Is Your EDI Managed Services Provider Holding You Back?
Aaron Keeports
The need for EDI integration professionals is growing exponentially as companies are now expected to run 24/7, 365 days a year without interruption—due to the eCommerce boom and Amazon effect. This adds up to 8,760 hours of EDI integration attention annually.
And with EDI integration skillsets becoming difficult to find, companies are increasingly turning to managed services. The problem is that not all managed services are created equal, and many companies do not find this out until they choose an EDI managed services provider and discover the limitations first-hand.
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Understanding Black Box vs. Glass Box Managed Services Providers
EDI managed service providers can often be lumped into two categories, black-box and glass-box integration providers.
Black Box Providers
In particular, ‘black box’ managed services fall short by offering:
Lack of Visibility and Control: Complete outsourcing of integration services offers companies little-to-no visibility into operational tasks and activities, as well as poor visibility into business insights like trading partner trends and SLA performance metrics.
Breach of Trust: Once locked in with a ‘black box’ vendor, the lack of transparency a business has into integration operations, updates, and performance can diminish the long-held trust it’s built with customers and trading partners.
Limited Connectivity: Utilizing multiple platforms to handle integration demands makes it difficult for companies to promptly access data and information, manage integrations, and maintain system uptime.
Glass Box Providers
On the other hand, glass-box providers exceed by providing:
Dependable and Transparent Managed Services: Reliable communication and services provide a sense of security and confidence for the customer that operations will run smoothly, questions will be answered, and any issues will be addressed quickly.
An Intuitive, Data-Rich Integration Platform: Real-time data and analytics from all integrated systems that’s displayed in a centralized dashboard lets users dig into any transaction, workflow, process, or issue so they are always in the know.
Widespread Connectivity: A single unified platform to handle EDI natively, as well as support the growing demand for APIs and application connectors that are required to integrate customers with an ERP, TMS, CRM, WMS, and any trading partner.
Notably, during the discovery phase, glass-box integration providers will ask you questions regarding your specific business needs to see if they can fulfill and exceed your expectations. Discover 10 questions any integration provider should be asking with our infographic.
Ask Yourself These 5 Questions to Determine If Your EDI Managed Service Provider Is a Black-Box or Glass-Box Provider
To determine if your managed services provider is holding you back, it is crucial for companies to carefully evaluate their current (or potential) managed service providers by asking themselves the following five questions:
1) Am I Getting the Real Deal or the Raw Deal When It Comes to Onboarding?
What will this question tell you? Is the managed services provider giving you the fast and reliable onboarding services they promised, or are they taking much longer than expected and causing delays?
Why is getting to the bottom of this important? Trading partner onboarding is crucial to integration. Fast and accurate onboarding not only speeds time-to-revenue but ensures positive business relationships with trading partners.
Onboarding With a Black-Box Provider:
Solely focused on connecting to the trading partner
Will transform data to their canonical specification and give it to you, but don’t provide a solution for you to connect that data to your digital ecosystem—may recommend a third-party technology for last mile/internal integration
Overpromise and underdeliver, “Onboarding is super simple. You’re just connecting to a network. You don’t have to talk to a trading partner. It's all on us!” but months and years later there is little to no progress on onboarding implementation
Brother Drives Business Growth with Trust in Cleo's Managed Services
“Cleo’s team helped us move all this complex integration work out of our in-house data center in favor of a Managed Services approach where we entrust Cleo to do the onboarding, the map creation – everything.”
Onboarding With a Glass-Box Provider:
Onboard trading partners and connect to your backend system so you can perform end-to-end process automation
One complete solution with data transformation and integration into core business applications
Meaningful commitments they strive to keep —may not claim to be the quickest, but are upfront about realistic integration times (so you’re not caught off guard) because some integrations are more complex than others and require more time
2) How Much Control Do I Have?
What Will This Question Tell You? If the managed services provider gives you similar levels of control that they have, or are fully dependent on them.
Why Is Getting to the Bottom of This Important? Control lets you make simple, quick changes yourself instead of having to wait for someone else to complete them, guaranteeing your business operates just how you would like.
Control With a Black-Box Provider:
100% outsourced models, where you give up all control
You lose the ability to manage trading partner relationships
Vendor may own all EDI and integration data, as well as may withhold access to them
Control With a Glass-Box Provider:
Unmatched services flexibility—managed services, fully self-service, and blended approaches that give you the visibility and control you need
You can actively maintain and strengthen trading partner relationships
Your data is your data and your integrations are your integrations—gain access and visibility into EDI transformations, integrations, business processes, and any errors that occur
3) Am I Suffering From Black-Box Services?
What Will This Question Tell You? Are you in the dark about the actions of the managed services provider, EDI data, and integrations, or do you have full visibility into operations and analytics?
Why Is Getting to the Bottom of This Important? Having access to EDI data, integrations, and the actions of a managed services provider keeps you in the know so you can make decisions regarding critical integrations that impact your business.
