The Importance of Preparing for an Interview

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Adam Barron

You’re a top candidate in your field. Your experience is the perfect match for the job description. Your resume was a golden needle in a haystack of lifeless resumes, and the hiring manager for that hot new position you’ve been eyeing jumped at the chance to request an interview with you within minutes of reviewing your application.

It’s in the bag, right?

Not necessarily.

Anyone can blow it during the interview if they aren’t prepared regardless of how good they look on paper. Interviewing is a skill, an art, and it only gets stronger with practice and preparation. How many times have you set aside or spent less than two minutes skimming over that interview prep information your recruiter has sent to you? Sure, it probably contained information that you already know and have heard a thousand times before: show confidence, verbally express your high interest in not only the position but in the company as a whole, provide detailed responses to any questions asked, and other tidbits you have probably heard since you applied for your first job, whether or not it was at the local chip-n-putt.

Whether you’re looking for your next exciting contracting gig or a place to hang your hat for the next ten years, what’s an hour or less of your time? Whether or not you get the offer, it’s certainly time well spent. A phrase constantly heard here at EDI Specialists is, “Even if it’s information you already know, it always helps to refresh yourself before any interview.”

Check back over the next few weeks for my upcoming “Five Senses of Interviewing” series, where I will expand on the above with some helpful hints that many qualified candidates often overlook.

Posted in EDI Resources, Job Postings & HR Musings | Leave a comment

Navigating the Winding Road of Recruiting Relationships

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Gretchen Ponte

When I began in the staffing industry, I heard so many horror stories about it being a shark tank, with a high likelihood of burn out and it’s an every man for himself type industry. I’d like to say that this woman has not had that experience at all!

Staffing and recruiting is about relationships and relationship building – without it, you are sunk. As a recruiter, working with a diverse candidate pool in the IT world, it can sometimes be difficult to navigate the winding road of building a relationship, especially when one party might have had a prior negative experience with a headhunter or an agency.

As a company searches for a staffing firm to assist them, or a candidate seeks a recruiter to help them find new employment, it is important for both parties to start fresh. The sales person or recruiter must build a positive relationship that will last years. Whether it is a company paying for a staffing service, or a candidate using an agency for a job search, a relationship goes both ways in order to have success.

Communication is the key. I feel fortunate to work with a group of people that not only have a good track record of doing this, but have succeeded in having relationships that span years, having fun along the way. In this New Year, my goal is to continue and strengthen relationship building with former and new candidates alike.

Go Pats!

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Raising Arizona at the VCF (Vendor Compliance Federation) Fall Conference

Posted on December 14, 2011 by Aron Gilbody

Recently my travels took me to scenic Scottsdale, AZ to the VCF (Vendor Compliance Federation) Fall Conference. The Vendor Compliance conference is designed to bring retailers and their suppliers together to ensure communication, collaboration and execution across the supply chain. It was an excellent opportunity to network with industry leaders in the areas of vendor compliance, RFID, barcodes, supply chain, ASN’s and data synchronization to name a few. It also seemed to me that several retailers are forecasting the economic environment to improve in 2012 and are working out their budgets in order to launch projects in these areas.

Our discussions with VCF attendees reflected this sense of urgency placed on 2012 and what EDI Specialists, Inc. can provide them to achieve goals and objectives. Retailers and their Suppliers have always been in our core group of verticals but in recent years the overall demand from these companies has cooled off some. It was certainly refreshing to hear talk of investing in technology and resources again. In any event it was great to be back at the VCF (Vendor Compliance Federation) to see old friends and also meet new ones. I have a feeling we’ll be back in the future. My suitcase is packed away for now but one never knows when it will need to be dusted off for my next round of travel. Until the next one, let the thought of a wonderful holiday season and increased 2012 revenues keep you warm this winter.

