Maybe what the Jackson Five were to sing back in the 70s (but the song was released by The Osmonds, instead) – when they were dominating the charts – much like young Michael would do many years later until he got too … eccentric … and started with skin-lightening, reclusive living, sequined gloves and nose-jobs – doesn’t seem like it would have too much to do with EDI, but stay with Me; you know I can deliver on the goods…

Or, maybe better yet, I could have used Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust”… There’s another fitting analogy.

What got Me started on this concept was a simple breakdown of a simple part.  Or, rather, the simple part’s interaction with another part…

If you don’t know (or even don’t care), I live in Southern California.  However, I live in the desert regions of Southern California – near the resort areas of Palm Springs.  And, as you might imagine, it can be HOT there.  Like 115 degrees in the shade – if you can find the shade…  OK, maybe it’s not THAT bad, but even in September – on the 15^th – just a week shy of the first official day of autumn – we can still be in the 100 to 110 degree range.  But it’s nice, as the humidity is only 12%.  What’s the old adage?  It’s a DRY heat…?

Well, to help combat the heat of the desert, we all tend to have multiple ways of keeping cool – from centralized AC systems, window and portable AC systems to this wonderful device called the Evaporative Cooler.  Or the Swamp Cooler, if you so desire.  I like Evaporative better…  It’s got a bit more … class … and style.  Evaporative coolers are simple enough – they’re a big box that is attached to the side of your house.  Inside, there are few moving parts – a pump, a motor, and a fan.  On the three exposed sides – the fourth side is attached to your house – you have intake vents that are lined with pads.  These pads are made from different materials, but think of them as being big sponges – lots of little crevices and holes for air to pass through.

The concept is simple enough – if you add some moisture to the air, it will “feel” cooler and help to cool the air inside your home.  The mechanicals are pretty simple too.  A motor turns the fan, which sucks air in through the vents and the pads.  The pump in the bottom of the unit takes water and moistens the pads that the air flows through.  The fan then pushes the air into your home through a hole in the wall.

Are they effective?  You bet!  Just ask anybody that lives in a desert climate – or even through the swampy hot and humid Eastern Seaboard!

Evaporative coolers can drop the temp by (usually) at least 10 degrees and even as much as 20!  That’s nice…  And it’s cheaper to run than your central AC, and it’s operating on lower voltage current.  There are some drawbacks, however.  They DO use water – some can use as much as 5 to 10 gallons PER DAY of precious H2O.  And the more humid it is outside, the less effectively the cooler works.  There’s a thing called “DEW POINT” which greatly impacts the ability of the cooler to work properly.  It’s some strange formula that takes the humidity and the temperature and the concept of “moisture in the air” and combines it all together and creates a DEW POINT that’s expressed in degrees.

Now, I rely on My evaporative – OK, that’s just getting TOO long to type over and over…  I rely on My Swamp cooler to keep My house cool and comfy on those hot summer days (and nights!)…  As I said, it’s cheaper to run than A/C and does a great job…

Well, Sunday night, My swamp cooler was having problems – BIG problems.  The fan would bind up and stop, causing the motor to overheat and shut down.  So no motor, no spinning fan, no air flow and cool air…!  YIKES!  Not a good scene, at all.

Woke up early on Monday and started to see if I could figure out what was wrong.  HA!  Everything LOOKED normal.  The fan WOULD turn (at least by hand!) and the motor would kick on.  The pump was working, water was there…  All should be working.  But it wasn’t.  Called in “the professional” – an HVAC company that works with the coolers – to take a look and tell Me what’s wrong…  And he found nothing.  He suggested oiling the bearings some more, and playing with the fan to spin it and get the oil all over the bearing and lubed up.

No luck.  Still it would kick on, work for about 30 seconds and shut down.

Called another guy; he came and took a look – and noticed that the belt – the simple rubber belt that connects the drive motor to the fan – seemed a bit … too tight … and was looking a bit worn.  This is the same kind of rubber fan belt you have under the hood of your car.

Turns out, that the last time somebody serviced the cooler, they noticed the belt was slipping.  Of course, this was because the belt was wearing out and needed replacement.  But instead of spending a few bucks on a new belt, they just pulled the motor back a bit and tightened the belt.  However, the extra “snugness” of the belt would put too much friction on the motor and the fan and the fan would stop and the motor would stop and … well, you know what happens – no air flow.

An hour or so later, a new belt is in place, the fan is spinning, the motor is running and the water is pumping and the air is cooling.  Now, even though it was up to 93 degrees INSIDE My house, the cooler quickly dropped the temp to about 83 and then it continued down to an overnight drop to 68 degrees!  AH, now THAT is nice and cool!

