Key Takeaways
EDI doesn’t have to be complicated: Implement in weeks, not months, and avoid costly mistakes.
Your implementation model matters: In-house, legacy managed, or modern cloud EDI have very different costs, timelines, and support levels.
The hidden costs hurt most: Chargebacks, onboarding delays, and opaque pricing often outweigh the software fee itself.
If you’ve ever heard the phrase “EDI is a nightmare”, you’re not alone. For many growing businesses, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) feels like an endless loop of slow onboarding, confusing contracts, ticket-queue support, and unpredictable pricing.
But here’s the truth: EDI doesn’t have to be painful. The reason so many companies struggle isn’t because of EDI itself, it’s because of outdated systems, rigid providers, and lack of clarity.
This guide breaks it all down in plain English:
What EDI is, why you need it, your options that include how modern cloud platforms like Elevate are changing the game for small and mid-sized businesses, what it costs, how long it takes, and a simple step-by-step path to getting started without headaches.
What Is EDI and Why Does It Matter?
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is the standard way businesses exchange documents digitally. Instead of mailing paper invoices or emailing PDFs, your system sends structured files directly into your customer’s system.
Think of EDI as automated conversations between computers. A retailer says, “We want to buy 100 units of this product” in a coded format (an 850 Purchase Order). Your system reads it, responds, and later sends back an 810 Invoice.
Common EDI Documents You Should Know About:
- 850 (Purchase Order): “We want to buy.”
- 855 (PO Acknowledgement): “Yes, we received your order and here are changes or yes we can handle everything on it.”
- 856 (Advance Ship Notice): “Here’s what we’re shipping.”
- 810 (Invoice): “Here’s the bill so pay me.”
- 997 (Functional Acknowledgment): “ We received your file.”
Why it matters: If you want to sell to retailers like Walmart, Amazon, or Chewy, EDI is non-negotiable. They won’t accept manual emails or spreadsheets.
This short video shows how our small and mid-sized business clients use Elevate to move from order to cash (receiving a purchase order to getting paid) in days depending how your trading partners respond from their side.
This is How You Automate Your EDI Workflow (PO, ASN, Invoice)
EDI Implementation Models (Explained in Plain English)
When you first look at EDI, you might run into terms like in-house, managed, cloud, iPaaS. For beginners, that’s confusing. Before you get into implementing EDI, you should know who to talk to and what kind of EDI solutions are available in the market to choose from. Let’s break it down.
1. In-House EDI
- What it means: You build or buy software, install it on your servers, and your IT team manages everything.
- Pros: Full control, potential long-term savings.
- Cons: Expensive upfront, requires skilled staff, slower updates.
- Best for: Enterprises with deep IT teams.
2. Licensed / On-Premise Software
- What it means: Similar to in-house, but usually you purchase licenses for each computer.
- Pros: Ownership, customizability.
- Cons: High upfront cost, extra for support/maintenance.
- Best for: Mid-sized companies with IT capacity.
3. Hybrid Model
- What it means: You manage some parts internally but outsource others (e.g., you handle mapping, provider handles trading partner connections).
- Pros:Flexibility.
- Cons: Can create finger-pointing when errors occur.
- Best for: Businesses in transition.
4. Legacy Managed Services (SPS, TrueCommerce, etc.)
- What it means: Provider handles everything but usually with rigid contracts and ticket-based support.
- Pros: “Hands off” setup.
- Cons: Lock-ins, slow onboarding, opaque pricing.
- Best for: Companies willing to trade flexibility for stability.
5. Modern Managed Cloud EDI (e.g., Elevate)
- What it means: Fully managed EDI delivered via the cloud, but designed with SMBs in mind — fast onboarding, transparent pricing, real human support.
- Pros: Quick start, scalability, predictable costs.
- Cons: Less DIY customization.
- Best for: SMBs and mid-market companies without in-house EDI staff.
6. Cloud iPaaS Platforms (Boomi, Celigo, MuleSoft)
- What it means: Integration platforms where you can build custom EDI flows.