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The Right IDEA

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Aron Gilbody

Last week I traveled to the banks of the mighty Mississippi to attend the IDEA E-Biz Forum in St. Louis. The forum provided training and educational opportunities to B2B leaders in the electrical supply chain. For most in attendance, EDI is a critical part of their business. I met with individuals from several industries including many in the manufacturing, distribution and technology space. If there was one major take-away from this conference, it was companies are hiring despite the current economic environment. Even though August was a record month for EDI Specialists, Inc., I was still somewhat surprised and encouraged by the amount of folks in need of resources. The common theme revolved around the use of consultants to help supplement 4th quarter projects. Since we live and breathe EDI here, that was the main topic of conversation, but we had many discussions around IT specific needs as well. Some mentioned ERP upgrades, others the shortage of quality Programmers and DBA’s in their local areas, and a few were seeking Project Managers to lead their teams. Others expressed supply chain specific goals they hope to achieve in 2012 and the people they’ll need in place to accomplish them. Our IT Staffing Division, Key IT, is dedicated to providing our clients with these exact types of professionals so it looks like we’ll be busy this fall and beyond. The need to hire permanent employees is on the rise across the board as well. The bottom line is it was a beneficial event for us to attend and we enjoyed the opportunity to network with prospective clients and candidates alike. So if you are in need of full time or contract professionals, or looking for a career change yourself, let EDI Specialists & Key IT be your “Gateway” to success. You never know where my travels will take me next, but until next time, enjoy the autumn months and I wish you a prosperous 4th quarter.

Posted in eCommerce, EDI Resources, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) | Leave a comment

SAP to Acquire Business-to-Business Networking Provider Crossgate

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Joseph Gilbody

Crossgate Acquisition by SAP to Instantly Connect SAP Customers and Their Business Partners for Networking at Enterprise Level; Will Link Enterprises for Smoother Interoperability, Faster Information Flows, More Productivity, Smarter Decisions.

Adding to its portfolio of solutions that create rapid value for customers worldwide, SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced its intent to acquire business-to-business (B2B) integration provider Crossgate. A leading provider of hosted B2B integration services, Crossgate enables companies to fully integrate and network with trading partners, clients and suppliers, allowing electronic data exchange with any business partner regardless of their technical capability. As a result of this acquisition, SAP will enable networking at the enterprise level, providing an easy way for trading partners to collaborate, share data and automate processes that link customers and suppliers for streamlined B2B e-commerce.

Headquartered in Munich, Germany, Crossgate helps more than 40,000 business partners across multiple industries to securely exchange important documents and data by connecting companies with their trading partners for faster, more efficient B2B e-commerce. The acquisition of Crossgate follows SAP’s strategy to complement existing applications and solutions with smart purchases that offer innovative technologies and capabilities while maintaining its successful organic growth track record.

Crossgate helps companies connect with any trading partner by joining the network once and linking with prebuilt business partner profiles. This is a full-service alternative, which eliminates the need for costly point-to-point integration. It lowers costs and enables further partner participation in B2B initiatives. Additionally, Crossgate’s e-invoicing services offer an innovative and secure solution covering the entire process of inbound and outbound invoices, including signatures, compliance monitoring, integrated with customers’ backend systems and finance processes.

SAP and Crossgate have a proven history of partnership as part of the SAP ecosystem, and in October 2008 Crossgate received an investment from SAP. Soon after, the partnership was furthered by entering into a global reseller agreement that allowed SAP to offer its customers Crossgate’s B2B Content Engine as an SAP solution extension under the product name SAP® Information Interchange application by Crossgate. Most recently, SAP agreed to resell and market the SAP® E-Invoicing for Compliance application by Crossgate, which allows companies to send and receive digitally signed, compliant PDFs or EDI invoices electronically.

“Companies live in an evolving global network of customers and partners, and technology from Crossgate allows them to interact in new ways at the enterprise level the same way that social networking has transformed the way people interact as individuals,” said Peter Maier, general manager, head of Line of Business Solutions, SAP AG.  ”By acquiring Crossgate’s highly differentiated solution, we help our customers extend their end-to-end business processes running on SAP to their customers and partners. As a result, thousands of SAP customers will join the network to exchange information easier, execute transactions faster and collaborate better.”

“Crossgate is extremely excited that SAP, our long-term partner, has acquired our company and solutions,” said Stefan Tittel, CEO and founder, Crossgate. “With combined social network paradigms and service extensions of business applications, SAP and Crossgate now have the potential to change the face of business networks and deliver a new level of collaboration to SAP customers and their business network partners. Our executive management team is excited about the possibility of bringing the Crossgate mission to the next level together with SAP. Our customers will experience business networking that is simple, compelling and efficient.”

The acquisition is subject to the approval of the relevant antitrust authorities. SAP will provide additional details about future plans after the acquisition of Crossgate is completed, which the company anticipates will occur by November 1, 2011. Terms and purchase price of this acquisition are not publicly disclosed.

