EDI doesn't have to be ripped out at the roots from every location and business currently using it, but long-term, EDI lacks the general-purpose data format capability that data exchange requires, so companies that rely on electronic data interchange are slowly but surely adopting XML instead—and rightly so, despite some problems.
by Jeremy Jones
December 13, 2004
lectronic Data Interchange (EDI), a data format used for inter-business messaging, has been partially responsible for reducing costs and increasing productivity in the manufacturing and services industries. Over the years, EDI has evolved into a mechanism for integrating back office systems and communication with business partners that has served its users well; however, it has inflexible, inherent, and practical problems that put a ceiling on its usefulness. To improve on the cost savings and productivity increases that EDI provided, it's time to find alternatives and begin to retire EDI. The obvious alternative is XML, which is a maturing technology that solves many, if not all, of EDI's problems.
EDI's Problems EDI is a special-purpose format. EDI's intended purpose was to provide a common messaging standard for businesses to communicate with other businesses. Rather than having to deal with a different data format for each trading partner, all businesses could convert their proprietary data format to EDI to send or receive messages and then convert EDI to their respective proprietary formats. EDI is an unlikely choice for a use other than inter-business messaging.
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lectronic Data Interchange (EDI), a data format used for inter-business messaging, has been partially responsible for reducing costs and increasing productivity in the manufacturing and services industries. Over the years, EDI has evolved into a mechanism for integrating back office systems and communication with business partners that has served its users well; however, it has inflexible, inherent, and practical problems that put a ceiling on its usefulness. To improve on the cost savings and productivity increases that EDI provided, it's time to find alternatives and begin to retire EDI. The obvious alternative is XML, which is a maturing technology that solves many, if not all, of EDI's problems.
