It’s no secret that businesses constantly review their budgets every year and research new ways to cut costs and eliminate unnecessary tasks that occupy too much of their staff’s time and resources. When it comes time to decide whether to keep your electronic data interchange (EDI) in-house or to outsource to a Managed EDI Service Provider there are many things to consider. Below are some items to help compare different aspects of the two.
Experience Matters
Tackling your company’s EDI requires skills and expertise within your current IT team and can also involve the training of any new hires. When you choose a quality Managed EDI Service Provider you receive specialized expertise and experienced project teams basically working as your EDI department.
Cost
Something you may not consider when doing your EDI in-house is the recurring annual cost for software upgrades, maintenance, and support. When researching Managed EDI Providers make sure they offer customized services with a transparent and predictable pricing structure.
Security
Another component of EDI that requires a lot of time and resources from your current staff is your network security. When you partner with a quality Managed EDI Provider this will no longer be a concern to you as your EDI would be housed on a secure platform and the communication protocols are typically more secure due to the security requirements put on to the providers.
Communication and Setup with Trading Partners
Your trading partners all require different protocols and message formats. This often makes communication and setup more complicated and confusing. Managed EDI Providers offer fast and efficient connecting, mapping, data transferring, and ongoing support. Check with potential providers to ensure you can choose how involved you want to be in the process whether that means you are included in all communication with your trading partners or you are completely hands-off.
Portals and Dashboards
When handling your EDI in-house you will typically manage EDI portals for each partner. Some managed EDI solutions include one customized dashboard for all EDI partners providing you with online applications and reporting, new and unique search options, data volumes and trends, and a multitude of on-demand, customized reports.
Availability
Need help fixing an issue when doing your EDI in-house? Be prepared to submit a helpdesk ticket and wait for an initial response. If you are using a quality Managed Service for your EDI, you have immediate and direct access to an entire dedicated team of experts 24/7.
Monitoring
With in-house handling of EDI comes monitoring and support challenges. When your staff isn’t fully focused on your EDI, there just is not enough time in the day to keep a close eye on everything. By outsourcing to a managed EDI provider, you are guaranteed comprehensive monitoring and alerts in real-time with fewer touch points, all resulting in reduced errors.
Accessibility
Accessing data and analyzing it can be a challenge for in-house EDI. Both short and long-term data and document storage and archiving, available with some managed EDI providers, allow for customized analytics.
If you are contemplating whether a managed EDI service would benefit your company more than managing it all in-house, please CONTACT US today to learn more about the value of partnering with Promethean Software Services.