In search of an efficient EDIcebreaker: Use of electronic marketplaces for the diffusion of EDI among SMEs

Abstract

Although EDI is considered to be an old technology, many firms have invested considerable resources in EDI. During the last decades, SMEs have implemented EDI in order to meet the demands of their business partners. However, the SMEs do not derive the full benefit of their investments because they use EDI with too few business partners. One problem in this context is that the EDI users are invisible and isolated to each other. With the common use of the Internet among businesses, electronic marketplaces become increasingly accessible. This paper suggests that a solution to the problem of the isolated EDI users can be found within electronic marketplaces. As for the bilateral EDI arrangements and the multilateral electronic marketplaces they have two characteristics in common: (1) both are based on electronic data transactions over telecommunication networks, and (2) both have so far proven to be most suitable for commodities and standardized products. © 2001 by Springer Science+ Business Media New York.