Five signs it may be time to switch to a full-service solution

by | Jul 26, 2024 | Order Fulfillment, Order Management, Retailer Requirements, Suppliers

If you feel like your current EDI solution is lacking when it comes to things like scalability, pricing or support, it may be time to switch providers. But what does that mean exactly? How do you know when it’s time to retire a solution you’ve been relying on?

Let’s explore five of the warning signs that may indicate you’re ready to switch to a full-service EDI provider.

Sign #1: You’re tired of DIY-ing your EDI.

Many EDI providers offer a great product that makes sending documents between trading partners much easier than the scattered alternative. But when service ends there, that’s where you may start to see problems.

Like any technology, an EDI solution needs to be maintained. New document types are added to the supply chain, trading partners need to be onboarded, and connections need to be tested—nearly every day. And, of course, each trading partner has unique requirements that must be met. If you’re left to do it all yourself, what are you paying for? After all, EDI is complicated and time-consuming, which is why providers like SPS Commerce exist!

Support is a crucial part of the right EDI solution. At SPS Commerce, we encourage our customers to come to us with any issue, which is why we’re available for global 24/7 support. We’re the experts, after all, which means we can solve your problems quickly and efficiently.

At SPS, we love supporting our customers, using our proven technology to give you time back in your day. Our pre-built solution configures and validates data for you, which makes our technology faster and easier to use. Spend more time doing strategic work that grows your business rather than trying to figure out a temporary solution to your most recent EDI challenge.

Sign #2: Your current EDI service is reactive instead of proactive.

With any business technology, you want to be sure that you can trust the solution and support team to quickly respond to any issues or even everyday maintenance needs. Take a second to consider your current EDI solution. Do you feel like you’re often reaching out to your service provider for additional support or about connectivity issues before they even notice?

This is the difference between proactivity and reactivity. Many EDI service providers are merely reactive, while they should be proactive.

SPS Commerce, for example, constantly monitors our technology to ensure that all our customers’ and their partners’ needs are met. EDI is a dynamic environment. With requirements always changing, we want to make sure that your service stays consistent.

This way, you can rest easy knowing that your technology is as advanced as possible and your EDI documents automatically meet all your trading partners’ parameters.

Sign #3: When you grow, your EDI solution doesn’t grow with you.

Business growth is always the goal, right? So, when new opportunities arise, you want your business to be prepared to handle them. It shouldn’t be painful to get your technology ready. Why should it fall to you to make changes to your EDI solution every time you need more capabilities or newer features?

As your business grows, you’ll start taking on new trading partners and sales channels, increasing the quantity of documents exchanged. If your current EDI system isn’t equipped to handle these sudden increases, you’re out of luck.

Automation makes scaling easier. Streamlining sales channels, shipping partners, accounting solutions and more into one solution allows for less tedious manual tasks and fewer preventable errors. Scalability means your solution can always adjust to your current needs without too much intervention.

SPS Commerce Fulfillment, for example, is scalable thanks to its pre-built connections that are automatically available for your use. We augment solutions within your ERP and provide capabilities within Fulfillment that support and enhance ERP function. While many ERPs can tackle very specific things like business finances, they may not be able to do other tasks like reconciling invoices. These small items can increase efficiency by a ton—and that’s where SPS comes in. We backfill some of those gaps for suppliers looking to do more with their existing ERP and supply chain processes.

Sign #4: You’re a small company that relies on in-house EDI experts.

Many large, enterprise companies have the flexibility and budget to have an in-house team of EDI experts. Small businesses must make the most of their time and budget more carefully. If you’re forced to recruit and staff your own in-house team of EDI experts, you’re wasting valuable time and resources on something that should be built into your EDI solution. It’s just not feasible for small- to mid-size companies!

With SPS, you’ll gain an entire EDI team that you don’t have to pay extra for, filled with some of the best experts in the industry. They’re fully equipped to handle any glitches or errors in the document exchange process and answer any questions you may have.

Get the world-class treatment you deserve with SPS Commerce and our 24/7 global support.

Sign #5: Your monthly bill is too high or uses an unpredictable pricing model.

When the first EDI technology came out, it made sense to charge per unit (in this case, kilo-character, which corresponds to 1,000 characters in a file) in the same way that you may pay for a stamp when you send a document by mail.

While paying per kilo-character sounds good in theory, it doesn’t factor in other charges, like maintenance, support or solution expansion. If your company gets bigger or adds on new trading partners (which, ultimately, are things you should be striving for!), you’re eventually going to see unexpected charges on your bill.

With a predictable pricing model and full-service support from SPS Commerce, you don’t have to worry about how many documents you’re exchanging or what maintenance and support services you’re receiving. You’ll be prepared for your bill each month, making the right EDI solution easier to love.

If any of these problems sound familiar to you, reach out to one of our experts today to see what SPS Commerce can do to replace your existing EDI solution with a full-service partner. We’d love to chat about your company’s needs to see how we can improve your supply chain and enable you to focus on business growth.

Morgan Asplund
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