B2B Data Integration and Transformation Blog

Electronic Data Interchange is a must-have utility for any business with a network of external partners. However, with the options increasing by the hour, choosing the right EDI platform has become challenging for many enterprises.

EDI and ERP systems have been at the center of enterprise management for decades. However, until recently, these two technologies existed as stand-alone solutions, with ERP handling records and internal transactions and EDI executing data exchanges with external partners.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) are two sides of the same coin. ERP solutions consolidate processes, manage resources, and create a single version of truth for company data. On the other hand, EDI is the globally accepted protocol for transmitting electronic documents within and between businesses.

EDI systems and ERP solutions are essential for any business that relies on a properly functioning supply chain. EDI handles communication with trading partners on the front end, while the ERP system manages records on the back end.

Despite being more than six decades old, EDI has remained the foundational model of electronic business-to-business integration. The widespread adoption of EDI standards has enabled trading partners across various industries to communicate and exchange documents through pre-determined and pre-aligned digital formats and protocols. With EDI, enterprises have created ecosystems where data flows seamlessly from one end to another, accelerating transactions and minimizing errors in business-critical processes.