Of course, I was panicked, thinking I would have to replace the whole unit – the entire cooler – because of one bad part.  “Don’t let one bad apple…”…

Now, what does all of this have to do with EDI…?  Stick with Me, the payout is on the way…

Take a look at your EDI system and program.  It’s there, working away, providing comfort to your users and your trading partners.  Everything is cool.  But then somewhere along the line, somebody does something – tweaks a library, changes a communication setting, deletes a record – something – and now you’re “PRODUCTION DOWN” – “Another one bites the dust… and another one gone and another one gone, another one bites the dust…” – data is not flowing, documents are not trading and people are not happy.

Things are NOT cool.

Now, it COULD be something easy to see and right there in front of your eyes.  For example, if My cooler’s belt had broken, I’d know – QUICKLY and EASILY – what needed to be done to fix the problem.  Same with EDI – somebody unplugged a modem line or the T1 or whatever you use to communicate over.  Easy fix – plug it back in!

But now, what if somebody did something else – cleared a record, moved a library, changed a comm. setting or port…  Now the broken part isn’t right there – it’s not easy to spot and fix.   It’s the same as My slipping belt being tightened and putting too much pressure and friction on the fan bearings.  Somebody did something minor – and not visible to the naked eye – and now you’ve got nothing…  No data flow and nothing good is happening.

And yet, just a simple fix – a new fan belt – a new comm. port setting – and you’re back in business and things are working.  The point is, that even with a major production down scenario, it could just be a simple fix – a single, simple part – that needs to be looked at and put back into place.

Now you can be singing “I’m Alive” (by ELO or Celine Dion, take your pick!) again and you’re too cool for school!

Author: Craig Dunham - EDI Coordinator

Read more about Craig here: http://editalk.com/contributors/

But one of the things that Tim was ALWAYS looking for was “MORE POWER!” from his tools - and just about everything else in his life.  Tim’s tinkering with tools would often lead to disastrous results - with an over-powered tool that did far more than it should and was usually pretty destructive.

The other day, I wrote a bit about the power of DETAILS in our EDI world.  But this morning, I was reminded that - even with all the details in the world - we’re nothing without the tools to use them.  And how our actions and all the details we can monitor and provide, how they’re for nothing if the users don’t use the tools we provide them.

This concept of TOOLS and how we should use them was pushed to the forefront of My head this morning, on My drive in to work.  Here in California, we have a newly enacted law that requires the use of “hands free” devices for your cell phone when you’re driving.  Doesn’t matter if you use the phone’s built-in speakerphone abilities (if applicable), a wired headset that plugs in or one of the wonderful Bluetooth devices - whether an ear piece, a clip-on speaker or the one installed in your car (if you’ve got it).  I know that a lot of the “high-end” car companies offer this option in their models.  Lexus, Mercedes, Jaguar, BMW and more have a Bluetooth “kit” built into many of their cars.

Well, this morning, driving on I-10, making My way from Rancho Mirage (home) to Riverside (work) - about a 50 mile trip - I was being passed by a recent generation Lexus LS - the top of the line sedan.  After the Lexus passed Me, I noticed that she started slowing down and … jiggling … a bit in her lane.  When I pulled alongside (she’d slowed by about 5 to 10 MPH), I could see that she was doing something with her arms - moving them around quickly.  Then, a half-second later, into her hand comes her cell phone.

Now, we all know that cell phones are tools - and can be very good tools; very useful when used properly and to our benefit.  Of course, like a 3 year old with a hammer, sometimes tools are abused - like when some … youthful … person is texting messages to their pals - all the while driving down the road at some speed and (obviously) not paying attention to the details of driving. 

But here’s a great instance of a wonderful tool that’s not being used.  The Bluetooth (or other hands-free device).  If that driver in the Lexus had used the device she’s got - and chances are, she’s got SOMETHING to use her phone hands-free - she wouldn’t have had to fish around in her purse or a pocket or wherever her phone was and her attention to the details of her driving wouldn’t have suffered.  She wouldn’t have nearly swerved into My lane.

There are a lot of other tools we can use in our EDI daily lives, too.  And there are great tools we can provide to our users - those accounting clerks and supervisors, those buyers, those warehouse receivers, and all the others.  We can provide them with EDI Invoices, EDI Purchase Orders, EDI Shipment Notices.  We can provide them with records and forms and documents and other forms of data that can be used by them to help make their jobs just a little easier…

We have other tools in the shed that can be used to great benefits by us, our users and even our trading partners, vendors and suppliers.  We can offer solutions for nearly any question or problem - from changing a PO automatically in the system (the 860 in X12-world), provide activity/sales information (the 852), and more.  All of these tools can help us - and our users - to make work easier, better, and - very importantly - more accurate and with less errors.

