Doug,
Excellent discussion about the difference between VAN services and using the
Internet as transport.
Thanks,
Rachel
|
|Matthew,
|
|What Brenda asked is not contradictory.
|
|The product which VAN's deliver can be broken into two broad functions
|o Network access (transport)
|o Service bureau (functionality)
|
|If I understood Brenda's message correctly, she is looking to utilize
|the internet to access the service bureau functions which a VAN
|provides.
|
|The internet is transport not functionality. As we have
|beaten to death
|on this list server, the internet in and by itself, does not
|provide the
|service bureau functions which VANs offer. You mentioned Walmart as an
|example of a company which eliminated the VAN. Keep in mind that they
|also made a significiant investment in both transport and
|functionality.
|They also required their trading partners to make similar investments
|although not to the same extent.
|
|Brenda is being very smart in trying to utilize the corporate
|infrastructure which is available to her (the internet) to reach a
|service provider which will handle mailboxing, interconnects to other
|VANs, etc., etc. She is sharing the transport costs with
|other parts of
|the company instead of bearing all of it. (Yes - I realize that she
|will still pay VAN charges. But obviously they provide value to her.)
|
|A number of companies have done a similar thing with their frame relay
|networks. They may use AT&T, MCI, or other frame relay providers for
|the network infrastructure between their locations. A number of VANs
|have connections to the major frame relay networks (or they are the
|actual provider) and you can set up a permanent virtual circuit to the
|VAN. It's fast, secure, and cheap when the corporate infrastructure is
|already in place. For a high volume user of VAN services, it can be
|much less costly than a dedicated leased line. You can also get a
|performance guarantee which would be hard for an ISP to match. Of equal
|importance, the IT network group provides support, instead of the EDI
|business unit. The key is to utilize your corportate resources and not
|be an island onto yourself.
|
|Oh, by the way, I don't work for a VAN or a network provider. It seems
|if you come out supporting VANs on this list server, you get accused of
|working for one.
|
|Doug Fangmeier
|Consulting Manager
|Business To Business Solutions
|Charter Solutions, Inc.
|
|-----Original Message-----
|From: Matthew Sperr [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
|Sent: Friday, August 04, 2000 10:23 AM
|To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
|Subject: Re: EDI over the internet
|
|
|Correct me if I'm wrong or if it's just Friday and I'm not thinking
|clearly.
|Brenda asked about a VAN/Service to do EDI over the internet,
|isn't that
|contradictory? The purpose of doing EDI over the internet is
|to get rid
|of
|the VAN, at least the VAN costs. The transmissions of EDI
|documents can
|be
|done through FTP, with security, but if you're still going
|through a VAN
|service it's not "eliminating the VAN". (Don't worry VAN's you'll be
|around
|for a long time.) In the EDI world that I work in,
|Retailer-Manufacturer,
|major retailers are still pushing mailboxes on VANs for their
|suppliers,
|partly because they have invested millions of dollars into internal
|systems
|to accept EDI formatted documents which they can receive over the
|internet
|but until "they" move their internal software systems to support web
|browsers they will continue to use VAN's. Ultimatley, the "elimination
|of
|the VAN" will incur only if the "major" companys move to a direct
|connect
|feature themselves, ie Walmart. Sorry for not answering your question
|Brenda, I just needed to open my big mouth.
|
|Matt
|EDI Coordinator
|
|----- Original Message -----
|From: Brenda Newby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
|To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
|Sent: Friday, August 04, 2000 6:22 AM
|Subject: EDI over the internet
|
|
|> I am looking for a VAN/Service to use EDI over the internet. We have
|> researched ICC.NET. Does anyone use them? Does anyone have another
|> VAN/Service they use for EDI over the internet?
|>
|>
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