Managed Services Versus In-House EDI

Managed services, or outsourcing to a third-party provider, can bring many benefits to any company. 

Reduced Infrastructure Investment

By outsourcing your EDI solutions, you can instantly add the expertise of a whole EDI team, without bringing in any additional personnel or in-house systems. Managed services save you the time and expenses of recruiting, hiring and training new employees to oversee your EDI software. While reducing this investment cost for you, you still get access to a high-level skill set. Consider the outsourced team an extension of your own IT department. 

Up-To-Date Technology

Another expense that outsourcing saves your company is technology. There's no need for you to upgrade your facilities to enjoy top of the line EDI solutions, because your managed service provider is already handling that. They'll constantly be updating their facilities, because their business depends on it. Your EDI vendor will also maintain its own facilities, saving you additional time and money overseeing additional equipment. 

Productivity

With a dedicated vendor overseeing your EDI integration, your team can focus on tasks essential to their roles like developing new products, serving customers and assessing new market opportunities. Leave the EDI mapping to the managed services firm while you take care of business. Outsourcing also lets you access more in-depth supply chain reporting, by professionals who know EDI software inside and out. Those comprehensive insights into your supply chain can help boost productivity by identifying any issues in real-time. 

Agility

Having a dedicated, experienced team in place for EDI transactions makes it easier for your business to change directions and enter new markets. By outsourcing EDI services, you will have a dedicated team managing your data interchange and developing standards. These standards make it easier to work with new partners and serve new regions. Your team won't have to keep tweaking their standards or developing whole new standards, because your EDI vendor will already have that prepared. 

Outsourcing EDI services is not something that only small companies do. Some of the largest enterprises use managed services as well. The benefits can make it a more cost-effective option, even if your company has the capital to do it in-house. At the end of the day, it's about what solutions work best for your business and your partners. That's what EDI is all about.