We can use the 832 - Vendor Catalog - or one of the outsourced catalog website (Inovis and SPS Commerce both have them) to download and - even - automatically update our product management system with the latest and greatest information from our vendors and suppliers - size runs, color availability, UPCs, style numbers and more.  We can keep our systems up to date with product information and changes.

Another example is that it’s often important for a retailer to provide some kind of reporting to their suppliers and vendors as to how a certain product or line is doing in their stores.  These days, it’s become even more important for a buyer and a seller to work more closely together and “fine tune” the product mix in the stores and carried on the shelves and stored in the warehouse.  Retailers are having to pay more attention to their bottom line and the big picture and keep inventories to a more controlled size so they’re not saddled with left-overs come the end of a selling season.

In house, we have a reporting system (called The Eye) that can help our buyers look at trends and see how products are doing, based on sales history and comparisons of different sales periods - whether weekly, monthly, yearly or for a specific advertised sale.  However, because of the large number of products we carry - over 10000 active SKUs and many thousands more that may no longer be carried and in stock - and the large number of stores - over 400 in 10 states - tracking all of that history creates some VERY large databases for The Eye to keep track of.  So we limit some of the levels of detail available to be viewed - we don’t track each item, for example, to the store level, but keep track of the classes.  Or at the Style level of merchandise, we only can see how well that style is doing over the entire chain.

Kind of limited tools.  These tools need “MORE POWER!”

Additionally, our buyers may want to work more closely with a vendor rep on some products or lines and need to provide them with the information on how Widget X is doing in our chain and what we can do to maximize sales and limit overstock levels and all the rest.  And there are many ways that we can get that information - tools we can use - to share that with our suppliers.

If we want to do just the EDI route, we can use the 852 Product Activity document.  By creating this document and trading it with our suppliers, we can provide them with a snapshot of how well the product(s) are doing in our stores and provide them with the appropriate data that they need - and data that we can see, too - so that we can come to a better understanding of our needs and how they can help us to meet those needs.

We could also just send paper reports - or e-mails - to the rep and do it that way, as well.

There are also a number of 3rd party sources that we can use to give access to that data.  Tools that we can provide to our suppliers and that we can use with them to better understand how well a product is doing.

We recently started using Edifice as a 3rd party provider for POS Activity data reporting to our vendor community.  Every week, we compile reports on how well products are selling - or not! - in our stores and the stock levels we have and send the information - via FTP - to Edifice.  They then work with that data and create reporting that our vendors and suppliers can access (if they subscribe) to view that very same information.  Additionally, we can view that same reporting that they’re viewing, so that our buyer and the company rep can be looking at the exact same numbers and data.  They can be comparing apples to apples instead of grapes.

It’s a great tool.  And it’s got “MORE POWER” than our in-house system because Edifice can give the detail down to the size and color - the individual item or SKU - and also down to EACH store in our chain.  And the reporting compares this year to last year, and can also compare seasons and months and a lot of other points of interest.

Right now, about 2 dozen of our suppliers are subscribed to this reporting from Edifice.  And our buying department can see that exact same data.  But here’s where it all falls down - like a house of cards in a strong breeze.

Remember My tale about the Lexus driver and how she didn’t use a great tool - her Bluetooth (or similar)…?  Well, it was a case of not using a tool that can make life better.  Well, the same can hold true for this kind of Activity Data reporting - it’s a great tool - but only if the buyer - and the supplier - can open up that tool box and pull it out!  And, of course, they have to use that tool, too.

That’s really something we all can relate to in the world of EDI.  As I’d mentioned earlier, we have some great tools in our shed that we can provide to our users.  We’ve got some great ways of trading data back and forth with our vendors and suppliers - some great tools - but it’s getting our users to actually use those tools that will suddenly reap the benefit and the rewards from that hard work.

MORE POWER, indeed.

Loggins and Messina (Kenny and Jim, respectively) wrote (and sang?) a bunch of years ago.  It was the year of the Bicentennial, no less.  30 years ago…  Wow.  I remember yesterday.

But I digress – like that’s anything new…?

But they sang that so many years ago about somebody that was kind of un-cool, un-hip, not-with-it and behind the times.  Or, rather, their parents were.

But this can also be used today - right now - when talking about EDI.  We all know that EDI has been around for a number of years now – since the 80s.  A few years later than we heard about non-dancing mamas and daddies not into rock n roll…  Many of the standards we use today – ANSI/X12, UN-EDIFACT and TRADACOMS (to name a few) – all started out in the early to mid eighties.  And, in reality, none of them have changed drastically in the intervening years.

