Five MORE Reasons to be Grateful for EDI Integration

November 27, 2019

Topics: B2B integration, EDI, EDI integration, Integration, Walmart, webservices

Photo appears courtesy of Eli Christman.

Many years ago we published a blog entitled Five Reasons to be Grateful for EDI Integration. I considered reprinting it, because well, I think it is still relevant today. But then I thought, there are more than FIVE, so here is a brand-new blog, with five MORE reasons to be grateful for EDI and B2B integration. As for me, I am grateful to work with an amazing team of talented integration specialists. What are YOU grateful for this year?

Integration makes it possible to connect disparate data sources across your organization AND with the outside world. Want Sally in Sales to get reports on 5 specific partners who send data in 3 different formats. No problem! Sally thinks it is magic, but we know better. She is grateful, nonetheless.
Webservices have made integration more flexible and near real-time when compared to traditional EDI. With everything moving to the cloud at warp speed, integrating via web services is becoming more and more common with a virtually unlimited landscape of integration possibilities. Is it weird to be grateful for web services? Not at all…
This may sound trite, not to mention obvious, but without integration, my company would not exist, and for that, I am very grateful. It has been a VERY busy few years for us and that is because integration is no longer only for enterprise-level organizations. We implement and support B2B integration for companies of all sizes. It’s not uncommon to have business coming from multiple directions…web stores, EDI, sales reps with handheld devices – even a local farmer’s market. Having a scalable and flexible integration plan can make your company go from good to great-ful. See what I did right there?
Online sales – can we all take a moment to be grateful for online shopping? A few years ago, I went out to Walmart to get an iPad on Thanksgiving and there was a line wrapped around the building. I did not get an iPad that day. But I did get one the next day by ordering online. This year, according to ADI (Adobe Digital Insights), holiday online shopping this year will hit a staggering $143.7 billion. That is a lot of Add-to-Cart taps. Consumers want the convenience of ordering from their mobile device and getting their order the next day. Another big trend is ordering online and collecting in person, otherwise known as BOPIS (buy online pick-up in-store). Without integration, access to real-time in-stock data, confirmation of shipping charges before you click Purchase, and fulfillment and delivery the same day, would not be possible. Let us all give thanks.
Lastly, let’s talk turkey. For this, I have consulted one of our favorite clients, Diestel Family Turkey Ranch. They produce the finest turkeys that money can buy, “From our commitment to regenerative agriculture, to the fresh pine-wood shavings that line our barns, to the natural and organic cleaners we use, to the generous spaces we give our birds to roam, to pioneering innovative new processes, we make only choices we’d be proud to talk about—like deciding to become one of the first turkey producers to earn a Global Animal PartnershipStep 5 rating.” And integration is what allows those turkeys to go from their farms to your table. Thank you, Diestel Family Turkey Ranch, for your commitment to sustainable and thoughtful farming practices – we are honored to have you as a client.