What Consultants Wish You Knew about EDI Projects: Lessons from the Field
Posted by EDI Staffing on July 03, 2025
If you’re hiring for an EDI role, odds are you’re already juggling multiple systems, partners, and timelines. But for many small to mid-sized companies, Electronic Data Interchange is treated as a plug-and-play solution when it’s anything but.
We asked some of our longtime EDI consultants, with 25+ years of experience, to share what they wish more hiring managers and IT teams understood before starting—or rescuing an EDI project.
Here’s what they had to say and what it means for hiring:
“One EDI document won’t work for all trading partners.“
It’s a common assumption: if you have one invoice map, you can use it with every customer or vendor.
Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. Each trading partner has its own requirements, quirks, and compliance standards. Even if you’re using the same EDI standard (like X12 or EDIFACT), the implementation details will vary.
What this means for hiring: Look for EDI professionals with strong mapping skills, attention to detail, and experience working across multiple industries or trading partners.
“Fixing a broken EDI environment is like reversing a tornado with a floor fan.”
One of our consultants, with 25+ years of practice, compared EDI cleanup projects to disaster recovery. Broken maps, undocumented processes, and patchwork integrations create chaos. EDI issues tend to get pushed down the list until they affect revenue, and by then, it’s a fire drill.
What this means for hiring: If you’re hiring for a system overhaul or cleanup, bring in someone who can assess the whole ecosystem, not just someone who can fix one map. Project management, cross-functional communication, and systems thinking are key.
“EDI is usually blamed first, but looped in last.”
This came up more than once. When a shipment doesn’t go out or an invoice fails, EDI is often blamed—even if the issue started in ERP, customer service, or sales. The catch? EDI professionals are often the last to know about internal changes that affect their work.
What this means for hiring: Look for people who can build trust across departments and ask the right questions. EDI touches everything, so communication skills and internal visibility are just as important as technical ability.
“You’re not just hiring a mapper. You’re hiring a translator, detective, and firefighter.”
Good EDI professionals aren’t just technical. They’re persistent, collaborative, and used to solving complex puzzles with limited information. Many have experience bridging gaps between business teams and IT, translating needs into code, and staying calm under pressure.
What this means for hiring: Titles don’t always tell the full story. Look beyond “years of experience” and ask about the types of projects someone has worked on. Have they built something from scratch? Rescued a failing implementation? Worked with challenging partners?
Final Thought: Experience Matters—More Than Ever
EDI isn’t going away. If anything, it’s becoming more critical as supply chains digitize, systems modernize, and data expectations grow. But that doesn’t mean it’s simple.
If you’re hiring for an EDI role, find someone who’s been in the trenches, not just someone who knows the acronyms. The right hire can make the difference between a smooth launch and a costly delay.