Sure, they’ve updated and changed some, but, again, not drastically so.  The basic concepts still exist.  There have been some new documents, some new segments and elements; and there have been some documents, segments and elements that have left, for sure, but they’re still pretty much the same.  For example, ANSI/X12 is updated almost every year, with changes, deletions and alterations made.   Chances are pretty good that TRADACOMS and UN-EDIFACT have changed some, too, since their introduction, but all of these changes have been “evolutionary” rather than “revolutionary” for all of the standards.

But EDI still isn’t the only way to trade documents back and forth.  We’ve still got retailers and suppliers that will continue to send paper documents – POs, Ship Notices, Invoices, and more – back and forth via the fax, using e-mail, snail-mail and other ways of getting the data from source to destination; from A to B, a side trip to H and then back again.

A lot of times, though, we’re dealing with smaller companies – those mom-n-pop establishments that don’t see or feel the need for EDI in their world.  It works just fine for them to call up ABC Company and tell them “send us 100 widgets, please, PO number 12345” and get those 100 widgets in a few days, weeks or whenever they’ve asked for them to be delivered.  And then ABC Company will send them a paper invoice after that and mom-n-pop will send them a check.

Mom-n-pop certainly are not dancing and rock-n-rolling.  Instead, they’re waltzing; or doing the Charleston.  They’re still going “old school” and processing things the way they know how.  But what if we COULD get mom-n-pop to dance and rock-n-roll?  What if they could move forward into the 21^st century and start doing that new-fangled “e-commerce thing”…?  Are there ways…?

You bet.

There are a number of EDI “service providers” out there – from big to small – SPS, DI Central, Softshare, Red Tail, and even the big networks and VANs offer some kind of small-scale EDI program – via the web or a desktop application.  It allows mom to get her boogie on and dad can let his hair down and rock out!  They’re living “Life In The Fast Lane” (The Eagles).

“Who’s Zooming Who?” (Aretha Franklin).  And that’s just it, too.  Who IS zooming who?  Who is it that decided that mom-n-pop should be doing EDI – should be rocking, rolling and dancing to a new tune…?  Was it their own decision or the decision of “somebody else”..?

Mom-n-pop – instead of being a retailer – are they a small supplier of some great product?  Do they offer up some excellent product – that they – and only they – make to such exacting standards and at such an excellent price-point that the Wal*Marts and Targets and Big Lots of the world are snatching up those widgets at such a great price and rate?  Was it that 800 to 8000 lb gorilla in the room that “forced” mom-n-pop to zoom along that EDI Highway?

The great thing is that EDI can and will help mom-n-pop to become more productive and better equipped to handle business here in 2008 – and beyond – by giving them the tools they need to get the job done, get their widgets out there and stay afloat in this – often times – unsettlingly sinking economy.

When you think about it, though, a lot of those mom-n-pop businesses and stores have grown – whether with EDI or not – by using new tools and features that become available.  They’ve moved from being on “The Flintstones” to being more with “The Jetsons”.  They’ve embraced the new technologies – as they’ve come to market – to better themselves and their businesses.  But now mom-n-pop have many stores across a region – or they’ve begun production of their newest product – the Widgette – and opened up an overseas factory to help out with production.  They’re now an 80 lb gorilla in the world.

But then they hit upon another stumbling block and they lose that step and the rhythm.  Mom-n-pop now have to deal with the realities of ASNs and carton labels (aka UCC-128 labels).  Since the order is not being sent directly to the factory – or, even if it is – the factory can’t print out those carton labels or maybe they make those widgets for more than just mom-n-pop.  So now they – mom-n-pop – have to get those labels generated and somehow they have to get attached to the cartons!

Enter some world-wide document and package delivery service and the printed labels are stuck in an envelope and mailed (basically!) to MNP Factory, LLC.  And now somebody in the factory needs to know just what to do with those labels – and it ain’t put them in the round file! – and match them to the cartons of product that mom-n-pop have ordered!  And get them all correct and perfect!  AND they have to figure out how to create that ASN for you, too.

But, still.  Mama can dance and dad is out there rocking.  And EDI is what helped them.

But what being “penny wise and pound foolish” means (basically) is that your so concerned with the pennies and how they’re being spent, you kind of lose sight of how you’re spending your pounds.  Or dollars and cents…  It’s all pretty much the same.  But it’s all about being so concerned with the small stuff - the petty details - that you lose sight of the BIG picture - the final outcome.

Anyway, the original poster over there was wondering on where he could receive some “AS2 training” – and everybody then kind of went off into the “oh, we use ______ for our AS2 connection and love it!” kind of comments – but very few seemed to offer an answer to the poster about his question – AS2 TRAINING.

Like there is such a thing!

“But, wait!” You say.  “What does this have to do with being ‘Penny wise and pound foolish’?”  I’m getting there, I’m getting there.

