Prior Experience
B2BGateway was founded in 1999, during the early days of the internet, as a solution to a problem. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) refers to the electronic exchange of business documents to support the supply chain. If you wanted to supply goods to large retailers or manufacturers, you had to use EDI because business documents (such as purchase orders and invoices) had to be transmitted electronically. The EDI process had two distinct parts: connectivity and data translation.
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EDI connectivity involved setting up all the communications equipment (modems) to send and receive data from a ‘mailbox’ service. Once that data was received, it had to be translated into a format your computer system could use. After you used the data, you had to translate it back to the original format.
The EDI process was expensive to implement, it was done on-site and was prone to failure. In 1999, I realized that the internet could be used to send and receive data, and that data translation could occur at B2BGateway. This significantly reduced implementation costs while B2BGateway automatically monitored everything, ensuring accuracy. As a subscription service, barriers to entry were non-existent while B2BGateway gained recurring revenue.
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This idea may have been the world’s first instance of Software as a Service, or subscription software. Naturally, it was very successful and grew rapidly. By 2006, we had a significant number of clients in Europe who wanted B2BGateway support staff in the same time zone. As such, B2BGateway LTD was incorporated in Dublin, Ireland, to service European clients.
In 2012, we opened an Australian office in Sydney to service Australasian clients. The Australian office became an independent subsidiary, B2BGateway PTY LTD, in 2017.
By 2017, B2BGateway maintained a world headquarters adjacent to RT-95 in Hopkinton, RI, and was automatically processing 24/7 across 17 time zones. The transactions processed exceeded $20B in revenue per month and continued to increase.
In 2020, COVID-19 was impacting the global supply chain. Supply Chain automation was in very high demand. With B2BGateway's valuation at an all-time high, I decided to sell. The entire organization was sold as an entity to a competitive bidder, ensuring that all employees kept their jobs and salaries. B2BGateway remains an active part of True Commerce Corporation.
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How Does EDI Work?
Walmart sends your company a purchase order. They send the purchase order to a ‘mailbox’.
Your system connects to that mailbox and picks up the data. The data is translated so that it can be imported into your computer system
Once it is in the system, the goods can be shipped, and an invoice is generated.
The invoice needs to be translated into Walmart’s format. Walmart picks up invoices from the ‘mailbox’ service
If anything is wrong with the process, the invoice is not paid.
Education
2015-2017
University Name
This is your Education description. Concisely describe your degree and any other highlights of your studies. Make sure to include relevant skills, accomplishments, and milestones gained. Don’t forget to adjust the timeframe in the subtitle.
1999
Salve Regina University
This is your Education description. Concisely describe your degree and any other highlights of your studies. Make sure to include relevant skills, accomplishments, and milestones gained. Don’t forget to adjust the timeframe in the subtitle.
1991
Rhode Island College
BA, Computer Science