This is a very common EDI cost related question and often the first question a company asks when they are new to EDI. Whilst it is completely understandable that companies ask how much EDI software costs, it is not an easy question to answer due to the number of variables involved in EDI pricing. Also it depends whether the question just relates to the EDI implementation costs or on-going EDI costs?
As covered in some of the other questions, there are a range of EDI solutions available with different delivery models, which can have a huge impact on the cost. Whilst one solution may appear to be good value compared to another, it is important that you are comparing like for like solutions, or alternatively taking into account the key differences. For example, whilst an on-premise EDI solution may appear to have lower running costs compared to an outsourced managed service, it is important to factor in the additional costs involved in managing EDI in-house.
EDI costs can also vary according to the number of trading partners you will be using the EDI solution to trade with, what messages will be exchanged (for example, will it be just orders and invoices or additional EDI messages such as ASN’s) and whether the EDI solution is integrated with your back office system, or simply a web-EDI solution that is accessed through a web browser.
This isn’t to say that EDI pricing has to complicated, it just means that it’s not really possible to give a ball-park figure for how much EDI costs to implement. It can literally range from as little as a few hundred pounds to trade with one customer or supplier using a basic EDI solution, right up to hundreds of thousands of pounds for an integrated EDI managed service for trading with thousands of customers and suppliers across the globe.
