Hi Denise --
Your company sounds very small based upon the size of the IT Group. As
a previous manager, I am surprised that your boss isn't relaying this
information to you instead of an HR person. Perhaps there is some
underlying problem in the company. Is the company going bankrupt or in
financial trouble? Has some outsourcing firm been making a sales pitch
to your management that they can save them costs (by getting rid of you)
while implementing "best business practices"? Something fishy is going
on. Are you perceived as a "non value added" person? What is your boss
saying about all this? Is your boss selling you or working against you?
(I've had both). What does he/she say in your formal reviews? If you
haven't had one recently, ask for a quarterly or annual update. I'd put
out other feelers and start lining up references from your champions in
the company & outside. This could be helpful from your review
assessment and also if this is the handwriting on the wall.
Also, I think of an EDI Coordinator Role as a person on the business
side & not on the IT side. You might be miscategorized and in fact, be
a programmer/analyst or functioning as a project manager.
Unfortunately EDI is often treated as a cost, but perhaps you should
sell it from a ROI perspective. For example, if your EDI program
positions your company to bring an extra contract at 1% (or 2% or 3%)
increased annual revenue, how does this increase the bottom line of the
company if you are positioned to implement quickly. What other values
are you bringing to the company? How easy would it be for them to
replace you? You did not mention how comfortable you are with your
management, but if you enjoy your position (as it sounds as if you do),
I would express in a professional manner your disappointment in this
process.
EDI/B2B integration is not traditionally taught in colleges and
universities. Some of the "soft" negotiating and analytical skills of
an EDI coordinator are not perceived as high value. In fact, Harvard &
Stanford have contributed to the "education" of management by pointing
out the EDI resources are "high cost" and can be eliminated by
implementation of RosettaNet and other XML standards. To quote:
"RosettaNet and ebXML: Betting on the Right eBusiness Standard", by
professors F. Warren McFarlan and Veronica Belokvostova (they are
probably very talented professors, but I recommend they gather data
outside of the RosettaNet community for a balanced quantitative
approach), "EDI setups still remained fairly expensive. Software
installation costs alone for EDI were twice those for XML standards.
Business partners often spent months negotiating the meaning of specific
fields and the allowable range of values in the EDI-formatted
comma-delimited documents (SIC) (Exhibit 10))." Actually, the EDI
snippet referenced in their Exhibit in their paper is not comma
delimited, but this is only one of a number issues I have with their
comparative example, analytical processes, and their resulting
conclusions. There was also a shockingly good research paper that I
read nearly a year ago on the "soft" under-appreciated negotiation
skills required in a technical implementation. I vaguely recall it was
an SAP paper. Try doing some Googling to see if you can find it.
Try to do an honest assessment of your own skills. I've seen "EDI
Coordinators" that are nothing but glorified clerks that are unable to
explain the guidelines, don't understand the standards, and need a
"technical" person on every call; to very savvy people with a deep
understanding of the standards and underlying business principles.
You too can perform a benchmarking process. Update your resume,
perhaps spend a few $$'s to have a professional resume writer critique
it and send it out to the Chicago community. Reassess your job title.
Post on Monster, Dice & any internet site you can find and update
daily. Line up references. Respond, negotiate and document the rates.
Read some books on Salary Negotiations. "Dress for Success" and go out
on a few "appointments". At this point, don't rule out sending it to
any company or temp, contract, perm positions in the area. Keep in mind
you are just trying to create a benchmark.
Of course, you might wind up with a better position out of this - so
much the better.
Feel free to call me if you would like to discuss further.
Regards,
Susan Stecklair
408 996-7492
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