About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 172,000 customers (includes customers from the acquisition of Sybase) to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “forecast,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “project,” “predict,” “should” and “will” and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Copyright © 2011 SAP AG. All rights reserved.
SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and in several other countries all over the world. All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

For more information, press only:
Jim Dever, +1 (610) 661-2161, james.dever@sap.com, EDT
Hilmar Schepp, +49 160 8896531, hilmar.schepp@sap.com, CET
SAP Press Office, +49 (6227) 7-46315, CET; +1 (610) 661-3200, EDT; press@sap.com

For more information, financial community only:
Stefan Gruber, +49 (6227) 7-44872, investor@sap.com, CET

SOURCE SAP AG
http://www.sap.com

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NEECOM Fall Conference 2011

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Wayne Marshall

The New England Electronic Commerce Users’ Group (NEECOM) will be hosting its annual, Fall Conference on Thursday, October 27th at the Doubletree Hotel in Westborough, MA. As always, we have lined up an exciting slate of speakers and current, relevant industry topics and trends, along with many vendors exhibiting their latest EC/EDI products and services.

Topics Covered Include:

  • A review of the Current State of EDI, and what may lie ahead
  • Achieving Smarter Commerce through Optimized Buy and Sell Processes.
  • Future Proofing and Integration Strategy
  • Motor Carrier EDI
  • Managing Your Supply Chain in the Cloud – Trends and Benefits
  • GXS Vision – Post Inovis Merger
  • Plus a special 45 minute Extol User Forum following our event

We remain the foremost EC/EDI group in the country. The low cost and high quality of our conferences makes this a MUST ATTEND for those wishing to stay abreast of industry trends and changing technology.

For registration information, please visit www.neecom.org.

Also, please help us promote our group and this event, by forwarding this to others, both inside and outside your organization. Feel free to call me at 207 827-4395 for further information, or Ira Keltz, at 617 724-1832.

Regards,

Wayne Marshall
Program Director, NEECOM
www.neecom.org
wmarshall@edispecialists.com

Posted in EDI Resources, Wayne’s World | Leave a comment

Microsoft PDC Rebranded as Microsoft BUILD

Posted on August 18, 2011 by Shashi Raina

Beginning with the 2011 conference, Microsoft has decided to rebrand the Professional Developer Conference (PDC) as Microsoft BUILD (http://www.buildwindows.com/). The name change of this popular conference from Microsoft PDC to Microsoft BUILD does not appear to convey a different meaning. If fact, I am not entirely sure what message is trying to be conveyed with the name change. Microsoft did not broadcast the name change as publically as one might imagine. In fact, for some odd reason, the rebranding Microsoft PDC as Microsoft BUILD has not garnered as much attention at all from the numerous Microsoft blogs and sites out there. In addition, the Microsoft BUILD registration page was so hidden that even search engines were not displaying the official registration page for standard terms such as “PDC Microsoft conference”.

Well, for people who have not been able to find the relevant information related to the conference, Microsoft BUILD (formerly Microsoft PDC) will occur on September 13-16, 2011 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California. The Microsoft PDC conference has been ongoing since July 1992, and has been hosted frequently in California over the last two decades.

So far, Microsoft BUILD has not publicized the conference agenda, keynote speakers, or session topics, which is unusual for an elite conference such as this. My assumption is that there will be breaking news around direction of BizTalk Cloud technologies in addition to the usual expected announcements of Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10. Any news or updates to Windows mobile platform (“Mango” code name) will also receive decent coverage as Microsoft has been aggressively trying to break into the Smartphone market. Even as Mango appears to be a robust platform, it is difficult to break through the enormous barrier created by Android and iPhone. Google’s recent purchase of MMI bodes well for Microsoft. The buyout means that Windows mobile is now the only true Open Source mobile platform left in the market. It is rather ironic that a company traditionally linked with developing proprietary technologies is taking this mantle from a company like Google that is traditionally linked with developing and encouraging Open Source systems. This change in Microsoft’s behavior shows the fast changing technology landscape, and underlines the obstacles faced by CIOs in planning strategic IT initiatives.

With Microsoft consolidating its solutions around Desktop, Web, Cloud and Mobile with the latest release of Visual Studio 2011, these are exciting times for MS developers. As Microsoft streamlines its technologies, it has simultaneously been removing the redundancies. BizTalk-AppFabric consolidation is happening along with Silverlight-HTML5 consolidation. SharePoint story is unchanged and it is one of the few non-redundant technologies in the Microsoft stack.