- Pros: Enterprise-grade flexibility.
- Cons: Requires technical resources, costly.
- Best for: Mid-market to enterprise IT teams.
| Feature/Factor | In-House EDI | Licensed/On-Prem Software (ECS & DELTA) |
Legacy Managed Services (SPS, TrueCommerce, etc.) |
Modern Managed Cloud EDI (Elevate) |
Cloud SaaS / iPaaS (Boomi, Geligo, MuleSoft, etc.) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ownership & Control | Full ownership, IT-heavy | Local install, IT-managed | Outsourced, but rigid contracts | Outsourced, but flexible & transparent | High control, IT manages configurations |
| Setup & Onboarding | Long, IT-dependent | Complex installs | Months-long onboarding | Fast onboarding (days, not months) | Requires IT setup, integration expertise |
| Ongoing Support | Internal only | Limited vendor support | Ticket queues, slow resolution | Real human support, SLA-based | Vendor support, but IT team drives most resolution |
| Cost Model | High upfront + maintenance | License + annual fees | Opaque, contract-driven | Transparent, contract-free | Subscription, but add-on costs for connectors & data |
| Scalability | Hard to scale | Add licenses, costly | Add partners, but slow & expensive | Add partners quickly, predictable pricing | Extremely scalable, built for mid-market and enterprise |
| Best For | Enterprises w/ IT | Legacy-heavy firms | Enterprises willing to pay for legacy support | SMBs & mid-market needing agility & compliance | Mid-market to enterprise with IT staff & complex integrations |
Here is a 10 step process you should use to ensure a smooth EDI implementation especially if you are new to EDI:
EDI Implementation Guide: Step By Step Approach to Implement EDI
1. Choose Your EDI Approach
Decide whether you want a fully managed solution (others do the heavy lifting), a hybrid model (some self-management), or an in-house setup (you manage everything). Pick the path that aligns with your team’s bandwidth, expertise and risk comfort. Talk to different EDI providers and get their information and quotes. Weigh the pros and cons with your team to decide which EDI provider to go with. Here is how to choose the right EDI provider for your company.
2. Get Your Trading Partner Info
Ask each retailer or partner for their “EDI starter kit” or contact their EDI team. You’ll need things like their EDI connection protocol/communication method (AS2, SFTP, VAN), document specs, and testing contact.
3. Gather Document Specifications & Maps
Collect the mapping guidelines for all documents you’ll send/receive (POs, invoices, ASNs, etc.). Figure out field names, formats, codes. Your EDI provider or team will use these to build translation rules.
4. Understand Connectivity Options
Find out how your documents must travel (AS2, SFTP, VAN, API). Confirm that your EDI platform or provider supports all your partners’ preferred connection types.
5. Plan Document Flow Architecture
Sketch out how data will travel inside your systems. Your EDI provider should be able to help you with this as they are the subject matter experts in EDI.
- ERP/accounting → EDI platform → trading partner
- Internal systems → middle hub → EDI → partner
Ensure no blind spots in your data pipeline, things like “who transforms what” should be clear.
6. Test Internally First
Before involving trading partners, run simulations: send sample data, transform it, validate it. This helps uncover mapping mistakes, formatting errors, or missing fields. Your EDI provider should be communicating back and forth with your trading partners to help test your connections with them.
7. Schedule & Run Partner Testing
Coordinate with your trading partner’s EDI team. Run tests in their staging environment. Exchange each document type (PO, invoice, ASN) one by one until all are validated.
8. Go Live (Production)
Once testing is successful, move into production mode. Start with one or two partners first if possible, don’t flip all at once. Monitor for immediate errors.
9. Monitor & Handle Errors
After go-live, check your logs daily. Flag rejections, missing acknowledgments, failures. Set alerting so issues are caught quickly rather than piling up.
10. Manage Ongoing Changes
Partners change requirements often. You’ll need a process to adapt new mapping changes, compliance updates, or new document types without disruption.
