Electronic data interchange & value-added network services.

Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in electronic form, usually between different organizations. With basic EDI, documents are electronically stored as formatted records and transmitted in batches over a telecommunications network. The transfer is similar to uploading a file to an electronic bulletin board service.

Operational benefits of EDI come from eliminating mail delay and reducing the time, cost, and errors from having to re-key data at the receiving end. Tactical and strategic benefits come from more timely information and faster interorganizational business processes.

While conceptually …