozone layer. Traditional EDI must be dead.
Don't you believe it. The reported demise of traditional EDI has been floating around for over a decade. It seems that every time a new standard or protocol or buzz word appears, EDI is on the verge of being put to rest. Then it never happens. A perfect example of this was when the concept of Web services started to materialize. The thought was that EDI would be obsoleted in favor of the new method of passing data. XML was the standard that was adopted for passing messages through the web and it was thought that this format would at some point replace the "archaic" EDI formats currently in use. That was the thinking in 2001.
Interesting thing is that the industry did not seem to buy into the Web Services concept as a replacement for EDI and businesses started looking for new ways to communicate EDI transactions with each other. Even though XML was the bright new child in the industry, not many companies were jumping on board. Big players such as Walmart, J.C. Penney, and Hallmark understood that XML existed as an option, yet they opted to continue using standard EDI transactions rather than take the plunge with the new technology right away. In addition, Walmart took the initiative to drive some change in the landscape by implementing the use of an Applicability Statement 2 (AS2) protocol for connecting directly between two trading partners and eliminating the value-added network (VAN). This would introduce savings for the businesses that would adopt this protocol and helped fuel the continued growth of EDI in the supply chain.
As much as it seems that EDI may not play well in new environments, part of its ability to survive is that fact that it is adaptable. Even though traditional EDI tools were not replaced by a new data interchange standard based on Web Services in the early 2000s, those same EDI tools were used as the framework to support new technology. As these technologies mature, some of the tools used for processing EDI may change, but the standard will still define the content.
To further prove how relevant traditional EDI is to the modern industry, there have been many companies from retail foods to high end automotive companies that continue to benefit from the use of EDI. Two examples of such are Natural Products Market Place and Mercedes-Benz US International. Both of these companies made the investment to use EDI to manage their supply chain and have found that they are in a better position to handle difficult economies and fully realize good market climates because of their choice.
IQMS, a leading ERP company, has put a significant amount of energy into building upon many technologies including Web Services and community driven portals to bring high levels of data visibility and collaboration to its user base. Traditional EDI continues to be a relevant component in the suite of tools that the company offers. Through the use of the eCommerce Module, IQMS has a large customer base that is realizing the benefit of an integrated EDI solution utilizing a combination of traditional, non-traditional, and XML based EDI. These customers are able to handle orders and shipment notices in a much more timely fashion than would be possible in a manual entry process. As IQMS moves further into 2010, the number of requests for new transactions and trading partners has picked up pace. More businesses in the supply chain are moving to leverage the power and efficiency of a standard that has been around for over 25 years.
Is EDI dead? Not by a long shot.
Posted by Liz Alflen on Mon, Apr 26, 2010 @ 09:45 AM
Advancements in ERP system technology provide us with tremendous visibility into our operations, and the 2.0 world is embracing transparency in all matters. Information is accessible about all aspects of our work and our lives: the scheduling of our manufacturing operations, the dimensions of the parts we make, the financial viability of our customers and suppliers, and details – personal as well as professional - about our employees and partners.
In HR we’re familiar with “don’t ask , don’t tell”: don’t ask if a candidate is married, don’t tell if an employee has a medical condition. Our ERP system provides access to the HR information we need: workforce (payroll and benefits) information, skills, training and certification; applicant tracking, job descriptions, work-related injury and illnesses. Social media (in the 2.0 world) has brought additional information about all our employees and applicants to our desktops, via any number of social and professional media sites.
We have visibility, but how much transparency is appropriate from an HR perspective?
HR professionals are hard-pressed to provide guidance on these topics. We have to consider:
- Employee media usage (do we want employees “tweeting” at work? how much so?
- Recruiting policies (to use or not to use information about candidates gained via the web?)
- Just what information can be told to the hiring managers (if it’s posted on the web, can we ask about it?)
Old rules don’t apply and new rules are vague; just a few months ago most pundits recommended great caution when doing an internet search for information about a candidate and to “not friend” employees. It was believed that information gleaned via these sources was unreliable, not intended for the HR audience, or subject to interpretation (an employee calls in to work “sick” and subsequently posts to their social media site that they are out and about).
A few years ago a hiring manager informed me that she had “Googled” a candidate and discarded this candidate based on the public information they had posted to their social media website. In another example, an executive was reviewing posts linked to the company name when he spotted a link to an employee who had posted information about a personal legal matter. It came up because the employee was linked to both the company name and the information they had posted, perhaps imprudently, about their legal problems. At the time, I cautioned both against sharing the fact that they had accessed this information at all.
Now, however, experts promote transparency, to accept this free-flowing of information and relationships as part of the new model, much like enterprise management systems allow visibility into every aspect of business operations. Participants (executives, employees, candidates) must be tacitly aware that information is available on a public forum, and they have a choice of whether to post information “publicly”, or more privately to “friends”. An individual can establish a “personal brand”, being personal and professional at the same time, allowing professional colleagues glimpses into a personal life, such as the music listened to or the books read, in order to build deeper relationships with business associates. According to Mitch Joel (“Six Pixels of Separation”), “the best connections are real and authentic”. In order to grow your business, “you are going to need a way to understand more about the individuals you are connecting to.” This philosophy promotes validity; participants are accountable for the information they post, about themselves, their company, and the products they represent. This requires a great deal of trust, diligence, and a degree of caution.
The growth of issues such as this in HR mirrors the growth of the enterprise-wide perspective. The more inclusive and integrated the perspective, the more all of our relationships promote ourselves as well as the enterprise.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you “friend” colleagues and business associates? Do you ever skip work and post on your social media that you went to the beach? On second thought, don’t answer that… Your HR manager doesn’t want to know.