Seriously, though, let’s take a look at what AS2 really IS.  It’s a method of communications.  It’s a way to connect.  In a nutshell, AS2 is (from Wikipedia):

“Applicability Statement 2 (AS2) is a specification about how to transport data securely and reliably over the Internet. Security is achieved by using digital certificates and encryption.”

I kind of liken AS2 to DSL/broadband connectivity for surfing the net vs. the “old” dial up that is BSC.  It’s connecting to our trading partners via the same protocol that governs the Internet – the place we surf, download and blog – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP).

And did you really need any kind of “training” when you started using your DSL – or your wireless broadband or your cable modem or your ____ connection to the internet…?  Nope.  There’s not really a whole heckuva lot to learn.  Other than a “how to hook up your new AS2″, there’s not a much there.

Data goes in, data goes out…  Just like the Itsy Bitsy Spider…  Or the waves, crashing to shore…

But back to AS2 and what it’s all about.  AS2 is just a way for us to send data over the internet connection (HTTP) from one system to another.  No muss, no fuss, no bother.  And in some cases – or as many would lead you to believe – at no cost.

But, wait a minute!  Hold on there!  There ARE some costs involved in AS2 communications…!

When it comes to communications – sending our EDI information back and forth – so many people seem to focus solely on the concepts of the “per KC charge” or fee structure for trading data.  Inovis, GEIS, AT&T, Sterling, ICC, and all the rest, charge us (generally) a flat fee for each KC we send or receive.  Depending on how you’ve set up your contract, you may get a flat fee – say, $4000.00 a month – for a flat amount – say 50,000 KCs – of data you send or receive.  Then, after that, they charge you an “over-limit” fee of 5 cents a KC – or more or less – depending upon your contract.

With AS2, those KC charges all go far, far away…  But, what so many seem to forget – or if they’re selling – want you to forget – are the OTHER charges that can be and are associated with AS2.  Depending on what system(s) you may use to translate and transmit your data, there could be some licensing fees associated with setting up AS2.  Maybe, just maybe, your software provider allows one AS2 connection for “free” but charges a license fee for each and every AS2 connection over and above that “freebie”.  Some may not even have AS2 built into their system and you need to “add” programs or modules to your EDI application to get AS2 connectivity.

Then you get to think about the wondrous wonder of the Internet and connectivity – BANDWIDTH.  If you have a narrow “band” for your Internet connection, then this additional data may clog that tunnel.  Just think of the scenes from “Independence Day” and how Will Smith’s girlfriend (fiancé?) was caught in the tunnel as Los Angeles was being blown to bits by the invading alien horde and her and her kid and the dog were trapped in the tunnel as the fireball of alien laser energy was blowing LA apart.

Now, while your bandwidth may not be as limiting as a 2 lane tunnel in LA, it can still have some limits.  And congestion in your tunnel may not be as dire and deadly as it was in “Independence Day” – lives may not be wiped out in seconds.  But it can cause you problems with your ISP if they only give you a limited bandwidth per month.  Now you’re over and you’re getting charged for that overage.

Then there’s the concept of labor…  And right after Labor Day, too.  But there is the cost of the man-hours (or woman-hours!) it takes to set up those connections and maintain those connections.  It may only take a few minutes to set up those AS2 connections and maybe a few more to test that connection, but there are still some costs involved.  And then what if Jane AS2 Master quits and you hire Joe EDI Master who knows NOTHING of AS2 and has to learn by the seat of his pants, on the fly, as he goes along?

Plus, here’s another wrinkle in the smooth fabric of cost – wrong, bad, or error data…  Let’s say that ABC Company’s newest shipping clerk created a shipment (and, therefore, generated the ASN) for a shipment, but missed an entire pick-sheet of cartons in the truck or container.  Once he’s hit send (or whatever) and that shipment notification is generated, he can’t go and fix it – without RESENDING that ASN – corrected, of course.  So now you’ve got 2 documents – one is missing information that the other document contains.  Sure, if the EDI system at ABC Company is set up correctly, that new ASN is sent out as a replacement, but how does YOUR system handle it…?  Does it just delete the old record and rewrite the new record?  Or do you have 2 records in your system…?

So many people and companies seem to focus on the pennies of the situation those darn “per KC charges” and then lose track of the big bucks of the EDI process and programs and all of the other systems that EDI touches.  They’re so focused on the small things and the smallest cost, and they lose track of the overall costs of the project or system.  They’re so concerned with the “per KC charge” that they forget (or lose track of, anyway) the other associated costs with what they’re doing.

Don’t get Me wrong - the small stuff matters, too.  Like those “per KC charges”…  But if you’re so focused on that small figure, what happens to your bottom line costs when you take into consideration the other costs (as suggested above)…?

Penny wise and pound foolish.

