subject: Edi Services - Some Pertinent Questions Answered [print this page] When there is something new in technology to be implemented, it is natural that there are many questions that are raised about it by those who wish to participate in its implementation. Though EDI services has been around for quite some time now with many companies and businesses seeing very tangible results, there are still questions that are raised by other businesses yet to put it into action.
This article looks at some of those pertinent questions and associated answers as under:
The first question is why enter into EDI services in the first place and what are the benefits my company can get out of it?
Things have now reached a stage wherein a company or business that does not have EDI services in place will be seen as not being savvy in their business processes. When you have other companies including customers, vendors and supply partners already into the EDI services chain, you cannot or should not be seen to be lagging behind.
You cannot be the odd man out and when you consider that your company will benefit immensely from reduced manual intervention, elimination of errors and a much faster communication system, there is really no reason why you should not use EDI services.
The implementation of EDI services though does come with its own initial challenges as it is based on some solid practices designed to improve processes. During the integration, you will notice that many of the limitations of manual processes get exposed.
You will also immediately perceive the obvious benefits of freeing up talented manpower to get involved in more interesting tasks than just inputting data, taking reports out and dispatching them. All this can be done effectively through EDI services in a faster and more efficient manner.
The next one pertains to the management of EDI services - should you outsource it or manage it in-house?
It is generally recommended that smaller companies in the growth phase should focus more on their core competencies and outsource those activities that are beyond their understanding or expertise.
EDI services can be outsourced by such companies. A good outsourced agency would provide excellent support and help a new or growing company to not incur additional costs at this time of their business cycle. The cost of outsourcing is the only expense the company has to bear and that is something it should be able to afford.
On the other hand established businesses seeking improvements in their business processes and willing to make the investments necessary would do well to have EDI services implemented through their own trained team of people.
The advantages in doing so are that these personnel would know exactly what their business is all about and would have enough practical experience to fine tune the system as per their requirements.
Whether managed or outsourced, the implementation of EDI services is now becoming a necessary business imperative and the sooner you are able to do so, the better it is for your business.
