Introduced in the early 1990s, inter-firm Electronic Data Interchange – or EDI – is now (already!) considered as a long-standing practice.

Today, most large and middle-sized enterprises own such systems. They feature in over 70% of companies operating in a number of industry sectors, including aviation, automotive, pharmaceutical, consumer products and logistics.

Even so, an IT solution, by definition, must be updated regularly in order to adapt to evolving business practices and technologies, as well as the emerging needs of various company departments.

EDI is not an exception to this rule. Yet, according to a recent study conducted by a renowned American research firm, less than 30% of corporate EDI solutions are equipped to provide seamless solutions that match the needs of the various company departments.

Why does antiquated equipment continue to persist? And how can businesses modernize them?

Exploring the rationale behind EDI platform obsolescence at companies
EDI platforms interact with several applications within a company and sometimes with hundreds or thousands of external partners.

Consequently, commissioning of or reverting to an alternative EDI solution is usually postponed and any upgrade is restricted to the bare minimum. Such projects pose a certain risk and can demand expert intervention over several months.

Yet, the longer a company waits the more complex and costly the maintenance of their solution is likely to be. Mostly, when companies sidestep an equipment upgrade, they are prone to substantially increase the frequency at which they acquire new solutions to manage emerging business needs. This results in considerable mid-term impact in terms of costs (TCO), data flow management, traceability or security of the exchanges!

Clearly, a company and its stakeholders stand to gain more when its platform is modernized as soon as the situation demands it. But how does one go about the modernization process?