Ads by TechWords

See your link here
Receive the latest technology news and information.
Networking
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
Cloud Computing
View all newsletters




Privacy Policy
 

Users caught in middle of VAN spat

Customers seek work-arounds after rival value-added networks drop online links

April 8, 2002 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - A nasty spitting match between rival e-commerce value-added networks (VAN) has corporate users crying foul and worrying about the long-term status of their online links to supply chain partners.
Dublin, Ohio-based Sterling Commerce Inc. last week confirmed that it plans to terminate its VAN interconnect with New York-based Internet Commerce Corp. (ICC), effective today. Sterling's move follows a decision in September by market leader GE Global Exchange Services Inc. (GXS) to disconnect its VAN from the one run by ICC.
Users need interconnects between different e-commerce networks to process business transactions via electronic data interchange (EDI) transmissions with suppliers and customers that subscribe to other VANs. ICC said its network has more than 1,000 users.
Neither Sterling nor Gaithersburg, Md.-based GXS has said why it cut off ICC. GXS said only that it acted for "business reasons," while Sterling declined to comment.
For now, ICC customers can get around the disconnects by having their EDI traffic routed to Sterling and GXS users through intermediary links. Charlie Townsend, chief technology officer at New York-based Randa Corp., said the men's neckwear maker will be able to send data to business partners on Sterling's network via IBM's VAN at no extra cost, with ICC picking up the tab.
"There's always more than one way to skin a cat, and maybe these bigger [VANs] will discover they're not as important as they thought they were," he said. "If this was a power play, it didn't work."
But Ken Vollmer, an analyst at Giga Information Group Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., said ICC may not be able to absorb the extra fees indefinitely. "They can only afford to eat those charges for so long," he said.
Gregory Onjack, data interchange e-commerce administrator at Mack Trucks Inc. in Allentown, Pa., said VAN users need assurances that they won't be subject to these kinds of unexpected changes. He pointed out that telecommunications firms can't randomly disconnect from one another.
Onjack said Mack Trucks has 200 suppliers on Sterling's network and more than 350 on GXS's VAN. Mack used to be a GXS customer, but he said it switched early last year because ICC's prices were 70% lower than the $20,000-plus monthly fee it paid to GXS.
Now, Onjack said, both GXS and Sterling have offered to meet ICC's price if Mack shifts to their networks. "To me, this is a terrible business practice," he said. "I call it price fixing."
Russell Stultz, president and CEO of Wordware Publishing Inc. in Plano, Texas, said that he also was contacted



Jump to comments

Networking

Additional Resources

Xerox
By using solid ink technology only from Xerox, you could save up to 65% by printing color for the cost of black and white. Enter for a chance to WIN a PhaserTM 8860 network color printer!
Microsoft
Save time and mitigate security risk. Deploy it now.
Sybase
In this white paper, IDC analyzes the role of next-generation mobile enterprise platforms as organizations seek a more strategic deployment of mobile solutions.

Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.

White Papers & Webcasts

Southern Company
Download Now  

Aligning IT to Business: The Rising Importance of Application Delivery Networks
Application Delivery Networking (ADN) will play a vital role in helping enterprises incorporate strategic technologies to achieve business initiatives.

Mitigate Risk, Lower Costs and Improve Network Efficiency
Create a stable IP network that not only meets today's challenges, but is flexible enough to also meet future demands.

Share our Strength
Download Now  

Preparing Your Business Services for the Future
Would you trust your network monitoring tools enough to know when something is truly halting a business service?

IPAM: Slashing Network Costs
Slashing Network Costs by Consolidating and Automating Core Network Services

Horror stories: Managing IT Across Multiple Locations
How one extra sharp IT manager eliminates daily agony, hassle and repetition.