Choose a solution that doesn’t overload your team, doesn’t trap you in contracts, and gives you real support when you need it.
Here’s the smarter way to think about it:
- Start Small, Grow Confidently
Don’t let a provider push you into buying dozens of partner connections you don’t need yet. A smarter approach: start with the partners you trade with today, then expand as your business grows. - Pick Integration That Fits You
Your EDI platform should adapt to your setup, not the other way around. Whether you run QuickBooks, Acumatica, NetSuite, or just use CSV files, EDI should work seamlessly. - Demand Transparent Pricing
Most providers will quote you a low entry fee, then hit you with extra costs for transactions, updates, and compliance. Always ask:
- How are transactions billed?
- Are mapping changes included
- Are there fees for adding new partners?
- Demand Real Human Support
When something breaks (and it will), you can’t afford to wait days for a ticket reply. You need real people who understand your business and can jump in to fix things.
We have created a beginner’s EDI checklist for you to download directly and use.
Beginner Tip: Always start with your largest revenue-driving partner first.
How Much Does EDI Cost?
TL DR; it depends on different factors but not just on licensing vs subscription. We will take a look at all different pricing models and costs involved as we go.
1. Licensed / On-Premise EDI
- Upfront Cost: $3,000+ for a single install.
- Annual Maintenance: 20–30% of purchase price for updates and support.
- Scaling: Additional licenses required for more installs.
- Best For: Companies with IT staff and long-term high-volume use.
Pros: Ownership, long-term savings at scale, customization.
Cons: High upfront cost, ongoing maintenance, harder to scale.
2. Subscription (Cloud / SaaS)
- Trading Partner-Based Pricing: Typically starts around $6,000/year for 5 partners; grows as you add more.
- Transaction Volume-Based Pricing: Per-document fees (commonly $0.25–$0.50 each), often bundled in tiers.
- Kilo-Characters (KCs): Many providers bill by KCs instead of documents. What Is a Kilocharacter (KC)? A kilocharacter = 1,000 characters of data.
Example: If one invoice = 2,000 characters, you’re billed for 2 KCs. One “transaction” might equal multiple KCs, meaning a single purchase order can cost more than expected.
Pros: Low upfront cost, scalable, predictable expenses.
Cons: Hidden fees (VAN, mapping), long-term subscriptions may cost more, less customizable.
3. Managed Cloud EDI (Modern)
This is where solutions like Elevate fit in.
- Combines SaaS affordability with full-service support.
- Transparent pricing (clear per-partner + per-transaction model).
- Fast onboarding (days, not months).
- No long-term contract lock-ins.
Pros: Designed for SMBs/mid-market; real human support; lower risk of hidden costs.
Cons: Not “DIY”best if you prefer outsourcing EDI headaches to a provider.
Other EDI Costs to Consider
Even beyond licensing or subscriptions, real-world EDI costs come from:
| Cost Type | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Setup & Implementation | Trading partner setup, testing, and mapping, can be hundreds to thousands per partner. |
| Integration | Connecting EDI to ERP/accounting systems (QuickBooks, Acumatica, NetSuite). |
| Support & Maintenance | Faster response times, extended hours, and proactive monitoring usually add cost. |
| Compliance & Updates | Retailers frequently change requirements—some providers charge for every update. |
| VAN / Connectivity Fees | If providers route through third-party VANs, these fees can add up quickly. |
Modern Approach: Providers like Elevate offer flat, transparent pricing with no surprise KC or mailbox fees. You pay a clear one-time setup, a low monthly platform fee, and then only for the documents you actually trade. That’s it. The affordable pricing comes with full support from our team included.
How Long Does It Take to Get Started?
TL; DR: EDI Support LLC has helped hundreds of SMBs implement EDI softwares. What we have found is: legacy providers, onboarding can drag on for months, stalling your ability to trade with key retailers and delaying revenue. The bottlenecks usually come from ticket-based support, complex mapping queues, and rigid implementation schedules. However, with modern managed cloud platforms like Elevate, it takes 10-15 business days depending on how the trading partner responds and how complex the integration is if there is one at all.