Black-Box Services:
Poor visibility inhibits overall agility and restricts your knowledge of integrations
Lack of depth into integrations, as well as limited access to data, stats, and insights
Subpar transparency prevents you from seeing the actions the managed service provider is doing
Glass-Box Services:
Technology-led platform that provides accurate data that you can analyze and use to optimize operations
Rich context that lets you drill down into integrations and access specific data
Collaborative experience that allows you to see what actions the managed service provider is doing
Duraflame Chooses Cleo managed services for 24/7 monitoring and management
“Today, more than 98% of our B2B transactions are running through Cleo Integration Cloud, and we can see everything that’s going on. Their unique blend of self-service and managed services, plus their team’s drive, commitment, and attention to detail, all made our migration easy and successful.” —Director of IT, Duraflame, Inc.
4) Does My Managed Services Provider Share My Sense of Urgency?
What Will This Question Tell You? Does your managed services provider have a lackadaisical approach to error resolution, or do they understand and respect the importance of your business
Why Is Getting to the Bottom of This Important? Issues and errors can have a detrimental impact on your trading partner relationships, revenue, and future business opportunities, so you need a managed services provider that quickly fixes errors.
Urgency With a Black-Box Provider:
Chatbot response
Hours, days, or even weeks until you get a human response
Bottom of the queue first, no matter the severity—only escalated once it reaches the top of the queue
Urgency With a Glass-Box Provider:
1-hour response time assurance—each ticket assigned to a support engineer
The severity of the ticket is assessed from the onset to determine if immediate action is required
5) What Technology Does My Managed Services Provider Use?
What Will This Question Tell You? Does your managed services provider use discombobulated, outdated technology that’s loosely tossed together—or do they have future-forward, high-performance technology that works seamlessly?
Why Is Getting to the Bottom of This Important? Advanced technology allows for greater efficiency, uptime, visibility and satisfaction.
Technology With a Black-Box Provider:
Services-led, powered by people: technology is a second thought, leading to costly human errors and reducing competitive edge
Provider grows its company by acquiring other businesses, instead of investing in R&D and improving their product
EDI-centric that only focuses on flat file to EDI and EDI to flat file, with no plans for adding new integration features
Technology With a Glass-Box Provider:
Technology-led, powered by platform: human skillset and communication complements advanced technology, allowing innovation to take your operations to new heights
In order to grow the company, the provider continuously innovates its technology to attract new customers and keep current ones competitive
Ecosystem integration-centric that enables connectivity across all your systems, applications, and trading partners—allowing for real-time data, end-to-end process automation, eCommerce integration, and API support
You Need a Glass Box EDI Integration Experience
Through flexible service options, Cleo creates the most powerful integration experience that ensures 100% control and visibility to the end user.
Cleo: The Glass-Box Managed Service Provider that Propels Your Business Forward
Cleo’s managed services are built differently. We heavily invest in our team of integration and support experts, while centering our services around our cutting-edge integration technology that we continuously improve with new features.
With Cleo’s managed services, you can expect:
The same level of visibility as our managed services team
24/7, 365 access to expert support engineers
Trading partner certificate management
SLA management to avoid fines, chargebacks, and negative scorecards
…And so much more—check out our new managed services infographic for additional details. You also have multiple managed services approach options with Cleo, which we discuss in the next section.
Flexible Service Offerings That Evolve With Your Business
With Cleo, you can choose between 3 flexible service offerings.
1) Transparent Managed Services
Hands-Off Approach: Cleo takes care of everything—from onboarding and testing to ongoing integration management and monitoring
Ideal For: Businesses that are short on time or lack in-house EDI expertise—Cleo ensures your EDI always runs smoothly, freeing you to focus on other priorities
Stay Up-to-Date: From small and medium-sized businesses to enterprises, most businesses can benefit from Cleo's expertise that keeps EDI processes current with the latest technology
Maintain Control & Visibility: With Cleo's real-time reporting and dashboards, you always have a clear view of your data and integrations—monitor performance, identify issues, and make informed decisions
2) Fully Self-Service
Full Control: Your internal team takes the reins—managing all aspects of EDI installation, setup, and day-to-day operations
Benefits: Perfect for companies with existing EDI expertise who want maximum visibility into their data exchange and want to perform changes on the fly—you maintain complete control over your EDI processes and trading partner relationships
3) Custom Hybrid Services
The Best of Both Worlds: Combine self-service with Cleo's expert support—you manage your core EDI tasks while leveraging Cleo's services for specific needs.
Flexibility: This option is ideal for companies that want to handle some tasks in-house but also appreciate the convenience of Cleo's assistance when needed
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The need for continuous EDI integration and expert management has never been more critical, given the demands of a 24/7, 365-day global market. Therefore, the right EDI-managed services provider can have a significant positive impact on your business's overall efficiency and growth.
While the allure of managed services is strong, not all providers can deliver the visibility, control, and technology advancements your business requires to stay competitive. Cleo's glass-box approach stands out by offering unparalleled transparency, cutting-edge technology, and agility that’s tailored to your specific needs—so you can deliver on all your supply chain commitments.
By aligning with Cleo, you're not just choosing a service provider; you're partnering with a team that’s committed to propelling your business forward. Don't let subpar EDI management hold you back—experience the Cleo difference and see your business thrive.
Want to learn more? Contact us today at sales@cleo.com, +1.815.282.7695, or use our brief form fill, to discover how our team of integration experts and engineers can unlock the full potential of your business. And be sure to explore some of our educational resources through our resource library.
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