So, where do we stand amidst all this? Consolidation of Microsoft technologies will lead to more clarity for customers. One reason, BizTalk didn’t maintain the steep growth curve was because of the confusion created by conflicting MS technologies on the Microsoft Connected System stack. Customers like clarity, especially while evaluating different technologies to implement. They tend to select products with more clarity around their future roadmap. Microsoft shops in general are prime candidate for BizTalk, but they saw technologies like AppFabric and WCF close substitute for BizTalk. For most of them, sole reason for buying BizTalk was because they were an EDI shop. On the other hand, BizTalk was a tough sell in non-Microsoft shops as it works with Microsoft framework. A java shop will most likely go for a GIS or webMethods implementation.

Real value of BizTalk lies in developing it as an integration hub for both EDI and Non-EDI integrations and then extending it to link with SharePoint. Next step will be to combine on-premise and cloud integration on same platform. This is where Azure AppFabric is leading us to. Even though the conference has already sold out online, one should keep an eye on what happens this year at Microsoft PDC (BUILD) for more on this.

Posted in Microsoft BizTalk, Microsoft Technologies | Leave a comment

EDI Specialists, Inc. Becomes Newest Member of the American Staffing Association

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Joseph Gilbody

EDI Specialists, Inc., in Raynham, MA, has joined the American Staffing Association, a trade organization that represents the U.S. staffing industry. Millions of Americans go to work for U.S. staffing companies every day, working across all occupational areas, and over 15% of temporary and contract employees working in technical or informational technology jobs.

As a technology-focused staffing and implementation services firm, EDI Specialists, Inc., specializes in the areas of electronic data interchange (EDI) consulting, enterprise application integration (EAI) consulting, Microsoft Technologies (SharePoint, .NET, Cloud Computer, Workflow, WCF, and BizTalk Consulting) as well as Information Technology (IT) solutions.

ASA members provide a wide range of employment services and solutions, and we are proud to be associated with such a prestigious and esteemed organization. “Since 1994, I have had the pleasure of working with some of the best and brightest IT / E-commerce professionals from across the globe. Joining ASA demonstrates our intention to provide our clients and consultants with additional resources so that we may all continue to grow and prosper,” says Joe Gilbody, Founder & Chief Executive Officer of EDI Specialists, Inc.

About EDI Specialists, Inc.
EDI Specialists, the premier staffing & services provider in its industry, delivers to clients a superior level of solutions and services. Focusing on the areas of e-Commerce; Electronic Data Interchange (EDI); Enterprise Application Integration (EAI); Microsoft Technologies; and Information Technology (IT) Solutions, we address our clients’ technological needs through short-term and permanent placements, along with consulting and implementation services. For more information about EDI consulting services, BizTalk migration projects, etc., go to http://www.edispecialists.com/ or visit our blog: EDI Nation for the latest industry news and happenings in the world of Electronic Data Interchange.

About the American Staffing Association
The American Staffing Association is the voice of the U.S. staffing industry. ASA and its affiliated chapters advance the interests of staffing and recruiting firms of all sizes and across all sectors through legal and legislative advocacy, public relations, education, and the promotion of high standards of legal, ethical, and professional practices. ASA members provide the full range of employment and work force services and solutions, including temporary and contract staffing, recruiting and permanent placement, outplacement and outsourcing, training, and human resource consulting.More information about ASA is available at www.americanstaffing.net.

Media Contact
Karen Fitzgerald
Marketing Manager
(508) 967-9219
kfitzgerald @ edispecialists . com

Posted in Job Postings & HR Musings | Leave a comment

EDI Measurements

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Wayne Marshall

Would You Drive A Car With No Dashboard?

Though I have known this for many years, recent discussions with IT and EDI Managers highlights the degree to which the entire EDI Community and individual industries lack any EDI metrics or measurements  - not just to measure themselves, but to see how they compare to other companies overall, or within their respective industries.  Additionally, everyone wants to know what best practices are within a given process or sphere, but who defines a best practice?

Back in the “early days” of EDI, there were plenty of published articles on these topics, and good, collaborative efforts were made to measure and benchmark.  There are so many aspects of EDI and potential EDI metrics such as the percentage of error-free POs processed to the cost per EDI transaction and so on.

Though there seems to be great interest in knowing about EDI metrics and best practices for EDI measurement, there is not the same degree of interest in participating in any activities to define best practices and examine EDI metrics.  A call from me last year to thousands of EDI professionals across the country produced just three respondents!
I will give kudos to the retail industry and VCF for some of the work they have done around compliance, ASNs, etc.

