Original publication date: September, 2007

Softshare Delta: Build 145 and Add-On "Bridge the Gap" Products Coming Soon

In recent months, new releases of Softshare ECS and Softshare Athena (coming soon) have generated a lot of excitement among our clients. But that does not mean that Softshare has forgotten about Softshare Delta! Read on to find out what's in store (in the VERY near future) for our universal data translator.

Model Your Trading Partner's EDI Implementation Conventions in Seconds!

As a Softshare Delta user, you know that before you can create a data translation map, you must first model the source and target data. And, you know that if you are mapping EDI transactions, at least one of the models in your map—source or target—will represent the EDI implementation conventions (ICs) of a trading partner. For a typical trading partner, you probably need an average of three models to represent the various documents that you are exchanging with that trading partner.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could snap your fingers and instantly create these EDI models? For many trading partners, you can! Build 145 of Softshare Delta 4.1 (due out early October) features a brand new EDI model creation option titled "Library—Trading-partner-specific models available from Softshare," as shown here.

This new option provides real-time access (via a Web service) to an alphabetized list of the hundreds of trading partners that Softshare has created EDI models for over the years. Selecting the trading partner you are working with displays the various EDI transactions exchanged by that company. Every transaction that displays here is available for instant model generation in Delta.

It's that easy! Of course, we recommend that you compare these models to the implementation conventions (ICs) provided by your trading partner to ensure their accuracy and relevancy before using them in a production environment. You don't have to wait for build 145 to get your predefined EDI models. Go to Softshare eService today to see if we have models for your trading partners.

Note: If this feature sounds vaguely familiar to you, it is because these predefined trading-partner-specific models have been available for download from eService for many years now. We've just made it even easier by making them accessible right from Delta.

Bridging the Gap

In the coming weeks, Softshare will be announcing several new add-on components for Delta. All of these components are part of our brand new "Bridge" product series, which is aimed at making integration with your back-end ERPs a whole lot easier in Delta.

In the pipeline are add-on bridges for SAP, Oracle, and Epicor. We will provide more detailed information as the components become available; in the meantime, if you're really excited at the prospect and would like to learn more or volunteer to be a beta tester, don't hesitate to contact sales at 800-346-6703 or sales@softshare.com.