Retail EDI

In the last three months two events have come about to save the retail supply chain et al millions of dollars annually.  An estimated $35,000,000 is spent annually over the last few years on AS2 by retail suppliers, retailers and others (3^rd parties).  I think this is going to change. 

Much of that money was spent as a result of Wal-mart requiring certified AS2 connections from their trading partners.  By certified we are talking about Drummond certification not the certificates traded between two TPs.  Certification is a costly process to undertake for any software provider.  In doing the programming and ‘building’ of that application the software company has to invest money.  Being required to have their product certified means they have to pay the certifying body then sit on that investment while certification takes place.  Cost of certification is added to cost of development when determining how much to sell the software for (Among other things).  Wal-mart has rescinded their requirement for ‘certified’ AS2 recently meaning this is no longer a consideration for 99% of all hubs requiring or allowing AS2.

In addition to the changes by Wal-mart we have the Open Source community getting close to a finished working, documented AS2 product.  For those not aware the Open Source software movement; its huge.  The idea that software costs money steams some people and as a result you have a network of software developers, programmers, testers, etc all over the world collaborating together on projects – AS2 is one of them.  There are lots of other reasons why people work on Open Source projects, but in this particular case it’s a huge market created to sell AS2 at high prices and doesn’t need to be there now that the technology – which is not so complicated to begin with – has matured.  One of the benefits of Open Source is that you can get it for free.  And while a consultant may charge you for installation and setup as well as customizations – they can’t charge for the application itself if you chose one released under the GNU licensing.  Even if you do chose another, pricing will be coming down now that the code is so much more accessible and easier to deal with.  Beware of who you buy it from; always make sure it’s a reputable source.

In keeping with Retail EDI’s philosophy of trying to improve efficiency for everyone - we have to say kudos to Wal-mart.  At the same time reach out and give a bug thank you to the developer working on this project in the “open” network.

Interested in exploring the open source version of AS2 or just lending support?  The code/project can be found at this URL: http://sourceforge.net/projects/openas2/ .