# A few of our retail partners offer free web portals for submitting orders. Is that good enough, or do we actually need "real" EDI software?

Web portals (sometimes called Web EDI) are fine when you have 1–2 partners and low order volume. You log in, manually key in data, and submit. It works but it doesn't scale.

Here's when you outgrow portals:

1) You're managing 3+ trading partners (each with their own portal and login)
2) Your order volume makes manual entry a full-time job
3) You're making data entry errors that cause chargebacks
4) You want orders to flow directly into your ERP/accounting system

"Real" EDI software automates all of this. Purchase orders come in, flow into your system, and invoices/ASNs go back out with minimal human touch. The ROI usually comes from time savings and reduced errors more than the direct cost comparison.

For small businesses making this jump, Elevate is a good bridge because the pricing is designed for growing companies. You can start with one trading partner and add more as volume justifies it. There are no long-term contracts, so you're not locked into paying enterprise prices while you're still scaling.

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: 4 months ago
- Author title: Always By Your Side, Solving EDI Challenges
- Net upvotes: 1



## Related Product
[Elevate](https://www.g2.com/products/edi-support-llc-elevate/reviews)

## Related Category
[Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)](https://www.g2.com/categories/electronic-data-interchange-edi)

## Related discussions
- [How well does Trello scale into a larger team?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/1-how-well-does-trello-scale-into-a-larger-team)
  - Posted at: over 13 years ago
  - Comments: 6
- [Can we please add a new section](https://www.g2.com/discussions/2-can-we-please-add-a-new-section)
  - Posted at: over 13 years ago
  - Comments: 0
- [Quantifiable benefits from implementing your CRM](https://www.g2.com/discussions/quantifiable-benefits-from-implementing-your-crm)
  - Posted at: about 13 years ago
  - Comments: 4