In the face of an uncertain economy, outsourced EDI is becoming more attractive to organizations that lack the internal IT resources or the desire to efficiently manage their EDI processes. At the same time, they have recurring EDI needs such as onboarding new trading partners and supporting existing relationships.
Manufacturers and distributors that serve mass-market retailers can choose among several industry-specific outsourced EDI solutions such as 1EDI Source (Epicor), True Commerce, and SPS Commerce.
There's no question that outsourced EDI can reduce costs, foster agility and be a game-changer for many organizations. At the same time, it’s important to remember these platforms do not mean "set and forget" EDI.
This post explains how the outsourced EDI liaison can help organizations reap the benefits of outsourced EDI and avoid the risks.
Questions to Resolve Before Committing to an Outsourced EDI Partner
The outcomes you might ultimately see from outsourcing your EDI depends on how you answer a few key questions before you commit to a vendor and their solution. First, who will ensure SLA compliance?
Determining to whom this responsibility falls matters, because how well the vendor holds up their end of the services agreement will directly impact how well your organization can meet its own agreements with trading partners.
Next, who will initiate and track mission-critical EDI projects such as new trading partner onboarding? Last but not least, who will ensure that the inevitable trading partner map conflicts and communication errors are identified, reported, and resolved?
In our experience, organizations report greater satisfaction with and higher ROI from their outsourced EDI partner when they answer these questions at the outset, and bake them into the services agreement.
On the other hand, failing to address these questions can lead to confusion, delays and fines, reputation damage or even loss of business.
Benefits of the Outsourced EDI Liaison Role
All credible outsourced EDI firms promise a scalable B2B platform, integration expertise, and rapid onboarding among other benefits. And they almost always deliver what they promise.
However, even for highly rated solutions, the nature and instances of negative reviews for outsourced EDI solutions are consistent enough to make any IT director or CIO pause to consider the benefits of an EDI professional who will:
- Protect the organization’s interests (especially revenue cycle document flow)
- Maintain trading partner and vendor relationships
- Ensure the outsourced EDI partner is meeting their contractual obligations and the organization’s expectations
A persistent challenge for outsourced EDI providers— and all EDI professionals—is tracking and resolving mapping errors. Usually, they result from new or changed trading partner requirements.
Responsibilities of the Outsourced EDI Liaison
At a minimum, the outsourced EDI liaison is responsible for ensuring SLA compliance from the vendor. At the same time, he or she should also serve as an advocate for all parties.
An experienced EDI specialist in a liaison role can often take steps to avoid errors before they can negatively impact the company or the trading partner.
For example, during migration and implementation, the liaison can help identify and remove project roadblocks. Once the solution is up and running, the outsourced EDI liaison can help in several ways to support smooth supply chain operations:
- Identify and expedite error resolution
- Support internal business leads
- Facilitate trading partner support
An outsourced EDI liaison relationship can pay dividends for years or decades. For example, a Remedi EDI consultant has supported a global automotive technology supplier since 2001.
Our consultant’s role has evolved in the face of corporate restructuring, rebranding, and strategic realignment, in addition to global supply chain disruption stemming from the pandemic.
What to Look for in an Outsourced EDI Liaison
To be an effective bridge between the organization and the vendor, the liaison should have the following experience and traits:
- At least five years’ EDI experience as coordinator, mapper, or analyst. A thorough grounding in EDI is essential. Despite its status as the go-to method for electronic B2B sales transactions, distribution, and delivery data exchange, EDI can seem arcane or confusing to the uninitiated.
- The liaison must work well with a variety of personality types and communication styles. The EDI liaison must communicate across the client and vendor organizations. In doing so they will encounter occasionally difficult or difficult-to-reach individuals.
- Patience with ambiguity or partial information is also key to success. As we said at the outset, even the benefits of the best self-serve EDI solutions degrade into marketing hype when something goes wrong. And sooner or later, something will.
- Flexibility (and empathy). We combined these two traits because they’re two sides of the same emotional intelligence coin. Someone who can see the situation from multiple perspectives will be more likely to avoid the friction and finger pointing that can delay creative solutions.
- Persistence. Resolving errors or finding solutions to issues in the production environment can be daunting. Those who have a knack for seeing issues through to a successful end, regardless of who is “at fault,” typically excel in this role.
By the way, a bachelor’s degree isn’t necessarily required for the EDI liaison role but degrees in such fields as computer science, accounting, or business can be useful. Clients also value experience with the IT side of operations or supply chain management.
Want to Discuss EDI Solutions?
A final word about outsourced EDI solutions. What works for a global automotive technology company may not work for a regional chain of supermarkets.
Reach out if you’d like to learn how we can help you with EDI outsourcing, managed EDI services, or EDI staff augmentation.
