When looking for SPS Commerce reviews, we’ve noticed that SPS is markedly absent from leading analyst reports, such as Gartner and IDC. We understand, therefore, that businesses who are evaluating SPS Commerce turn to customer incentivized SPS Commerce reviews where one can find some solid reasons those customers chose SPS Commerce as their EDI provider. However, when we speak to former SPS Commerce customers who come to us for help, we learn another side that isn’t always reflected in SPS Commerce reviews. We know that SPS Commerce is successful at being the “early bird” by being the first provider to solicit their retail EDI service to businesses and by making the sale quick and simple. This prompts many retail companies and their suppliers to go without sufficiently evaluating alternatives, not knowing which better options are available. Former SPS Commerce customers and some SPS Commerce reviews have even commented that they felt forced into using SPS Commerce as their EDI provider. How does happen when there are so many other options out there?
An increasing number of former SPS Commerce customers have been switching over to OpenText™ Business Network Cloud Foundations and in talking to them, we have uncovered several misconceptions that retail businesses weren’t clear on when they first fell for* SPS Commerce. (*their words, not ours)
- You do have options for choosing the best retail EDI provider for your needs
SPS Commerce has been very successful in being the first EDI provider many suppliers and vendors speak to about EDI. That doesn’t make them the only choice and it definitely doesn’t make them the best choice. Take the time to evaluate your options and choose the best EDI for your business needs. - Retailers rarely impose strict timelines for becoming EDI compliant
If SPS Commerce claims you only have 60 or 90 days to be EDI compliant, they are hoping you will feel rushed into making a decision in their favor. To be safe, don’t take an EDI provider’s word about a retailer’s mandates – ask your retailer directly. - A detailed implementation strategy should be part of every serious EDI assessment
An EDI provider should speak to your head of IT and present clear details on how they will implement the new EDI solution, so there are no surprises. Some SPS Commerce reviews and former customers have told us that they were not upfront about the amount of customer’s time and resources needed, despite advertising “full-service EDI”.
SPS Commerce may be a good choice for some types of companies, however you should understand that if you want your business to grow to even to remain agile, you’ll need to partner with a strategic B2B provider that can adapt with your changing needs:
- OpenText provides a scalable B2B integration solution
for any size company and level of complexity. OpenText also provides a breadth of customizable options more far-reaching than SPS Commerce. This is one of the reasons why OpenText has the largest global network and can support our customers’ international expansion . - OpenText customers are blown away by best-in-class visibility with Lens. This unbeatable visibility tool combines analytics with EDI and is both user-friendly and allows for customizable dashboards and reporting for actionable insight, leveraging the data to drive continuous benefit.
- OpenText’s large global support team digs in to truly understand our customers’ setup and provides an honest assessment to ensure customers can focus on running their core businesses. In contrast, we’ve been told that SPS Commerce’s shared service model has limited bandwidth and expertise to handle unique scenarios. The number one complaint we hear is that SPS Commerce overpromises and their projects run over time and over budget.
- OpenText is a recognized market leader according to leading analyst reports, such as IDC and Gartner Magic Quadrant. In contrast, SPS Commerce is markedly absent from these analyst reports. According to IDC, “each vendor included in this IDC MarketScape offers and has displayed demonstrable competency in the field of multi-enterprise supply chain commerce networks, and IDC would not hesitate to recommend any of them in the evaluation process.” SPS Commerce was included in the IDC report in 2018 but has since been completely dropped from their report.
For more reasons why you should choose OpenText over SPS Commerce, visit our webpage here or contact us.