It seems that every day that passes there is some new kind of software solution or technological advancement which us business owners are told will change the way in which we work. Many of these so-called ‘solutions’ must be taken with a pinch of salt and scrutinized heavily before you sign up. On a personal note, I stayed away from this kind of solutions for a very long time as I simply didn’t have the knowledge or the know how to put them into place and use them to make my business more successful. One area that I have invested in, however, is web EDI, a fantastic solution which really has benefitted my business an incredible amount since I have started using it. You may have already heard of this but aren’t too sure what it is all about, if you are in this boat, here is my take on web EDI for business, what it is, and how it can help.
What Is It?
EDI is actually nothing new and for over 30 years it has existed in some form or another. In layman terms, EDI stands for electronic data interchange, and it is about converted old practices within your business which would have usually been done on paper, and instead using solely computers to carry out these practices. In terms of web EDI, this is about using an internet browser to conduct all of these tasks. For example let’s take data entry, with web EDI you can use digital, or online forms, to complete this kind of task with ease.
How Do I Get It?
There is a wide range of companies who offer all types of different EDI solutions and you should do some shopping around and speak to the providers at length before you commit to starting using this kind of software solution. I have not got any experience of other forms of EDI such as the cloud and so the only one which I could personally recommend would be the web-based version, a solution which has really helped to improve the efficiency of my business.
How Can It Benefit My Business?
The big question which I always ask, and I am sure that you do too, is how on Earth can this piece of software help my business? As I mentioned before, efficiency is what this kind of solution is all about and it can really help to save your business those two most important things, time and money. In terms of finance, the process and the operations which you will be completing using this kind of software will help you to save money on paper, energy and multiple tasks and practices which become redundant when you start using EDI. In terms of productivity, I go back to the example of data entry, this can be done far faster when using computers over traditional methods and that means your staff can complete tasks in a far shorter space of time.