It’s the same when you get that sales call from some network or VAN claiming they can save you up to half of your VAN costs!  WOW!  Sign Me up!  But, wait a minute!  What about those other costs…?  Beyond those pesky KC charges?  Don’t they matter, too?

The sales folks at those other VANs and providers aren’t thinking about your total dollars – they’re just hitting you with the easiest cost to argue – the KC charge.  They know it’s a high-profile cost of EDI.  It’s one that you have to justify every time the contract comes up or the bill needs approval.  But what of those other costs…?  The costs of downtime – what happens when the network is down…?  What about the time you’ll have to spend on trading partner notifications?  What about the time you may have to spend on reconfiguring your communications systems – or even worse – the translation set up.

So, basically, the concepts of just saving a few cents here or there on KCs are very Penny Wise, Pound Foolish.

The other day - on, yes, the EDI-L Yahoo Group - I read a post about how an Information Security department of a company was worried about the concepts of viruses and hackers gaining access through the EDI system and the documents we trade via EDI.  Most of the replies were, as you would suspect, “is your infosec group smoking crack..?!?” or something to the same thought..

But it does beg the question - how susceptible to a virus attack, a trojan horse, a hack or some other kind of attack are we through our EDI processes?  There are no virus scanners and other system tools to scan the data as it’s coming into the system via our AS2 or bisync communications sessions.  There’s not much to stop the virus or hack or trojan from getting into the system, now is there…?

Sure, you may have a firewall set-up and the data must pass through the firewall, but you’ve basically given it permission to travel through that wall, anyway, simply by virtue of the fact that you’ve given permission to the connection that the data (virus laden or otherwise!) is traveling along.

But that’s about the place when their concept of the attack falls flat…

Look at the way the data is transmitted - more or less as text - viewable as either the hex format or the text format.  And then your translator will go and take those characters and put them, based upon your mapping specs, into your system and populate the various files and data fields that you’ve mapped them to.  That traffic cop of EDI translation is directing the data flow into your system(s) to create orders, receive orders, and so on.

And it’s truly your translator and your map that will end up acting as the virus defense line - by virtue of the fact that the data that they could be sending (that virus code!)  will fail in the translation and never make it into your back-end system.  Even if they use one of the simplest hacks - a buffer overflow - you’re still pretty much safe - simply by virtue of the fact that they can send all the characters and data that they want in the element, but you’re only looking at 10 characters.  Or 12 characters.  Or however long that data field is.

The other thing to remember about these files that we trade back and forth, however, is that they’re treated and send (basically) as a text document.  Nearly all virus programs and worms and trojan horses are programs… They’re EXECUTABLE files.  They’re sent as screen-savers or zip files or whatever - but, at their root - they’re an executable file - a program.  This concept was brought up in the thread on the group, too.  And of course, the doomsday nay-sayers kept on about how you could get the malicious code into your system.

The best counter example to this, however, was the concept that I could create a wonderfully wicked virus - something that would truly erase all of your files on the hard-drive, recreate your “Favorites” (for Internet Explorer) with porn sites all about farm animals, recreate the Unabomber’s manifesto (as written by you, of course) and change all of your image files to naked images of the gender you least want to see naked…  And they’ll all be over 400 lbs of fleshy beauty.  Oh, yes, and your computer will blast - not just play - show tunes and 20s-flapper jazz at full volume…  Yeah, now that’s a VIRUS!!!

But the truth is, I could create this showstopper virus and send you the code - as a .txt file that you could open and view in Notepad or Word (or whatever writing program you use).  But will it cause any harm to your system..?  Nope…  Will those aforementioned show tunes and nudie shots render your system a disaster area..?  Nope.  All because it’s a set of instructions, but they’re not presented in a way that the computer will actually process them and follow them.  They’re nothing more than words - letters, numbers, symbols - characters - that you can view.

EDI documents are the same thing - they’re just characters that you (or your system) reads and populates into those certain fields and files.  They don’t do anything other than that.  It won’t open your ports, start the modem in a receive mode or anything else that could compromise your system.  It won’t go digging into your financial data and give access to any of the credit card data you’ve got stored or give the hacker the keys to your checking account.  They’re just text - readable collections of characters. 

So, go ahead.  I dare you.  I double dare you.  I triple-ripple, double-dog dare you.  Create a virus to be sent via EDI.  And see how many systems you infect.

