See the Webinar Re-play at: http://bit.ly/1Xf8kqw Consistently meeting EDI SLA requirements not only protects revenue streams, it also protects the reputation of your business and reduces the risk of non-compliance penalties. But maintaining SLA compliance as trading partners multiply and transaction volumes grow can be challenging. It becomes increasingly dependent on making good decisions about automation, optimization, and visibility mechanisms.

1. ®
Integrate. Automate. Succeed.
Trading
Partner
SLAs:
Managing
Ten
Compliance
Risks
Jim
O’Leary
Jeff
Inns

2. EDI
Service
Level
Agreement
(SLA)
Compliance
• Mee#ng
or
exceeding
trading
partner
and
internal
expecta#ons
for
EDI
performance
• Examples
of
SLA
compliance
factors:
– Data
quality
and
completeness
– Acknowledgement
and
response
#me
– Service
availability
and
predictability
– Onboarding
and
change
turn-­‐around
#me

3. Key
Issues
1. Which
opera#onal
and
life
cycle
factors
exert
the
greatest
influence
on
service
level
compliance
for
EDI?
2. What
best
prac#ces
can
mi#gate
SLA
compliance
risk
and
cost?
3. What
role
does
technology
play
in
SLA
compliance?
Where
is
human
involvement
necessary?

4. Profile:
EXTOL
InternaFonal
• Provider
of
business
integra#on
soMware
and
services
since
1989
• 800
Customers
in
Transporta#on,
Logis#cs,
Distribu#on,
CPG,
Food,
Apparel,
Industrial
Manufacturing,
Health
Care,
Pharmaceu#cals
• How
we’re
different:
– Hybrid
middleware
and
services
solu#on
with
flexible
licensing,
deployment,
and
management
op#ons
– Faster
#me
to
value
without
sacrificing
power
or
flexibility
– Unmatched
customer
service
and
support
4

5. External
Loca-ons,
Partners,
and
Services
On-­‐premise
Applica-ons,
Services,
and
Data
Ten
SLA
Compliance
Risk
Factors
Vendors
/
Service
Providers
Customers
Cloud
/
SaaS
Applica-ons
&
Services
EDI
Middleware
/
Service
Enterprise
Applica-ons
Windows
/
Linux
/
VMware
Opera-onal
Data
Transac-on
Data
Analy-cs
Data
Design-­‐Fme
Tools
Repository
Status / results
visibility
EDI Coordinator
Provisioning
Exception
handling
Data accuracy
And completeness
Service
availabilityScalability
Change
control
Acknowledgements
and responses
Work
prioritization
Process
latency

6. Poll
#1
Which
of
the
following
SLA
compliance
ac#ons
have
you
already
taken
in
your
business?
(check
all
that
apply)
q Designate
execu#ve
/
senior
management
accountability
for
compliance
q Create
a
wri`en
policy
with
compliance
metrics
q Monitor
and
report
excep#ons
against
baseline
compliance
metrics
q Con#nuously
evaluate
opportuni#es
to
automate
compliance
q None
of
the
above

7. 1.
Data
Completeness
and
Accuracy
-­‐
Unmanaged
Trading
Partner
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Process latency
❌ Manual errors
Ø Unpredictable response
Ø Penalties
Ø Higher processing cost
EDI
Middleware
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on
Valid
envelopes
/
headers?
Valid
syntax?
Standard
compliance?
EDI
Rejec#ons
EDI
validation
!
Data
completeness?
Valid
codes?
Referen#al
consistency?
Valid
usage?
Other
applica#on
requirement?
Applica#on
Rejec#ons
Application
-level
validation
!
Multiple error
management
mechanisms
Slow resolution
Of trading partner
complaints and
disputes
Multi-step
error identification
and diagnosis

8. 1.
Data
Completeness
and
Accuracy
–
Managed
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
Valid
envelopes
/
headers?
Valid
syntax?
Standard
compliance?
EDI
Middleware
Data
completeness?
Valid
codes?
Referen#al
consistency?
Valid
usage?
Other
applica#on
requirement?
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Lower error rate
ü Lower process latency
Ø More predictability
Ø Fewer penalties
Ø Lower processing cost
Processing
Logs
Rejected
Data
! !
EDI +
Application
validation
Automated error
Notifications
(acks)
Faster resolution
Of trading partner
complaints /
disputes
Consolidated
error
management
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on
Centralized
error detection
and diagnosis

9. 2.
ExcepFon
Handling
–
Unmanaged
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
Valid
envelopes
/
headers?
Valid
syntax?
Standard
compliance?
EDI
Middleware
EDI +
Application
validation
! !Data
completeness?
Valid
codes?
Referen#al
consistency?
Valid
usage?
Other
applica#on
requirement?
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Slow detection
❌ Slow resolution
Ø Unpredictable response
Ø Penalties
Ø Higher processing cost
Processing
Logs
Rejected
Data
High volume
of logs and
messages
Onerous
error
diagnosis
Limited
reprocessing
and resending
options
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on

