Tom, There is a place in this world for idealists and theorists. Unfortunately, you have a boss, and that trumps idealism. If your theory of EDI's function was accepted in the real world, would Sterling be able to sell GIS?
In the real world, EDI no longer is simply a reformatting process with transaction tracking. It is a tool for integration, and I for one am happy with the evolution. With the limited description you have provided, it sounds as though your application is supplying incongruent data. This is an opportunity for cleaning up the app, for sure, but daily business must continue, and you can be the hero. What I have done in a case such as this is to bring my findings of incongruent data to the sysapp manager, the user manager, etc., and to offer them a temporary solution. I could map around the issue within minutes, and additionally provide them with an email report every time I encounter the problem, with a nightly summary. In the old days, when EDI just transformed data, lots of transactions ended up in never-never land, and nobody ever knew until AP or the customer started complaining. Then the EDI guy had to dig into the archives, check the logs, print out the raw data and analyze it, and write up a report to explain why the transaction didn't work. Baloney. (This is a family list, else I would have said the real words.) Make yourself valuable. When my former boss is asked to give me a reference, he says three things: He has a weird sense of humor, he can handle anything you throw at him, and he will make whoever hires him look good. That last line is because I am an idealist who does his job realizing that the most important ideal is to make data flow seamlessly. Hope this helps, Art Douglas Chief Consultant Blackwater Network 877-464-8915 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tom Smith (Yes, that's REALLY my name!) Sent: Friday, October 19, 2007 9:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [EDI-L] Data Accuracy in EDI I just had this little *discussion* with my boss. It's his contention that part of the EDI process is data validation. He says the during translation I should make sure "everything adds up". I say that EDI just takes application data and formats it into an EDI standard doc. If the application data is incorrect, it's not EDI's function to "correct" it prior to sending to TP. What say ye? ... Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Job postings are welcome, but for job postings or requests for work: <JOBS> IS REQUIRED in the subject line as a prefix. Yahoo! Groups Links ... Please use the following Message Identifiers as your subject prefix: <SALES>, <JOBS>, <LIST>, <TECH>, <MISC>, <EVENT>, <OFF-TOPIC> Job postings are welcome, but for job postings or requests for work: <JOBS> IS REQUIRED in the subject line as a prefix. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EDI-L/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
