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Current EDI concerns
- Thread starter gockle
- Start date
My biggest concern is that EDI is sooooo boring. It must be up there with chartered accounting in terms of dull professions. Throw in the fact that I do EDI in an insurance company and you have one very boring job.
The thing is I have been doing it for years and it is proving difficult to break out of it and into something else.
The thing is I have been doing it for years and it is proving difficult to break out of it and into something else.
Hi Gockle,
Compared to other data structures that need to carry information, EDI is one of the structures that has actually developed into just a few heavily used standards around the world. In North-America and Australasia it is mainly
Ansi X12, In Europe mainly EDIFACT. You have a few other standards from the past that are still being used sometimes
(VICS, Tradacoms, ODETTE) but X12 and EDIFACT are the two main ones. The biggest thing (but not a concern) concerning EDI at the moment is probably EDIINT (EDI over the Internet) and AS2. Some big US and European companies are pushing it (Wal Mart, Lowes, Carrefour) which will probably mean they'll force their suppliers to use it as well. See only how much it of a topic it is in this EDI forum...
Compared to other data structures that need to carry information, EDI is one of the structures that has actually developed into just a few heavily used standards around the world. In North-America and Australasia it is mainly
Ansi X12, In Europe mainly EDIFACT. You have a few other standards from the past that are still being used sometimes
(VICS, Tradacoms, ODETTE) but X12 and EDIFACT are the two main ones. The biggest thing (but not a concern) concerning EDI at the moment is probably EDIINT (EDI over the Internet) and AS2. Some big US and European companies are pushing it (Wal Mart, Lowes, Carrefour) which will probably mean they'll force their suppliers to use it as well. See only how much it of a topic it is in this EDI forum...
GingerJames
MIS
Hi
I can't speak from years of experience, but from our point of view EDI seems far more standardised and accepted than XML for example. Embracing XML would still feel like a leap into the unknown. I have heard or read more than once that EDI will be around for a long time yet; this is perhaps true while older business systems prevail, but newer systems may be designed with an XML flavour.
I would agree that the current EDI hot topic must be AS2, and indeed we have a requirement to set this up with an existing trading partner. It seems to make a lot of sense to have a secure yet free way to exchange data, and it looks like AS2 will become widely adopted very quickly, assuming the software solutions that enable it aren't too pricey.
Good luck, cheers, GingerJames
I can't speak from years of experience, but from our point of view EDI seems far more standardised and accepted than XML for example. Embracing XML would still feel like a leap into the unknown. I have heard or read more than once that EDI will be around for a long time yet; this is perhaps true while older business systems prevail, but newer systems may be designed with an XML flavour.
I would agree that the current EDI hot topic must be AS2, and indeed we have a requirement to set this up with an existing trading partner. It seems to make a lot of sense to have a secure yet free way to exchange data, and it looks like AS2 will become widely adopted very quickly, assuming the software solutions that enable it aren't too pricey.
Good luck, cheers, GingerJames
It's interesting how people have different interests. I'm fascinated by EDI, I like patterns, I've enjoyed working with SQL and I like games with patterns.
Chipclub writes:<<My biggest concern is that EDI is sooooo boring. It must be up there with chartered accounting in terms of dull professions. Throw in the fact that I do EDI in an insurance company and you have one very boring job.
The thing is I have been doing it for years and it is proving difficult to break out of it and into something else.>>
Chip start thinking in terms of the skills you have. I got into EDI by emphasizing my logical process skills from Visual Basic and SQL. I have skills in customer service which is a big part of my job. Look for some resources on determining how your skills crossover. In my case I had to tap into skills I used over 10 years ago in a service station! (Sheesh make that almost 20 years ago.) And don't get discouraged I spent 15 months unemployed from Sept 2001 to December 2002 this isn't a great market to jump into a new career or a new aspect of your current career.
You might find a slight variation in what you are doing now enough of a break to make it to the real change. The medical industry is struggling with the EDI changeover in medical billing. Being in insurance you may already be involved in that, if not it's something to look at. Strong EDI skills are needed in the medical field.
Mark
Salem OR
Chipclub writes:<<My biggest concern is that EDI is sooooo boring. It must be up there with chartered accounting in terms of dull professions. Throw in the fact that I do EDI in an insurance company and you have one very boring job.
The thing is I have been doing it for years and it is proving difficult to break out of it and into something else.>>
Chip start thinking in terms of the skills you have. I got into EDI by emphasizing my logical process skills from Visual Basic and SQL. I have skills in customer service which is a big part of my job. Look for some resources on determining how your skills crossover. In my case I had to tap into skills I used over 10 years ago in a service station! (Sheesh make that almost 20 years ago.) And don't get discouraged I spent 15 months unemployed from Sept 2001 to December 2002 this isn't a great market to jump into a new career or a new aspect of your current career.
You might find a slight variation in what you are doing now enough of a break to make it to the real change. The medical industry is struggling with the EDI changeover in medical billing. Being in insurance you may already be involved in that, if not it's something to look at. Strong EDI skills are needed in the medical field.
Mark
Salem OR
tdacquisto
Programmer
I agree with Chipclub... It can be VERY boring at times.
Luckily I work in an environment where EDI is only once facet of my job function....
The good thing about EDI is that if you are good at it, you can pretty much work anywhere. That's a good thing in today's job market.
Tom
Luckily I work in an environment where EDI is only once facet of my job function....
The good thing about EDI is that if you are good at it, you can pretty much work anywhere. That's a good thing in today's job market.
Tom
I can't imagine anyone only doing EDI. I've been at it for over 10 years but for the most part it runs in the background with little or no interaction by me. The only time I get involved is when we get a new trading partner (usually takes less than 1 day of effort) or we add a new document set (no more than a week of effort).
The biggest new issues are dealing with competing proprietary data and non-proprietary standards (the old is new again). I think XML is a good direction and is compatible with EDI. I think proprietary data is a bigger challenge and can add short term excitement and long term pain.
All of these are just encoding schemes to move data from one system to another and should be treated as such. Real excitement is found in the business systems / processes wrapped around the movemnt this data.
The biggest new issues are dealing with competing proprietary data and non-proprietary standards (the old is new again). I think XML is a good direction and is compatible with EDI. I think proprietary data is a bigger challenge and can add short term excitement and long term pain.
All of these are just encoding schemes to move data from one system to another and should be treated as such. Real excitement is found in the business systems / processes wrapped around the movemnt this data.
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