nuBridges Building Reputation for Data Synchronization

Published: March 28, 2006

by Dan Burger

Business trading communities are not for everyone. Companies that are disjointed, disorganized, and lacking a structure with which to effectively connect with customers and suppliers, need not apply. Those that are in have mastered the skills and the technologies that allow the exchange of business information in real time have, as their reward, increased supply chain efficiencies and an open door to doing business with partners that otherwise remain off limits to the technological underclass.

nuBridges, a software vendor familiar with the OS/400 market and the challenges of integrating iSeries systems with everything else that companies around the world use to store and conduct transactions, is in the middle of many organizations' plans to participate in business trading communities. It specializes in data synchronization.

Data synchronization is the electronic transfer of standardized product and location information and the continuous synchronization of that data over time. Under the category of product information are item attributes such as size, height, and weight. Under the category of location information are factors such as billing addresses and shipping addresses. To be effective, data synchronization cannot be done once. It is an ongoing business process that requires continuous exchange of data between trading partners.

The benefits of data synchronization are said to include the elimination of costly data errors, reduced out of stocks, faster time to market for new products, and increased supply chain efficiencies. Clean data generated by data sync also carries the promise of forming the foundation for technologies such as the Electronic Product Code (EPC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).

The key to nuBridges involvement in the world of data synchronization is its truExchange Item Sync, a combination of products and services that facilitates two-way communication between retailers and suppliers. Its key features include a data validation engine, automated notification tools, and the capability to do data aggregation from multiple sources.

Because there can be a great deal of mystery and uncertainty in this, there is an organization called 1SYNC (formerly UCCnet) that certifies that products actually do what the vendors say they do. As a buyer, it provides a bit of insurance that these solutions work as advertised. The 1SYNC approval puts legitimacy next to a product name. That's why nuBridges is proud to let everyone know its truExchange Item Sync is recognized as Synchronization Suite 3.0 compliant for 1SYNC Legacy UCCnet Data Pool customers. This tells the world nuBridges has the right stuff. It stamps truExchange Item Sync products and services as standards-compliant and able to meet the needs of the business community.