EPaaP is Tideworks’ solution for customers who want the benefits of its hosted-EDI offering, but prefer to administer their EDI infrastructure in house. It is an EDI translation and management product that is designed to work with Tideworks’ Mainsail Terminal Operating System. EPaaP gives full control of the entire process to the customer and is significantly easier to use than a traditional EDI translator. Terminals now have a complete toolkit for establishing and managing trading partnerships, communications, EDI message sets, and mapping. User-friendly visibility tools enable customers to monitor the status of messages and ensure everything is running smoothly.
“Whereas many terminal operators would prefer a hands-off approach, BCT has a group of IT professionals that is quite capable of administering the terminal’s EDI and managing the associated infrastructure. This type of solution makes sense for them,” explained Michael Schwank, president of Tideworks Technology. “We spent several months nailing down the requirements and developing the platform, and BCT was incredible to collaborate with throughout the process. We are very proud of the final result and of our great partnership with BCT.”
With EPaaP, Tideworks configures and installs the server at the customer’s site, including the entire suite of EPaaP applications. Tideworks sets up the system, provides training, and gets the customer started, so they can easily manage their EDI from there. EPaaP also eliminates the hassle of installing and maintaining software; upgrades to the software suite are provided at no additional charge to the terminal as part of Tideworks’ maintenance and support program.
“After reviewing Tideworks’ existing EDI service solution, BCT requested a version that could be deployed in our data center, instead of being hosted and managed by Tideworks,” stated Andrzej Pulawski, IT manager at Baltic Container Terminal. “BCT has some unique trading partner relationships, which require a solid EDI foundation, as well as the ability for us to adapt to changing needs. We knew we could depend on Tideworks to deliver a solution that would meet our current and future requirements in this area. We couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome and with the capabilities of the product.”