September 29, 2005

Traditional EDI connectivity was shaken up some years ago by the Internet and XML technology. For B2B customers, the big improvment was a much lower cost.

In the past, EDI value-added network providers charged a lot of money for providing the connectivity. Now, Internet communications are a much more economical solution, and one that creates a lot of interest.

Now nuBridges wants to shake up connectivity again, this time by tapping into two very powerful paradigms: on demand and open source.

nuBridges has technology built on open source components, for which it charges customers based on a usage model that, according to nuBridges CEO Wain Kellum, "allows people to put B2B connections in place at a fundamental price point difference than historical alternatives."

Kellum doesn't get into specifics about the pricing structure, which can very by customer (John Deere is one), but he does promise a cheaper solution, whether for hub operators (e.g. retailers) or the spokes (e.g. mandated suppliers) connecting to the hub.

"There's an almost zero up-front cost and an ongoing transaction model that significantly lowers the cost of e-business," Kellum reiterates. He also emphasizes the importance of service-level agreements to guard customers from performance variability.

In sum, nuBridges feels that open source will once more change the value proposition of B2B connectivity, which in turn will create more usage of connectivity itself.

"If you ask most companies, whether hubs or spokes, if they have as many digital connections as they want, the answer is no," Kellum concludes. "Too much money. But with open source we eliminate the need for licensing fees."

Source: Line 56