Stephanie Upton asked for some advice regarding upgrading
GENTRAN:Director in light of all of the current developments around XML.
I am intimately involved in a couple of the major efforts to enable XML
to be used in the same way that traditional EDI is used. Even with that
background, I can't tell you for sure which way things are headed and
whether or not it will be successful. What I can tell you is what I
have been telling my clients. That is, for most companies their EDI
technology is dictated by their trading partners, so you don't have much
choice. However, you do have a choice about how much you invest in that
technology. Things are in a great deal of flux, but I don't expect
large companies to wholesale require suppliers to move off of
traditional EDI onto XML any time in the next two years or so. So, if
you can upgrade and show an ROI in two years or less, go for it. If you
are looking at a longer time frame than that, you run a greater risk of
not getting a return on your investment. I think that risk is still
minimal in the three to five year range, but it is still there. Beyond
five years I wouldn't hazard a guess!
Hope this helps.
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