In EDI terminology, „in detail“ and „from“ refer to the transmission orientation of an EDI document in relation to a given system, and not to the direction of goods, money or other things represented by the document. For example, an EDI document that orders a storage location to make an outbound delivery is detailed evidence of the computer storage system. This is an outgoing document concerning the manufacturer or distributor who forwarded the document. Another essential barrier is the cost of time and money in the first installation. The costs and time to implement, adapt and train can be costly. It is important to choose the right level of integration to meet business requirements. For a company with relatively few transactions with EDI-based partners, it may be useful for companies to implement low-cost „rip and read“ solutions that print the EDI format in a readable form and where people – not computers – react to the transaction. EDI`s outsourced EDI „Office Services“ solutions are another alternative. For other companies, the implementation of an integrated EDI solution may be necessary, as increases in the volume of transactions introduced by EDI require them to reintegrate their order management processes. In 2002, the IETF published RFC 3335 and provided a standardized and secure method for e-mailing EDI data. On 12 July 2005, an IETF working group ratified RFC4130 for MIME-based HTTP EDIINT transmissions (including as2) and the IETF prepared a similar RFC for FTP transmissions (including as3). The EDI on web services (including AS4) has been standardized by the standard-setting body OASIS.
While some EDI transmissions have been converted to these newer protocols, value-added network providers remain active. The EDI standard imposes mandatory and optional information for a given document and sets out the rules for the structure of the document. Standards are like building rules. Just as two kitchens can be built „for programming,“ but they look totally different, two EDI documents can follow the same standard and contain different information. For example, a food company may indicate the expiration date of a product, while a clothing manufacturer wants to send information about color and size. In the case of an „outgoing“ document, the integrated EDI process involves exporting a file (or database) from a company`s information systems and converting the file to the appropriate format for the translator.