Electronic data interchange (EDI) is one of many ways that you can exchange electronic information using EDI Services. EDI is an industry term and simply means the exchange of electronic data and documents between applications on computers according to standardized rules. When trading partners exchange electronic data, each of their computers translates the data into a standard EDI format that can be communicated to and understood by the other's computer.

With EDI, you can electronically exchange information, such as purchase orders, inquiries, and spreadsheets, within your business or with other enterprises. There are hundreds of different transactions spanning numerous industries for which there are EDI standard formats. The following diagram shows just one example, where trading partner A's computer sends a purchase order in an EDI standard format to trading partner B's computer, who sends an invoice in an EDI standard format back to trading partner A's computer. (With EDI, the communications are always between applications on computers.)