Although Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) dates back to the 1960s, it remains a fixture among data transfer standards for many businesses across virtually all industries. While EDI has benefited enormously from advances in technology, EDI is not technology dependent. It is a data processing concept independent of communication protocols or transmission media.

XML, or Extensible Markup Language, is a new high-powered Web language developed for e-business. Uniting EDI with XML provides win-win, affordable and easy-to-use business solutions for all organizations. XML, with EDI as the foundation, provides ubiquitous connectivity and interoperability.

BIT's EME enterprise messaging engine handles EDI in the enterprise by utilizing XML for translation to and from EDI. For a no-cost solution, Mule has a community-offered module utilizing the Smooks transformation engine, which enables message transformation and routing. This solution requires an XML configuration of Smooks to recognize the EDI semantics for each message being transformed. The more robust solution is a licensed solution, the DataDirect X12/EDIFACT transformation engine. Data mapping can be created using the Stylus Studio XML suite and all X12/EDIFACT semantics are built into the transformation engine, saving you implementation time and hassle. BIT has developed a Mule transformer that incorporates the DataDirect X12/EDIFACT transformation engine into a package that is easy to use and configure.