This is how the timeline looks:
- EDI Account Setup: Within 24 hours you are “EDI ready” which means your Elevate account is set up by our team. You can let your trading partners know that you are ready to trade with them as you have found your EDI provider.
- Simple Trading Partner Setup – You tell us who you trade with, we handle the mapping and compliance in the background.
- Fast Testing and Validation – End-to-end testing with your trading partners is managed by our team, cutting weeks off the process.
- Go-Live in Days, Not Months – Most small and mid-market companies can begin transacting in as little as 7–10 business days, with some becoming compliant in 24–48 hours for urgent needs.
Instead of endless delays, you get a clear path: plan → setup → test → go live, supported by real humans at every step. This is not boasting or overselling, it’s the reason why we built Elevate for small and mid-sized businesses.
Common Mistakes to Avoid While Planning for EDI
If you’re planning EDI, watch out for these traps:
- Overbuying upfront. Don’t pay for 50 trading partners if you’re only using 5.
- Not asking about support SLAs. If they can’t commit to response times, expect long delays.
- Ignoring retailer compliance updates. Retailers change rules all the time, your provider should handle that automatically. So ask them if they will be communicating with your trading partners as required. If not, that is a red flag.
- Skipping phased rollouts. If you are migrating from one EDI provider to another, do not move all partners at once because that can cause chaos. Start with a few, learn from errors and mistakes from the pilot batch/phase and add more as you go.
Real-World Use Cases
- A startup entering retail: Needs fast compliance with Amazon and Walmart. Modern cloud EDI is best.
- A mid-sized manufacturer: Stuck in legacy contracts with hidden costs → exploring modern alternatives.
- An enterprise: Uses iPaaS (Boomi, MuleSoft) for high customization.
The Bottom Line: EDI Without the Headache
Implementing EDI doesn’t have to feel like pulling teeth. With the right approach and the right partner, you can go from “stuck in onboarding” to “live and trading” in weeks, not months.
That’s the vision behind Elevate: cloud-based EDI that actually works for growing businesses.
See if Elevate is the right fit for you →
FAQs
A: Begin by identifying your trading partners and the documents they require (like POs, ASNs, and invoices). Many businesses get stuck here, Elevate streamlines this by managing partner requirements and compliance for you.
A: Not with modern cloud platforms. Elevate is designed for teams without in-house EDI experts. We handle mapping, testing, and partner communication so you don’t need a dedicated IT staff.
A: With legacy providers, onboarding can take months. Elevate customers are typically live in 7–10 business days (depending on how the trading partners are responding and the complexity of integrations involved), and urgent setups can be done in as little as 24–48 hours.
A: Common headaches include slow onboarding, hidden fees, ticket-based support, and rigid contracts. Elevate was built to remove these barriers with transparent pricing, real human support, and no lock-ins.
A: Testing ensures your documents flow correctly with trading partners. Elevate handles end-to-end validation with each partner so you can go live quickly and confidently.
A: Yes. Many SMBs migrate away from providers like SPS, TrueCommerce every week. At EDI Support, we use a phased approach to minimize risk and keep orders moving when helping you migrate to Elevate. Learn the best practices of switching EDI providers.
A: Retail, distribution, wholesale, and manufacturing depend on EDI to trade with big retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Chewy. Elevate is tailored for these industries but works across many others.
A: Costs can include setup, transaction fees, and integrations. Elevate keeps it simple: flat setup per partner + low per-document pricing + optional ERP integrations. No VAN fees, no KC billing. Calculate your EDI pricing here: https://edielevate.com/pricing/
A: With many providers, that means new fees. Elevate monitors changes and keeps you compliant without surprise charges.
A: Avoid rushing onboarding, underestimating support needs, or locking into rigid contracts. Choose a platform like Elevate that’s built for SMB agility—fast setup, transparent pricing, and expert support.