EDI outsourcing
Decide how much of your EDI to outsource, and keep control of the rest
Keeping an in-house EDI team staffed and current is difficult, especially as experienced specialists retire. Outsourcing is not all or nothing. Most organizations choose between keeping EDI in-house with expert backup, adding an outside team for specific work, or handing the whole operation to a provider. This page compares the three, so you can decide what to keep.
At a glance
- Choice of scope
- Platform flexibility
- Partner onboarding
- Monitoring and support
- Reporting and reviews
What is EDI outsourcing?
EDI outsourcing means contracting a specialist provider to perform some or all EDI activities, such as hosting the EDI platform, building maps, onboarding trading partners, monitoring transactions and resolving errors. Engagements range from staff augmentation for specific tasks to fully managed services in which the provider is responsible for defined outcomes under a service agreement.
Outcomes
What you can expect
Expertise without hiring
Experienced EDI specialists are hard to recruit and retain. Outsourcing gives access to them without building the team yourself.
Knowledge that does not leave with one person
Many EDI environments depend on one long-tenured specialist. A provider documents and shares that knowledge.
Internal teams freed up
IT staff can focus on ERP and business initiatives instead of map maintenance and partner changes.
Approach
How ECOM delivers it
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Choice of scope
Outsource specific activities through EDI Team as a Service, or the full operation through fully managed EDI.
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Platform flexibility
Work on PRISM or support your existing EDI platform, including IBM Sterling environments.
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Partner onboarding
Requirements gathering, map development, testing and certification with new trading partners.
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Monitoring and support
Production monitoring, error resolution and partner communication within the agreed scope.
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Reporting and reviews
Regular reviews of volumes, issues and improvement opportunities.
Making the decision
What to outsource first
Start with the work that is hardest to staff or most disruptive when it goes wrong.
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Partner onboarding backlogs
New trading partners waiting for maps and testing delay revenue. A partner backlog is a common first project for an outside team.
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Monitoring and error resolution
Exceptions that nobody watches become chargebacks and late payments. Monitoring can be outsourced without giving up the platform.
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Specialist platform work
Upgrades, migrations and administration of platforms such as IBM Sterling need skills that are rarely needed full time.
Choosing a provider
Questions to ask any EDI outsourcing provider
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Who will actually do the work?
Ask whether you get named specialists or a ticket queue, and who your day-to-day contact is.
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Which platforms can they support?
A provider that only supports its own platform may push a migration you do not need.
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What visibility do you keep?
You should be able to see transactions and exceptions without asking the provider.
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How is scope changed?
Partner additions and new documents are normal. Agree how they are requested, estimated and prioritized.
Scenarios
Common scenarios
Retiring EDI specialist
Capture knowledge held by one long-tenured employee before it leaves with them.
Partner backlog
Clear a queue of new trading partners waiting to be onboarded.
After-hours coverage
Add monitoring outside business hours without building a night shift, within the agreed service scope.
Compare
Three ways to run EDI
Typical responsibilities in each model. Your exact scope is defined in your service agreement.
| Criteria | In-house with expert backup | EDI Team as a Service | Fully managed EDI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the daily work | Your EDI team | ECOM specialists working with your team | ECOM |
| Who sets priorities | You | You | ECOM delivers agreed outcomes |
| Cost structure | Salaries plus project support | Ongoing subscription for a team | Service agreement for defined services |
| Main risk | Key-person dependency | Scope of tasks must be prioritized | Change requests outside the agreed scope |
| Platform | Yours | Yours or PRISM | Usually PRISM |
| Best for | Teams with stable EDI skills | Teams that need more capacity or skills | Organizations that prefer not to run EDI |
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between EDI outsourcing and managed EDI?
Outsourcing is the broad decision to have a provider do some or all of your EDI work. Managed EDI is one model of outsourcing, in which the provider operates the EDI service end to end under a service agreement.
Do we have to move to a new EDI platform?
No. ECOM can support your current platform, including IBM Sterling environments, or migrate you to PRISM if that makes sense.
Will we still be able to see our transactions?
Yes. Visibility through PRISM-SCV or your existing tools is part of every engagement.
Can we start small?
Yes. Many organizations start with a partner backlog or monitoring and expand the scope once the working relationship is established.
Talk through what to outsource
Tell us how your EDI is run today and where it hurts. An ECOM specialist will outline the options, including keeping it in-house.