EDI Managed Services: Expertise, Experience, and Reputation Matter

As technological advancements continue to speed the pace of global business, entities have come to rely on EDI managed services to streamline their operations and stay competitive. However, EDI implementation success depends largely on overcoming complex EDI integration challenges, which means that choosing the right managed service provider is critically important.

In this piece, we’ll discuss the essential job that experience, expertise and reputation do in the world of EDI managed services, and we’ll spotlight the factors key to an organization’s success when it comes to choosing a provider.

The Power of Expertise

For the most effective EDI solution possible from a managed services provider, you need to partner with one that has the right expertise and a sufficient amount of it. The provider must have a deep knowledge of and years of experience with industry standards, protocols, and best practices.

A Lynchpin of Success

An in-depth understanding allows for the easy integration of EDI systems into your organization's existing infrastructure, ensuring efficient document exchange and compliance with dynamic regulatory mandates. Expertise in EDI will prove foundational in helping your company achieve and maintain a competitive edge.

The Value of Experience

Experience may not be quite as crucial as expertise when it comes to EDI managed service providers, but it comes in at a close second. You want to be sure the partner you pick has an established history of implementing and managing EDI solutions. These seasoned providers are a font of knowledge gained through years of hands-on work in the field, which will make them adept at navigating your EDI integration challenges.

Adaptable and Willing to Customize

Excellent managed service providers can clear unforeseen EDI hurdles, pivot and modify their work in response to evolving technologies, and customize their solutions to meet the various needs of each client. With a history of successful EDI implementations,  experienced providers will earn your confidence and trust as they mitigate risk and ensure the uninterrupted flow of your operation-critical data.

Building Trust Through Reputation

Trust is essential to a healthy working relationship between your organization and your chosen EDI managed services provider. A good reputation can help build that trust. The way in which providers are seen in the industry is an earned testament to their reliability, commitment to customers and customer satisfaction, and track record of successful EDI implementation.

Earned Over Time

A good reputation is earned over years of hard work, and it shows technical proficiency and a dedication to client servicing. It shows a provider’s ability to follow through and deliver on promises and ensure uninterrupted EDI operations for clients. Reputation is a prime indicator of your chosen service provider’s likelihood of delivering good results to your entity.

Real-world Case Studies

Engaging an accomplished, astute EDI managed service provider such as Remedi can take a sizable burden off your organization. Here, we share the case studies of three major companies that saw positive outcomes after partnering with EDI managed services.

Behavior Healthcare Provider

Following an acquisition, a national specialty-care provider found itself needing to integrate more than five million patient records. A team of Remedi EDI managed services specialists with skills in the programming languages RPG and CL devised an approach to integrate the records – without HIPAA compliance risk or disruption to daily business operations. The move saved the healthcare company time and money and avoided potential legal problems.

Value-Added Food Processor

The sales force of a well-known food processor and distributor was unable to access real-time pricing data for its customers or see customer file notes on its iPads. A Remedi team came up with a device-agnostic, cloud-based, single-point-of-access solution that integrated data between SAP ERP and Microsoft Dynamics 365 CRM through RESTful APIs – in real-time.

The fix helped the business boost the efficiency and accuracy of its sales process, improve its customer satisfaction, and avoid the inter-operating-system problems it had with its prior process.

Outdoor Footwear and Accessories Company

A growing outdoor footwear and accessories business needed part-time EDI and ERP resources to relieve trading-partner backlogs and provide ongoing support to customers. The firm engaged Remedi, which provided a two-person team consisting of an EDI consultant with extensive SPS Commerce experience and an SAP apparel-and-footwear solution specialist.

The Remedi duo helped the company completely eliminate its trading-partner backlogs and bolster growth, saving it money and employee time and improving customer service.

Choosing the Right Provider

Here are some of our top tips to help you pick the best managed services partner for your company’s needs:

Look at Expertise

Seek out providers that have strong track records of know-how with EDI, including a deep knowledge of industry standards, specific verticals, and an ability to navigate integration challenges.

Evaluate Experience

Put at the top of your list those providers that have proven histories and solid testimonials demonstrating successful EDI implementations.

Examine Reputation

Check into the reputation of various EDI service providers before deciding on any one of them. Do this by seeking out client reviews, since positive reputations generally indicate reliability and top-quality customer service.

Ask Critical Questions

When you interview providers, ask essentials, such as:

• Which industries do you specialize in?
• What is your approach to resolving integration challenges?
• How do you ensure client data security and regulatory compliance?
• Can you provide references from past clients?
• How do you handle scalability and technology updates?

The Long-term Impact

The EDI managed services provider you choose can have a significant and lasting effect on your organization’s operations and competitiveness. That’s why it’s so crucial to make an informed decision and work with the right partner.

Making the Right Choice

Thorough research into the subject will likely lead you to one main conclusion: Emphasizing expertise and reputation over short-term cost savings can result in substantial long-term benefits. A solid strategic EDI partnership can make your organization more efficient, less prone to errors, and provide operational efficiency.

… And Not the Wrong One

On the other hand, simply picking the cheapest available option without looking into company expertise, track record, or reputation, could result in EDI integration challenges, data-security risks, and missed growth opportunities for your firm.

Your organization’s long-term success depends upon your making a well-informed pick that prioritizes expertise and reputation. This will help ensure that you have a rewarding, beneficial relationship with the provider for years to come.

Conclusion

In EDI managed services, no factors are more critical to client success than a provider’s expertise, experience, and reputation. The provider you select has a long-term impact on your organization’s journey. Expertise helps assure seamless integration; experience fosters adaptability to evolving technological challenges and an outstanding reputation reflects reliability.

As we've explored, careful evaluation of these components and a strategic approach are paramount in making an informed provider pick. After all, a large part of your organization’s long-term success and competitive edge hinges on it.

Adopt a Managed Integration Mindset