10. 2.
ExcepFon
Handling
–
Managed
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
Valid
envelopes
/
headers?
Valid
syntax?
Standard
compliance?
EDI
Middleware
EDI +
Application
validation
! !
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Timely detection / repair
ü Timely response
Ø Predictable response
Ø Reduced cost
Data
completeness?
Valid
codes?
Referen#al
consistency?
Valid
usage?
Other
applica#on
requirement?
Processing
Logs
Rejected
Data
Configurable
error
notifications
Filterable
drill-down
auditing
Multi-level
reprocessing
and resending
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on

11. 3.
Acknowledgements
and
Responses
–
Unmanaged
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
Processing
Logs
Missing / Late
Outbound
Acknowledgements
Missing Inbound
Acknowledgements
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Uncertain status of
acknowledgements
❌ Undetected errors
Ø Response latency
Ø Unpredictability
Late Inbound
Acknowledgements
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on

12. 3.
Acknowledgements
and
Responses
–
Managed
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
Processing
Logs
In-process
acknowledgement
generation
Automatic
reconciliation
Late
acknowledgement
detection
Activity
Dashboard
/ Auditing
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Acknowledgement
compliance
ü Efficient
acknowledgement
verification
Ø Fewer undetected errors
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on

13. Rejected
Data
4.
Process
Latency
–
Unmanaged
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
Non-­‐EDI
Data
!
! Manual
data entry
Error correction
/ re-work
Multi-step
manual data
acceptance
Late
fulfillment /
delivery
Personnel
Dependencies
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Process latency
❌ Processing errors
❌ Unpredictable response
❌ Late/missed delivery
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on

14. Processing
Logs
Rejected
Data
4.
Process
Latency
–
Managed
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
On-time
fulfillment /
delivery
EDI and
non-EDI
data
End-to-end
Automation
without
manual steps
! !!!
Management
by exception
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Low-latency processing
ü No / few manual errors
ü Predictable response
ü Improved visibility
ü On-time delivery
Status
visibility
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on

15.
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Information latency
❌ Limited access to alerts
❌ Opportunity for error
❌ Unpredictable responseIT
Customer
Service
Customer
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on
No direct visibility
to status, results,
or alerts
5.
Visibility
to
Status
and
Results
–
Unmanaged
No direct visibility
to status, results,
or alerts

16. 5.
Visibility
to
Status
and
Results
–
Managed
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Information on-demand
ü Alerts and notifications
ü Current, accurate data
ü Predictable response
ü Superior customer
service
IT
Customer
Service
Customer
eMail Mobile
Dashboard
Direct visibility
to status, results,
and alerts
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on
Direct visibility
to status, results,
and alerts
Focus on
new business and
critical tasks

17. Programming)/)Coding)
Unassisted)
(Conven3onal))Mapping)
Assisted)(“Automated”))
Mapping)
)))))Map)Reuse)
))))Project)Genera3on)
6.
Partner
and
TransacFon
Provisioning
–
Unmanaged
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on
Runtime Design-time
Lower-level
configuration
gates skill and time
requirements
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Missed customer deadlines
❌ Penalties
❌ Missed business opportunities
Object Reuse
Productivity
and Accuracy
u
Search for suitable
maps or other
base objects, If
available
v
Modify base objects
(manually) to suit
new requirements
w
Repeat for remaining
project objects
Provisioning Process:
w
Test and rework
Modified objects
until correct results
occur
4
Project Reuse
Object-at-a-time
reuse can be slow
and error-prone
PROJECT

18. 6.
Partner
and
TransacFon
Provisioning
–
Managed
Programming)/)Coding)
Unassisted)
(Conven3onal))Mapping)
Assisted)(“Automated”))
Mapping)
)))))Map)Reuse)
))))Project)Genera3on)
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
Runtime Design-time
High-level
configuration avoids
onboarding delays
Productivity
and Accuracy
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Lower risk of meeting critical
partner deadlines
ü Higher quality deliverables
Object Reuse
Project Reuse
u
Select a base project
v
Create / generate derived
project(s) with different
partner endpoint(s),
connection(s),
map(s), etc.
w
Configure added /
modified objects
Provisioning Process:
w
Test and deploy
4
PROJECT
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on
Project-level
reuse is faster and
less error-prone

19. PROJECT
7.
Change
Control
–
Unmanaged
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
Runtime Design-time
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on
Shared
Library
PROJECT
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Untraceable changes
❌ Unrecoverable work
❌ Service interruptions
Unauthorized
changes
Unmanaged
merges
Un-versioned
changes
Difficult
to reverse
deployments

20. 7.
Change
Control
–
Managed
Trading
Partner
ERP
/
Other
Applica-on(s)
EDI
Middleware
Runtime Design-time
Transac#on
Data
Staging
/
Input
Outbound
Transac#on
Genera#on
Repository
Manager
PROJECT
Access
Control
Check-in /
check-out,
merge
PROJECT
PROJECT
Versioned
changes
Easily
reversible
deployments
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Auditable changes
ü No lost work
ü Rapid error reversal
ü Higher service availability
PROJECT

21. Slower
response times
8.
Workload
Capacity
–
Unmanaged
Processing
Capacity
Time
Demand
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Unpredictable throughput
❌ Unpredictable response
❌ Small / unavailable
recovery window
❌ Missed business
opportunities
Longer
processing
windows
Delayed
transactions
Transactions
Lost
transactions
Lost
business

