Oops I said that backwards… Typically the customer side of the partnership holds the reins and the vendors are the horse that gets yanked around
Steve Moses Systems Analyst Iomega Corporation (EMC) (303) 681-2593 [email protected] From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Moses, Steve Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 1:04 PM To: Leah Halpin; lbdgolfer; [email protected] Subject: RE: [EDI-L] SPS Commerce or like service I agree with Leah… adding my 2 cents… imho - These ‘services’ tend to take the ‘Partner’ out of ‘EDI Trading Partner’ and add to the overall cost of a trading relationship. Although I will say that we are implementing the Coast Guard (thru GXS) and they did not charge us. That said… I can see why a company that is making a change and trades with a large number of ‘partners’ would want/need to enlist their services so they don’t have to hire temporary staff to coordinate the changes, test etc… That said… the testing that most of these ‘services’ perform ranges from silly to marginal (in my experience) and the fact that the ‘partner’ not making a change is typically on the hook for the fees is maddening. Trading ‘Partners’ on the Customer side of the relationship would not likely try to pull this off – typically only the vendors. My advice to customers that get stuck with this bill – build it into your price list for that vendor. Going forward…Again I agree with Leah. I would do whatever you can to keep EDI in-house. If you outsource, they will reach deep into your pockets for any change (and they may take a long time to implement a simply tweak). You didn’t say what you ERP system or EDI Platform and VAN is but I would think that you could get the basics in place (EDI-850 PO’s, EDI-856 ASN’s, EDI-810 Invoices) with ASN’s being the most varied/time consuming. My suggestion is that once you get one partner fully configured and mapped, clone them and then walk through each spec and personalize each one for the particular partner. Best of luck… Steve Moses Systems Analyst Iomega Corporation (EMC) (303) 681-2593 [email protected]<mailto:moses%40iomega.com> From: [email protected]<mailto:EDI-L%40yahoogroups.com> [mailto:[email protected]<mailto:EDI-L%40yahoogroups.com>] On Behalf Of Leah Halpin Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 12:46 PM To: lbdgolfer; [email protected]<mailto:EDI-L%40yahoogroups.com> Subject: Re: [EDI-L] SPS Commerce or like service You're asking for a service and saying no sales calls. So, good luck with that. If you're looking for opinions on SPS, do a search of the archives, I'll pay you a nickel for every good reference you find. Every VAN out there and probably the "services" department of your own translator vendor would love to help you for a cost. Have you spoken with them? As for connectivity, a single VAN should be able to handle all your traffic through interconnects unless these 16 customers are requiring individual connections of some kind. If you really mean customers and not suppliers, you're likely going to need new maps for each customer, unless you're lucky enough to be in an industry that adheres closely to a standard. Are you asking for help with connectivity, mapping, testing, or some combination? You'll need different skill sets for each of these. If you really have an EDI "group" and it's not just you, then you need to go back to whoever told you they need this done in 2 months, explain your other priorities and have your mutual management figure out a plan to properly prioritize this work. 16 customers in 2 months (without knowing the specifics of your industry) shouldn't be impossible unless your plate is already full. Another possibility is to hire a contractor (or two) either to take over your existing work while you onboard these new customers or to do the onboarding for you. Just my 2.5 cents. Leah ________________________________ From: lbdgolfer <[email protected]<mailto:lewis_davis%40mohawkind.com><mailto:lewis_davis%40mohawkind.com>> To: [email protected]<mailto:EDI-L%40yahoogroups.com><mailto:EDI-L%40yahoogroups.com> Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 2:10 PM Subject: [EDI-L] SPS Commerce or like service I have a need for a EDI service to quickly get up and running 16 new customers in roughly 2 months or less. I have contacted SPS Commerce and have searched for other similar companies via the internet. I haven't found much and wanted to pose this to the group and see what other options might be available. We have an internal EDI group and translator but are not able to support this quick of a stand up with this volume of customers. The idea is if we could create a standard map and leverage an existing connection then we can support this business need. I understand that there isn't a magic bullet and that there will be development on our side initially but afterwards the setup should be minimal. If you have worked with SPS or other vendors please provide me with your pro/con with each. No sales calls will be entertained via this thread. Thanks Lewis Davis [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ ... 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