Commentary:
The failure of major companies to 'make it' on their own may be indicators of a strengthening of the traditional EDI infrastructure. Traditional EDI has seen a huge resurgence as companies fall back on traditional modes/formats and structures. The bit push of past years to herd companies towards XML EDI never really yielded cost effective results except in isolated market segments.
With the consolidation of the major players in the EDI marketplace, companies will be forced to reconsider their options. Whether to go with huge (high overhead) software vendors in the marketplace with their costly support infrastructure (software costs, licensing, maintenance fees, high-fee consultation rates, etc.), or consider smaller emergent companies who offer similar/same business solutions at much reduced costs.
Much of the cost of product, support and development in huge companies is with the tremendous overhead they must support. Massive marketing programs, large W2 staff for maintenance and support and maintenance of multi-generation older architecture (to maintain backward compatibility) all add to the high price tag of the current offerings.
Smaller and more agile companies coupled with independent 'Free Agent' consulting availability may offer a much more cost effective solution. Combing through layers of complex infrastructure and software that these behemoths EDI companies offer may prove very costly to acquire, maintain and use. Smaller software companies can be more creative and competitive (especially on cost) as their overhead is dramatically smaller and their ability to respond to a changing marketplace gives them a significant technology advantage.
Only time will tell. Go with one of these huge behemoths and pay high support and maintenance or search and identify more flexible and cost effective solutions for your EDI needs.
Need help? Call The EDI Guy! It's what I do!
IBM buys Sterling Commerce from AT&T for $1.4B
May 24, 2010, 12:20 PM EDT
IBM is buying AT&T subsidiary Sterling Commerce, maker of business-to-business data integration software, for about US $1.4 billion in cash, the companies announced Monday (May 24, 2010).
The pending acquisition will bolster IBM's already burgeoning portfolio of data management software. Sterling Commerce's capabilities, combined with IBM's own middleware and analytics products, will help companies respond more nimbly to sudden business challenges," IBM said.
Sterling Commerce's platform helps companies exchange documents and other information, as well as tie together business processes. The company competes with the likes of GXS, Inovis and Axway.
GXS and Inovis Sign Definitive Merger Agreement
GAITHERSBURG, MD and Atlanta, GA — December 8, 2009 — GXS and Inovis, leading providers of business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce services and software solutions, today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement to merge. The merger of GXS and Inovis will further streamline customers' global B2B deployments and provide them with a comprehensive range of B2B integration software and services-based solutions. GXS is a leading B2B e-commerce services provider with a strong focus on helping customers optimize their global supply chains through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) and software-based portfolio that includes B2B messaging services, supply chain visibility, product master data management and B2B Gateway software. Inovis is a leader among B2B Gateway software providers and has a strong portfolio of complementary software and services including managed file transfer, supply chain visibility, product catalog, B2B Gateway and multi-enterprise master data management software. Inovis brings with it approximately 16,000 customers from a range of industries including retail and consumer products, financial services, transportation/logistics and automotive. The combined company creates a leading global provider of B2B e-commerce services and gives the company an even greater global presence.