EDI services — from setup to ongoing partner management
In short: EDI services cover the full lifecycle: initial platform setup, trading partner onboarding (certificates, mappings, test cycles), production go-live, and ongoing operations (monitoring, exception handling, partner spec updates). EDIconnect offers all as managed services with a fixed monthly fee.
Key capabilities
- Trading partner onboarding: We handle certificates, GLN registration, spec review, mapping, test cycle with each new retailer or customer.
- Mapping as a service: Custom EDIFACT/X12 mapping done by our team. You provide the ERP format, we ship the map.
- 24/7 monitoring: Real-time alerts on message failures, MDN gaps, SLA breaches. Human on-call during retailer peak hours.
- Exception handling: Rejected documents triaged, re-mapped, re-sent with explanation. Weekly SLA report to your team.
- Spec change management: When a retailer updates their EDI spec (annual or ad-hoc), we upgrade the mapping without disrupting production.
- Compliance & audit support: Full audit trail, retention per country regulation, on-request extracts for tax authority or partner audit.
What ongoing EDI operations really involve
The active work in a live EDI operation is not sending documents — that's automated. It's handling the 1-2% of messages that fail: a retailer changed a GLN, a GTIN was retired, an item is missing a mandatory attribute, a certificate expired, a partner deployed a new spec version overnight. Without a dedicated operations layer, these failures silently break the order-to-cash cycle.
Managed EDI services solve this: an operations team watches the message flow 24/7, triages exceptions, contacts partners when needed, and only escalates to your team when a business decision is required. Typical outcome: 99.5%+ documents delivered on the first attempt, exceptions resolved within business hours.
Frequently asked questions
What are EDI services?
EDI services are the combination of software, integration work, partner onboarding, and ongoing operations delivered by an EDI service provider on behalf of a company. Instead of running an EDI system in-house, you outsource the entire flow to a specialist who bills a monthly fee.
What do managed EDI service providers handle?
A managed EDI service provider handles the full stack: platform hosting, trading-partner onboarding (certificates, spec analysis, mapping), test cycles with each partner, production monitoring, exception handling, spec change management, and audit/compliance reporting. Your team only sees exceptions that require business decisions.
What is EDI outsourcing?
EDI outsourcing means contracting a third party to run your entire EDI operation — software, connectivity, mapping, partner onboarding and daily operations. You keep control of the business decisions (which partners, which documents), the provider does everything technical. Also called managed EDI.
How to choose the best EDI service provider?
Evaluate on: (1) coverage of the partners you already need to connect, (2) response SLA on exceptions, (3) transparent per-partner onboarding cost, (4) proof of large-scale operations (uptime, transaction volume), (5) contract flexibility (month-to-month vs annual lock-in).
How much do EDI services cost?
Full managed EDI services typically range €200-1,500/month depending on partner count and monthly document volume. Self-service cloud EDI starts at €24/month. Pure onboarding of a new partner (one-time) usually runs €300-800 per partner.