Common interaction models

There are two common ways to integrate trading partners for B2B. They are listed as follows.

Direct enterprise integration

In this model, both trading partner organizations have in-house IT and can directly transact EDI messages. There are systems in place to send and receive EDI transactions over point-to-point protocols without any mediator or middleman.

Service provider integration

In this model, one of the trading partners is a small-to-medium business player who cannot afford in-house IT. In order to facilitate EDI interactions, there is a middleman, or the EDI service provider, who acts as a liaison between the two partners. The service provider talks about EDI to a trading partner on one end and transacts non-EDI (such as XLS/XML) with the other trading partner. The service provider charges a fee based on transaction size/volume or the complexity of the protocols used.

Value Added Networks (VANs) are specialized networks offering end-to-end B2B services in a service...