Moving EDI From Infor SX.e to CloudSuite Distribution

Infor SX.e distributors are moving to Infor CloudSuite Distribution (CSD), the cloud version of the same distribution software. For EDI, the move is bigger than it looks. Your team will recognize the screens, but the way an EDI system talks to the ERP changes completely.

This guide covers what changes for EDI, what stays the same, what to set up in your Infor tenant and how to test before go-live. It is based on how Comparatio connects to SX.e and to CloudSuite Distribution today.

What Changes for EDI

The Front Door

On SX.e, Comparatio imports EDI orders and supplier invoices through SX.e's web services, and 855 acknowledgments, 856 ship notices and 810 invoices go out from SX.e's own exports.

On CloudSuite Distribution, everything goes through Infor's ION API gateway. Inbound orders and supplier documents post as CSD transactions through SX.API, the API Infor provides for CSD. Outbound documents are read through CSD's read-only service interface. Nothing waits in a folder for an import job, and there are no ION Connect flows or BODs to build.

Sign-In

CSD calls are signed in through the ION API gateway, with a service account you create in your Infor tenant. Your admin also creates an SX operator for EDI. Without both, no testing can start, so ask for them early.

Where the Calls Go

Calls go over HTTPS to your Infor tenant, with certificate and hostname verification, instead of to a server on your own network.

More of the Buying Side

On CSD, supplier acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices post as PO acknowledgments, PO ASNs and AP invoices, and purchase orders go to suppliers as 850s. If only part of your supplier EDI ran through SX.e, the move is a good time to look at the rest. See procure-to-pay EDI for the supplier documents and maps.

What CSD Doesn't Take Today

Not supported on CloudSuite Distribution today: 820 remittance advice to suppliers, and 832 price catalogs or 846 inventory from suppliers. If you exchange any of these on SX.e, plan an alternative before cutover.

What Stays the Same

• Trading-partner connections. AS2, SFTP and VAN connections stay with Comparatio, and partners keep sending to your EDI IDs.
• Maps. They stay with Comparatio. A few that use data CSD doesn't provide are adjusted, and each one is tested against CSD before the switch.
• Monitoring and support. The same engineers watch every document, now on the CSD connection.
• Your business rules. Order holds, default warehouses and which POs go out by EDI are still your decisions. They are set up again for CSD.

Setting Up the CSD Connection

Besides the ION API service account and the SX operator, four things shape the setup:

• Companies. The CSD company can be set per customer or per supplier, and each company gets its own connection.
• Warehouses. Orders take the warehouse from the EDI document or a default, and outbound documents can be limited to the warehouses you choose.
• Duplicate orders. Before an order is created, Comparatio checks CSD for the same customer PO, so a resent 850 doesn't become a second order.
• Holds. Orders that need a second look can be created on hold, so your team reviews them before they release.

Testing in the CSD Test Tenant

Every flow runs in your CSD test tenant first, with real documents from your trading partners. A sensible order:

1. Customer orders in. 850s and 860s from your largest customers, checked as CSD sales orders.
2. Outbound documents in shadow mode. Acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices are built from CSD and compared with what SX.e sends today, document by document. Shadow output goes to a review folder only; nothing is sent to a partner.
3. Supplier documents. Purchase orders out, then the suppliers' acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices in.
4. Live, flow by flow. Each flow is switched on in your live tenant once it has passed in test.

Connecting CSD takes days to a few weeks, depending mostly on how quickly the service account and the test tenant are ready. Moving an existing EDI program from SX.e takes a few months, most of it partner testing.

A Planning Checklist

As Soon as You Have a CSD Date

• List every EDI touchpoint with SX.e: which documents import through its web services, which exports feed outbound documents, and which partners use which.
• Check for 820s to suppliers and for 832s or 846s from suppliers. CSD doesn't take these today.
• Tell your EDI provider the date, and plan the EDI work as part of the ERP project, not after it.

When the Infor Tenant Is Ready

• Create the ION API service account and the SX operator for EDI.
• Confirm the companies and warehouses EDI will use.
• Make sure the test tenant is available for EDI testing, not only for the ERP project team.

During Testing

• Run real documents from your largest customers and suppliers.
• Review the shadow comparisons for outbound documents and settle every difference.
• Check holds, duplicate checks and warehouse defaults with the people who use them.

Cutover

• Agree the date with your ERP project, and agree in advance what happens if the first day goes wrong.
• Switch flows on in the live tenant, with an engineer watching the first hours.
• Confirm the first live orders post and the first acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices go out.

Common Pitfalls

Assuming the SX.e integration carries over. CSD's API works differently from on-premises SX.e: the sign-in, the addresses and the calls all change. Plan a new ERP connection, not a reconnect.

The service account comes last. It is easy to leave the ION API service account until the end of the ERP project. EDI testing can't start without it.

Documents CSD doesn't take. Supplier 832s and 846s and outbound 820s need a plan before cutover, not after.

Stacking projects. An ERP move, an EDI provider change and new partner onboarding in the same month leave no room to tell which change caused a problem.

How Comparatio Helps

Comparatio is a managed EDI provider for distributors, with connectors for Infor CloudSuite Distribution and SX.e. Our engineers build and change the maps, test with each trading partner, maintain the connections and watch the documents. For a move from SX.e, that means:

• Your trading-partner connections and maps stay. Only the ERP connection changes.
• A CSD connection through Infor's own API, set up in your test tenant first.
• A side-by-side comparison before switching, so the documents your partners receive from CSD match the ones they receive today.
• A planned cutover with a planned rollback, and engineers watching the first hours.

For how Comparatio connects to CSD, see our Infor CloudSuite Distribution EDI integration page. For other ERP moves, see Changing ERPs? Your EDI moves with you. If you have a CSD date, request a call and we'll go through your partners and documents with you.

Frequently Asked Questions