What are the key benefits for using AS2?
The AS1/AS2 standards benefit the user by significantly reducing traditional communications costs associated with EDI. A side benefit has also been the decrease in turn-around time for business transactions using AS1/AS2. With AS1, this centered on the transfer time for e-mail. With AS2, this time has been reduced to nearly instantaneous with direct HTTP transfers (depending upon file size). The cost of implementing AS2 is the cost of a Web server. Most AS2 applications can co-exist with other Web applications (depending upon load and transaction volume). Since ROI is tied to transaction volume or savings per transaction, higher volumes will show higher payback more quickly. In many cases for heavy EDI users, ROI can occur within a month of AS2 implementation.
