These days, traditional manual-based data exchange is often too complex,
inefficient, and error-prone to use and manage. Plus, it doesn’t offer the real-time
capabilities that businesses need to do business at the speed of digital.
That’s where business-to-business integration (B2Bi) comes in. Here are 6
answers to some very basic questions about B2Bi you may not have asked.
B2B integration frequently asked questions
No. 1: What is B2B integration
Also known as B2Bi, B2B integration automates communication and processes between your business, customers, suppliers, financial institutions, and regulatory databases. It collects information from your applications, standardizes it to the right partner, and securely sends it. By automating the process, your trade partners can securely exchange the critical business data you need.
No. 2: What’s the difference between B2Bi and EDI?
Both describe the method for connecting partner databases and applications. Traditional EDI is often used in supply chain processes like order-to-cash and procure-to-pay but it’s confined to asynchronous interactions and standardized protocols. B2Bi is EDI that’s API-enabled to permit real-time sharing of data directly into business applications to support things like e-commerce and real-time payments.
No. 3: What does a B2B integration solution do?
A B2Bi solution creates a single point of control for all data connections between your organization and the systems of your customers, suppliers, banks, and other business partners. Because B2B processes, apps, and data sources are different for each business, modern B2Bi is critical to automating file collection and exchange so it’s easy for everyone to access and understand.
No. 4: What are the benefits of B2B integration?
B2Bi makes it simple to manage B2B transactions using a single solution making you more competitive and driving business growth. It improves communication with partners regardless of messaging protocols and makes it easy for them to onboard and manage endpoints. Drag-and-drop visual data mapping and orchestration simplify EDI, and actionable insights improve visibility into KPIs and SLAs.
No. 5: Who can benefit from B2B integration?
The main point of B2Bi is to automate workflows to improve ordering, purchase order processing, business document exchange, and other processes. Therefore, B2Bi is integral to organizations with many connections to customers, suppliers, and financial institutions that exchange data in large volume and in real time. It’s commonly found in manufacturing, e-commerce, retail, logistics, and finance.
No. 6: Who needs API-enabled B2B integration?
If you want to move to the cloud and respond faster to evolving business demands, you need the secure, API-enabled capability of B2Bi. You’ll be able to engage customers and partners across your entire digital ecosystem with flexible deployment on-premises or in any cloud. As an always-on service, you can meet the latest regulatory standards, and cut operational risk and costs.