One of the other things to consider - even if it WAS possible to create a virus and send it via EDI - would it be truly worth it..?  One of the bombs that often shows up on the battlegrounds of the Apple Mac vs. Windows PC wars is how safe the Macs are from viruses and attacks.  And it’s not that they’re truly safer or more secure.  Instead, it’s the law of “supply & demand”.  You’ve got hundreds of thousands of Windows PCs out there in the world.  Millions.  But only a few thousand Macs (by comparison).  So, where are you likely to get the most “bang for your buck” when creating a virus, hack or trojan horse?  By infecting 10% of the population?  Or is it by doing the 90% of the population?  That’s right - it’s the 90% group you’re going after…  You’ve got the most chances for your seeds of evil to dig in and root and create the mayhem and carnage you’re hoping for.

EDI provides that same kind of safety, as well.  There has to be so much forethought and planning on the part of the hacker - he’d have to create a document format in a document you trade AND he’d have to create the map with the specific communications parameters (qualifer, ID, network, etc.) and all of it in a format that your system would allow to translate AND move into your production fields and files. 

Sorry - ain’t never gonna happen….

But, what’s YOUR take on the chances of virus attacks in EDI..?

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                                   “Still don’t know what I was waiting for..“

That’s something we hear a lot in the EDI world - once somebody finds out how well EDI can help them.  They don’t know what they waited for - or balked against - when given the option of EDI.  Once they’ve seen-the-light, it suddenly becomes a no-brainer.  But at the time, it was strange and unknown and a change.  And we all know what people can be like when it comes to change.. Don’t we?

• Change is hard!
• What’s wrong with the way we’ve always done it?
• Oh, great!  Now what do I have to learn?

Right now, I’m working with our Accounting group in getting them to embrace and accept the 810 EDI Invoice.  And, for the most part, I’m lucky that they’re open and willing to “face the strange” and go with it..  However, where it’s making My life a living hell is that they expect everything to be done.  Now.  2 Minutes ago.  Yesterday.   ASAP.  Jump!  Jump!  JUMP!!!

Think about the time that you first began to become a part of the EDI world  You probably came from some kind of MIS position - either an operator or a programmer or an analyst or .. Or, you came from another group that your EDI program touches - either the accounting group or the buying group or the warehouse group  or .. Well, you get the picture.

                                        “Embrace the change..“

And think about the changes (Ch-ch-changes) that you encountered along the way.  Think of how you had to ch-ch-change the concepts that you held and others kept of the way things were and how they were going to be.  Think of how you and others in your organization had to ch-ch-change the way you did things - things that had been done “that-way” for years (or even longer?)..

Some of the pods of flesh on this planet are pretty adept at change.  Others - well, not so much.  No, they’re like the stubborn mule in the old Western-Comedy, leaning back, digging in their heels and not budging.  It takes a lot of force to get that immovable object to take that step forward and “embrace the change”..

Then you sometimes have to try and keep up with those changes..  In recent articles, we’ve touched on many of the changes coming to and infecting EDI as a concept.  Things like AS2, XML, E-Catalogs..  Ch-ch-changes, indeed. 

But are any or all of these changes going to help or hurt you..?

And how good are you at accepting and going with change..?  How good are you at accepting change and working with it and finding the solution to the newest ch-ch-change coming at you..?  Think about your daily commute to and from work.  There’s an accident at this highway and that street.. or the road is closed because of “police activity”..  Or there’s some guy protesting ________ (the war in Iraq, China’s hosting of the Olympic Games, gays in the military, our government’s failed policies, the new Wal*Mart coming to town, whatever - fill in the blank) from that bridge, hanging a sign over the highway..  How quick are you to think - “hmmm.. I can detour here at Main Street, go down 3 blocks to Fifth Avenue, hang a left and be back on the freeway beyond that problem”..?  Or do you just sit there with a bunch of other commuters, waiting for your turn to squeeze through the half open lane to pass by the wreck, not willing to deviate from the norm?

How well you handle change means a lot - both professionally and personally.  Change is an integral part of life.  It’s something that creeps up on us on little tiny quiet feet or comes barrelling into the china shop and disrupting lives all around.  But change is inevitable - just like death and taxes.

And change is big in EDI - no matter how static and stable the platform and concept may be.  There are - and will always be - changes to the way we do things.  Standards are often being updated.  Segments are added or deleted from the document specs.  Suppliers and buyers are often requesting new information to be sent or received.  New applications are added to your back-end systems and now you have to map this segment/element to this other file and record over there.   The PO box you use to receive payments or invoices has been altered, and the data in your documents (POs, Invoices) must reflect that new alteration.  You’ve adjusted your factor or payment “lock-box” location or service provider.  You’ve signed up with a new VAN/Network and have a new qualifier and ID..  All of these are ch-ch-changes.

               “I watch the ripples change their size But never leave the stream..“

These are just a few examples of the ch-ch-changes you may face.  And there will be many more, too.  I’ve had our EDI program up and running - well - WE’VE had our EDI program up and running since the very late 90s.  About 5 years ago, we changed our translator (upgrade) and then added a new document (the ASN) and added and expanded our trading partner count by .. well .. multitudes.  Then we added some information to our PO (requested by some of our suppliers) and changed a terms code and .. well, you get the idea.