22. 8.
Workload
Capacity
–
Managed
Processing
Capacity
Time
Demand
Add
processing node
Add
Processing node
Add
Processing node
Add resources
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Predictable throughput
ü Predictable response
ü Recovery headroom
ü Growth opportunities
Add resources
Add resources
Business
growth
Increased
Market share
Transactions
Strategic
value

23. 9.
Workload
PrioriFes
–
Unmanaged
Trading
Partner
1
EDI
Middleware
Trading
Partner
2
Trading
Partner
3
Trading
Partner
4
Trading
Partner
n
…
Enterprise
Applica-ons
Opera-onal
Data
Transac-on
Data
Analy-cs
Data
Trading
Partner
4
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Late, unpredictable
completion of high priority
work
❌ Potential for lost business
❌ Requires scaling the
entire system or adding
supplemental systems
All inputs get
identical
priority
All workloads
get identical
resources

24. 9.
Workload
PrioriFes
–
Managed
Trading
Partner
1
Trading
Partner
2
Trading
Partner
3
Trading
Partner
4
Trading
Partner
n
…
Enterprise
Applica-ons
Opera-onal
Data
Transac-on
Data
Analy-cs
Data
Trading
Partner
4
Tunable
resource
allocation
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Timely, predictable
completion of high priority
work
ü Lower risk of lost
business
ü Tunable response
without adding resources
EDI
Middleware
Tunable input
priority
1
1
2
3
1
2
3
3
3
1
3
3
Dynamic
queue
management
1
2

25. 10.
Service
Availability
–
Unmanaged
–
1
Enterprise
Applica-ons
Analy-cs
Data
EDI
Middleware
External
Loca-ons,
Partners,
and
Services
Vendors
/
Service
Providers
Customers
Cloud
/
SaaS
Applica-ons
&
Services
On-­‐premise
Applica-ons,
Services,
and
Data
Loss of
throughput
Loss of
queued work
No queuing
of new work
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Unresponsive to partner
inputs
❌ Loss of unprocessed
transactions
❌ Delayed processing of
high-priority work
❌ Potential loss of business
Single node architecture
with integrated communications and queuing
Opera-onal
Data
Transac-on
Data

26. 10.
Service
Availability
–
Unmanaged
–
2
EDI
Middleware
External
Loca-ons,
Partners,
and
Services
Vendors
/
Service
Providers
Customers
Cloud
/
SaaS
Applica-ons
&
Services
Rapid
service
recovery
Loss of
queued work
Continuous
queuing of
new work
EDI
Middleware
Multi-node redundancy
with simple fail-over / restart
SLA Compliance Risks:
❌ Loss of unprocessed
transactions
❌ Potential loss of business
Enterprise
Applica-ons
Analy-cs
Data
On-­‐premise
Applica-ons,
Services,
and
Data
Opera-onal
Data
Transac-on
Data

27. Fail-over
10.
Service
Availability
–
Managed
External
Loca-ons,
Partners,
and
Services
Vendors
/
Service
Providers
Customers
Cloud
/
SaaS
Applica-ons
&
Services
Continuous
Service
availability
Preservation of
queued work
Continuous
queuing of
new work
EDI
Middleware
SLA Compliance Benefits:
ü Continuous response
to partner inputs
ü No effort required to
recover / restore
queued work
ü Reduced risk of lost
business
EDI
Middleware
EDI
Middleware
EDI
Middleware
Work
Queue
Management
Work
Queue
Management
Enterprise
Applica-ons
Analy-cs
Data
On-­‐premise
Applica-ons,
Services,
and
Data
Shared
Work
Queues
Communica#on
Proxy(ies)
Opera-onal
Data
Transac-on
Data
Multi-node redundancy with queue manager fail-over
and fault-adapting workload processing

28. Poll
#2
Which
of
the
following
are
your
biggest
SLA
compliance
problems
or
concerns?
(check
all
that
apply)
q Data
accuracy
and
completeness
q Timely
diagnosis
and
resolu#on
of
excep#ons
q Managing
acknowledgements
and
responses
q Minimizing
process
latency
/
manual
interven#ons
q Self-­‐service
visibility
to
status
and
results
q Rapid
partner
onboarding
and
changes
q Scaling
to
meet
increasing
/
unpredictable
demand
q Ensuring
on-­‐#me
comple#on
of
priority
workloads
q Maintaining
high
service
availability
q Other

29. Key
Take-­‐Aways
• Having
an
SLA
compliance
plan
is
essen#al,
even
if
you
outsource
EDI
to
a
third
party
• Anything
that
can
impact
design-­‐#me
or
run#me
results
can
affect
service
levels
• Track
SLA
compliance
against
baseline
metrics
to
assess
progress
over
#me
• Iden#fy
and
minimize
manual
dependencies
to
maximize
compliance
levels

30. Q&A
Contact:
Website: www.extol.com
Email: info@extol.com
Phone: +1 (570) 628-5500
Ø Download our new white paper at:
www.extol.com/onboard