Abstract:
Organizations tend to use information systems (IS) applications that require data to be exchanged between different parties, while data exchange is restricted with information reach and range, which determines the organizations’ IT platform. To determine the best platform, a comparison between electronic data interchange (EDI) and web services was conducted depending on certain criteria, and then matching the results with the information reach and range. The main findings show that the web services platform can take place when the range of information access is required by anyone and anywhere regardless of IT base. EDI can take place when the range of information access doesn’t exceed the organizations’ boundaries. But when the range of information access exceeds the organizations’ boundaries, still between certain partners, web services or EDI can take place, and thus the organization can select them from those platforms depending on other criteria such as security, and cost.
