Describe the Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) architecture in brief.

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) may be generally easy to understand as the replacement of paper-based purchase orders along with electronic equivalents. This is actually much broader into its application than the procurement process, and impacts of these are far greater than mere automation.

A more careful definition of Electronic Data Interchange is 'the exchange of documents in standardized electronic form, in between organizations, in an automated way, directly from a computer application in individual organization to an application in other'.

Architecture of EDI

Electronic Data Interchange can be compared and contrasted with electronic mail (email). Email enables free- format, textual messages to be electronically transmitted from one person to other. Electronic Data Interchange, conversely, supports structured business messages (those that are expressed into hard-copy, pre-printed forms or business documents), and transmits them electronically among computer applications, quite than between people.

The necessary elements of EDI are:

• The use of an electronic transmission medium (initially a value-added network, but increasingly the open, public Internet) quite than the dispatch of physical storage media as magnetic disks and tapes;
• The utilization of structured, formatted messages based upon agreed standards (that messages can be interpreted, translated and checked for compliance along with an explicit set of rules);
• Relatively quick delivery of electronic documents from sender to receiver (usually implying receipt in hours or even minutes); and
• Direct communication in between applications (quite than merely in between computers).

EDI depends upon a moderately sophisticated information technology infrastructure. It must comprise data processing, data management and networking abilities, to enable the efficient capture of data in electronic form.