We’ve learned that utilizing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) services can provide a substantial cost-savings for businesses. Perhaps you have even increased your employee productivity. But, what if you could even further optimize your business processing?
Many businesses accomplish just that by outsourcing their EDI processing needs. Yes, outsourcing EDI may add to cost-savings by streamlining the process even further, but with more than half of an organization’s revenue being processed through EDI operations, it makes processing EDI correctly vital to the success of a business. EDI processing for many businesses is quite intricate and requires advanced knowledge of EDI processing operations in order to be accomplished correctly. Is this something you feel can be completed correctly in-house?
Obviously a business that specializes in certain business processes, such as EDI, can be considered somewhat of an expert on the process. By choosing the right EDI outsourcing company, you may be able to further increase cost-savings, productivity and processing accuracy. So, how do you know who to trust? Be sure to consider the following when searching for the right EDI outsourcing company:
How Do I Choose the Right EDI Outsourcing Company for My Business?
- Is the EDI provider experienced? How many EDI processing relationships does this business have? Can they offer you EDI processing references or customer testimonials?
- Is there EDI processing support available? What is the availability of that support?
- Does the EDI outsourcing company keep in contact with your trading partners to guarantee changes are processed correctly and without issue? Who works directly with the trading partners, you or the vendor?
- How does the outsourcing company handle various EDI formats? What file formats do they accept? Do these requirements work for your business? Will you need to change the file type you currently use?
- Is the outsourcing company able to process and handle the mapping for all the formats and transaction types you need? Who completes any mapping updates to meet trading partner requirements? Who responds to incident reports?
- How long does it take to make changes to EDI maps?
- Is there any additional cost for any changes that occur?
By considering the previously mentioned questions, you should have the knowledge you need to make an informed decision for your company and its EDI processing needs.