Ch-ch-changes are important and everyday.  Expect them, plan for them and implement them.  And do not be afraid of them. 

One of the things that I’ve always had and dealt with in the past with My own EDI program for My employer.. First off, we have our own in-house solution for EDI. We use the Inovis TrustedLink i-Series program - and have for years - and pull directly from our merchandising system on our AS/400 - sorry - Series-i system. We populate back into that merchandising system (Island Pacific) and also our WM system from the inbound ASN documents. And with the new 810 Invoice that I’m working with our accounting department on, I’ll populate from that document, too.

But, again, in the beginning, there was the expansion of our program - trying to net as many of our vendors and suppliers and getting them on-the-hook and in-the-basket for EDI document trading. Now, it should be said that of our 1700-plus vendor rolls, there are some duplications - in that this product line from Big Vendor A is set up differently in our merchandising system than some other product line from the same vendor. What this means, is that I may have multiple vendor numbers assigned to a single trading partner - all based upon a product line or a division. Apparel is different from footwear which is different from hard-goods which is different from cleated shoes which is different from winter snow-wear and .. well, you get the idea.

Then, of course, there are still entries for vendors that we may not be currently doing business with - but we’ve dealt with in the past - and there is a chance (no matter how slight!) that we may just buy from them in the future. So they’re in that 1700-plus listing. Add to this, the “factors” and remit-to entries for all of these vendors, if it’s different form the “main” vendor set-up. In cases of the multiple vendor numbers (as described above) we may have them all pointing back to a single vendor number - the remit to - that we never buy from, but all the checks are sent to for invoices.

And then there are the SMBs - the Small and Medium Businesses - that we buy from. The small mom & pop company that makes the best darn badminton shuttle-cock in the world.. now I’m wondering if I spelled that right. Anyway. They make the best dang _____ in the world - and that’s ALL that they make - and we buy it from them a few times a year in some decent quantities.

Or there’s the case of the one-woman show that we order some cooling necktie bandanna kind of things from - she runs the entire operation with a part-time receptionist/secretary, but takes care of all sales and marketing and manufacturing aspects and dealings all by herself.

These are the kind of small and medium businesses that need a super low cost solution for EDI - these are the kinds of businesses that rely upon something as “un-EDI” as the concept of EDI to FAX and FAX to EDI. And sure, there are often just as inexpensive web-based EDI solutions out there - but these small business owners don’t have the time or the inclination to learn the system. Or they don’t like to get on the net - because they only use it for e-mail and even then it’s through dial-up and it’s slow, but it’s simple.

At the beginning of our EDI expansion a few years ago, it was VERY IMPORTANT that we have some kind of solution for the (very-possibly) less than tech-savvy vendors - that solution for the small guy that only has one computer and doesn’t have the time or inclination to get online to find out “you’ve got orders!” Our provider (remember, Inovis) - well, at that time, they were still QRS - worked on and created a great fax based EDI system for use with these vendors and trading partners. When Inovis took over QRS, they sold off the solution - called MEC (Managed ECommerce) to ICC, who now handles those clients.

A while back on the EDI-L Yahoo! Group, I was involved in a discussion of “what is considered EDI” (don’t remember how long ago and didn’t feel like searching through the old posts to find it), and I commented on how these kinds of documents are still considered EDI. And even being able to find a way to e-mail an order - or whatever documents you’re trading - is still EDI. EDI is Electronic Data Interchange, right? And isn’t, at the MOST basic level, an e-mail or a fax a type of EDI..? We’re sending data, right? It is being done in an electronic format, right? Just as we can trace back the data we’re sending - no matter how sophisticated - back to those 1s and 0s (ones and zeros), we can also trace these back to tones and blips and beeps that are sent over a phone line. Is this an overly simplistic explanation of it? Sure, but so is how I liken “EDI document trading” to “e-mail sending” to those less-than-tech people I deal with in other departments.

Even though many of us are pretty technical in our abilities and our ways of thinking, we need to also remember those that are not that technical. Yet they’re also people that are extremely important in the grander scheme of the WHY we’re doing EDI. They’re the buyers that create the orders. They’re the small mom-n-pop companies that make the product we buy and ship it. They’re the former nurses that work in the records room that send your medical history to the new hospital. They’re the math and accounting bean-counting pros that pay the bills and keep the ship afloat on the financial seas.

Even though we’re looking at EDI to FAX and thinking “how quaint, how archaic”, we have to remember all those other eyes out there that will be looking at and working with the data and the documents we trade without our knowledge and our tech-savvy.