In my EDI career, I reported to at least four departments.  These include IS, Technology/Development, Finance and Operations.  Some of my direct managers included a CFO, a CTO, VP of Operations and IS Director.  In fact, I reported into three different departments within one company in the span of just two years.  My wife sometimes says to me “You’re weird.”  Perhaps the schizophrenic EDI life has something to do with it. 

This schizophrenia abounds in the EDI world.  Because of it, many EDI teams become the proverbial “red-headed stepchild” of their organizations.  Occasionally departments fight to have the team under their auspices.  Often they fight NOT to have it.  Sometimes the EDI team reports into one organization and has dotted line into one or more other organizations.  Having a confusing role makes it hard for the EDI team to get appropriate attention – or funding.  It also makes it hard to do their job – or even figure out what their job is.

In the early days EDI reported into senior level staff.  These days you are more often likely to find them 4 or 5 steps away.  After they stabilizes base transactions, the distance from leadership and the marginalization within the enterprise keep EDI teams from being involved in the next step.  Some might argue that maintaining the “B2B pipe” is the extent of the EDI team’s role.  However, having done all the root cause analysis and process definition, and because they so often straddle technology and functional roles, EDI teams are exactly the folks that should be leveraged for implementing refinement to EDI functionality to allow better compliance and smoother supply chain operations.  They should also be called upon to implement corporate compliance programs (which, by the way, look very similar to the types of metrics and controls EDI teams have used for years).  Instead, we’re finding companies in the high-tech space dropping EDI and other automated transactions and moving their suppliers to manual portals.  Scorecards are being implemented in retail but EDI staff is not involved when their companies undertake these initiatives.

EDI teams just don’t get any respect!  Do you?