EDI and the Internet: Can They Coexist?
Does the rise of the Internet mean the death of EDI, just as the rise of compact discs consigned vinyl to garage sales and eBay? Not quite.
[From iSource Business, April 2001] Before e-commerce was synonymous with the explosion of Internet-based technology, e-commerce meant Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI, which enables corporations to exchange data electronically with their suppliers, is a technology that has been in use for over 20 years, a technology upon which major manufacturers, retailers and others have spent tens of millions of dollars annually.
Now, as a new generation of Internet-based technology emerges, promising to improve the supply chain, many leap to the conclusion that EDI is on its way out. Most likely, this is a premature forecast. Commenting on a February 2000 report from Giga Information Group, Giga analyst Ken Vollmer says,
