EDI Services has several components. The key component is the Information Exchange commerce engine, which acts as an electronic mailbox and much more. With Information Exchange, trading partners can exchange virtually all data formats, including XML, EDI, and proprietary data formats. Information Exchange, which you purchase as a service, runs on GXS equipment in a managed network. You manage Information Exchange online with Information Exchange Administration Services. 

In the diagram above, we depict one trading partner that acts as a "hub", or a central point of communication. The hub might be a car manufacturer communicating with its various independent car dealerships, or the corporate office for a fast food chain communicating with each of its individual franchises. The hub and each of its trading partners have mailboxes on GXS's Information Exchange, and it is through these mailboxes that they communicate.