I think it’s about time a national organization like X12, DISA or GS1 got behind an initiative to bring companies and industries together again. We all need to sit at the table – through some hard work, a few arguments and with executive buy-in, maybe we can illustrate just how beneficial EDI metrics are and how measurement can help use reach business goals when implemented correctly and across functions.

After all, with the money and effort spent on EDI, and without any EDI metrics or benchmarking, we are just driving blindly down the road.

Posted in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Wayne’s World | Leave a comment

BizTalk is Dead? Really?

Posted on June 23, 2011 by Shashi Raina

Seriously, every time I hear the phrase “BizTalk is Dead” or “BizTalk is Obsolete”, I want to scream. The speculation of BizTalk’s downfall multiplies exponentially with each new release of Connected System stack technology. With the announcements of Oslo and recent Azure App Fabric –June CTP, the blogosphere exploded with cries of “BizTalk is Dead”.

Personally, if one thinks of BizTalk as a brand, then yes, the BizTalk brand may become obsolete in the near future. Even that is speculation, one could argue. But, if one considers BizTalk as a set of tools or better yet as an Integration Enabler, then BizTalk cannot be dead. There may be re-organization around the tools – but they will not fade away. I agree that redundancies in form of Windows App Fabric and Windows Azure App Fabric do take away from BizTalk. They also create confusion in the mind of new and existing clients. Especially, when one’s marketing pitch does not mesh with the company’s technical pitch. A few years ago, I would just blindly advocate for BizTalk in scenarios involving hosted workflows as well as service compositions. In today’s technical world, that is no longer the case. Microsoft has officially labeled BizTalk as an Integration Server, while Windows Server App Fabric is labeled as an Application Server with Windows Azure App Fabric called a Cloud Integration Platform. It can get confusing between these 3 technologies.

If we mathematically establish a relationship between these 3, it will look something like:
BizTalk > Windows Server App Fabric + Windows Azure App Fabric

It can be argued that in near future Windows Azure App Fabric may expand to include more of the existing BizTalk tool set and that may make the relationship more like:
BizTalk = Windows Server App Fabric + Windows Azure App Fabric

This is where technical writers and bloggers jump in, and start saying that BizTalk is dead as it can be replaced by combination of the two technologies! In my opinion:

1. Azure App Fabric is not a mature product yet and it is too early to say anything. Remember Oslo?
2. It is quite possible that BizTalk tools will be re-organized around a cloud platform using Azure App fabric as core. Depending on how one sees it, it could be branded as a new version of BizTalk with Azure App Fabric as the cloud enabler. This will not mean the end of BizTalk.
3. The other possibility is that BizTalk and Azure App Fabric will continue their parallel paths for the foreseeable future. This will not mean the end of BizTalk either.

It could be said that Azure App Fabric is a new technology that BizTalk developers will have to learn. Just like the BizTalk 2004 release made BizTalk developers learn .net, and BizTalk 2006R2 made developers look into WCF.

Windows Server App Fabric is more of an Application Server than an Integration Server. However, BizTalk Appfabric connect allows .net developers to leverage the LOB Adapters and Mapper to create workflow solutions. This compliments BizTalk, just like Windows Azure App Fabric does.

As a BizTalk developer, I have mixed feelings. On one side, I feel dismayed that the BizTalk tool set is being broken and leveraged around different Microsoft stacks. Now everyone else will be able to enjoy the excellent BizTalk tool sets that were once the sole province of BizTalk developers. It more or less takes away this exclusivity we have enjoyed. On the other hand, I feel happy. As BizTalk developers, we are uniquely positioned to leave our mark across different technology stacks that will leverage these BizTalk tools.

Following are list of tools that are still exclusive to BizTalk, and should be considered when evaluating other options.
• Accelerators (EDI, SWIFT, Rosettanet, RFID, EDIFACT, HL7)
• Pipelines
• Flat File processing
• BAM
• BRE (it is exposed as a REST API now but still under BizTalk licensing)
• BizTalk Mapper (BizTalk AppFabric connect enables you to use the mapper with Server App Fabric, still under BizTalk licensing)
• Non-WCF adapters like FileAct/Interact
• Host Integration Server

These exclusive considerations could ultimately make the choice between BizTalk and other technologies for you. As the MS Technology Stack expands, we will keep you abreast of new developments and continue to share our opinions.

Posted in Microsoft BizTalk, Microsoft Technologies | Leave a comment