Electronic Data Interchange (EDI): An Overview

Summary

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the exchange of business information in a standard, computer-readable format. Currently used by over 200,000 organizations worldwide, EDI applications range from business inquiries to purchasing goods and services to health care claims. EDI is the business-to-business component of Electronic Commerce (EC). Although the concepts are simple, the details of EDI formats are a challenge to current EDI users and a nontrivial cost facing new users.