Connect IBM Cloud to EDI instantly
Join thousands of businesses moving EDI orders, invoices and fulfilment updates between IBM Cloud and their trading partners on XEDI, no manual re-keying.
No credit card needed ✦ Free EDI mailbox included
Getting started with IBM Cloud EDI
XEDI exchanges trading files through IBM Cloud Object Storage, which in practice usually means fitting alongside older systems that are not going anywhere and should not have to.
One managed platform, no custom code
XEDI maps IBM Cloud to your trading partners and validates every document, so data flows straight into the systems your teams already use.
IBM estates usually have history, and that is the design constraint
Businesses on IBM Cloud tend to have been running systems for a long time, often with something substantial and dependable underneath that predates the cloud estate entirely. Those systems work, they are trusted, and replacing them is nobody's priority.
A trading integration has to accept that. The question is not what shape of file would be most convenient, it is what the system on the other end can read without modification. Fixed-width records, specific encodings, particular line endings and batch windows are all normal here and all workable, provided nobody pretends otherwise.
Batch rhythms are a constraint worth respecting rather than fighting
Where a core system processes on a cycle, the useful behaviour is to fit the cycle. Delivering a file five minutes after the overnight run started is worse than delivering it an hour earlier, even though it is technically more current.
So collection and delivery windows are agreed against how the estate actually runs. Meanwhile the partner-facing side operates at the pace retailers expect, with the platform absorbing the difference between their timing and your batch.
What your team sees day to day
You get an EDI mailbox and a portal that behaves like an inbox, so trading state is visible without waiting for a batch report.
Retailer demand comes in and the despatch advice reflects the real shipment, labelled to the partner's standard, with the invoice raised on delivery and its arrival recorded.
Nothing in the estate has to change to accommodate this. The EDI capability is bolted onto what is already running, including the parts of it that are older than the cloud around them.
Documents you can exchange
- Order files written to a bucket for your systems
- Despatch and quantity files collected from a bucket
- Invoice data written for downstream or legacy consumption
- Stock and catalogue files exchanged with partners
- Failed documents written for correction
Built for IBM Cloud teams
Whoever owns IBM Cloud in your business, XEDI keeps EDI accurate and hands-off.
- Enterprise IT and integration teams
- Regulated businesses
- Organisations with long-lived core systems
- Finance and operations relying on batch processes
- Teams running hybrid cloud and on-premises estates
IBM Cloud EDI document types
A bucket carries objects; what matters here is the format the consuming system needs.
| Document | What it carries | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Order files | Retailer demand written in the format and encoding the consuming system can read unmodified. | XEDI to Object Storage |
| Despatch files | What is shipping, collected from the estate and validated before becoming a despatch advice. | Object Storage to XEDI |
| Invoice data | Invoice detail written for finance processing, including legacy batch consumers. | XEDI to Object Storage |
| Catalogue and stock files | Product and availability figures exchanged with partners on an agreed cycle. | Either direction |
| Processed objects | Handled files moved aside so a batch does not pick them up twice. | Within the bucket |
| Exception objects | Documents failing validation, written with enough detail for an operator to act. | XEDI to Object Storage |
How to connect IBM Cloud with EDI using XEDI
The design follows what the existing systems need rather than what is technically fashionable. The sequence below is what onboarding looks like from your side.
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01
We establish what consumes and produces these files, including anything older sitting behind the cloud estate.
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02
We agree buckets, paths and the file formats those systems can actually handle.
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03
We set up access scoped to the exchange locations.
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04
We prove the flows against the real consumers rather than an idealised version of them.
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05
You get EDI added to the estate as it is, rather than as a reason to change it.
Ready to connect IBM Cloud?
Talk through documents, mapping, testing and go-live with XEDI.
Everything about IBM Cloud EDI
Common requirements
- Buckets and regions in scope
- What produces and consumes the files
- Formats and encodings those systems require
- Access and credential policy
- The trading partners the files relate to
What we need from you to build it
Only what we cannot decide for you. Partner requirements are ours; the constraints of your estate have to come from you.
- Buckets and regions
- Which locations carry exchange traffic, and any residency requirement attached to them.
- What produces and consumes
- Including anything older behind the cloud estate, since that usually dictates the file format.
- Formats and encodings
- What the consuming system reads without modification, which may well not be a modern default.
- Batch windows
- When processing runs, so delivery fits the cycle rather than missing it by minutes.
- The partners the files relate to
- Which relationships this serves. What each requires is already ours.
Why suppliers choose XEDI for IBM Cloud
- Your partners are very likely connected already, which matters where internal change moves slowly by design.
- The integration fits the systems you have rather than requiring them to be modernised first.
- File formats follow what the consuming system reads, including older fixed-width and encoding requirements.
- Batch windows are respected, so a file arrives usefully rather than technically on time.
- The platform absorbs the gap between retailer timing and your processing cycle.
- Partner requirements stay ours, which matters most where internal change is slow by design.
Our core system is old. Is that a problem?
Not usually. The file is produced in whatever format that system reads without modification, including fixed-width layouts and specific encodings, because replacing a working core system is nobody's priority.
We process in overnight batches. Does that work?
Yes, and the windows are agreed so files land usefully rather than just before a run starts. The platform absorbs the difference between retailer timing and your cycle.
Can you meet data residency requirements?
Region scope is part of the initial discussion, since regulated businesses commonly have constraints on where trading data may be held.
Plan your IBM Cloud EDI setup
Everything you need to scope, map and go live with IBM Cloud, in one place.