(i) Direct EDI
(ii) EDI via VAN
(iii) EDI via FTPjVPN, SFTP, FTPS
(iv) Web EDI
(v) Mobile EDI

Ed Guilbert is called as the father of EDI

The versions of EDIFACT are also called as directories. These EDIFACT directories will be revised twice a year on 1 April and 1st October to include new or update existing EDIFACT messages.
Example: D.18BD for Directory: 18 is the year; A/B is month of release.

There are four major components of EDI. They are
(i) Standard document format
(ii) Translator and Mapper
(iii) Communication software
(iv) Communication network

The Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the exchange of business documents between one trade partner and another electronically. It is transferred through a dedicated channel or through the Internet in a predefined format without much human intervention.

Character	Uses
Apostrophe (')	segment terminator
Plus sign (+)	segment tag and data element separator
Colon (:)	component data element separator
Question mark (?)	Release character
Period (.)	decimal point.

The basic standardization concept of EDIFACT is that there are uniform message types called United Nations Standard Message. The message types have exactly one nickname consisting of six uppercase English alphabets. The message begins with UNH and with UNT.

Electronic data interchange architecture specifies four different layers namely
(i) Semantic layer
(ii) Standards translation layer
(iii) Transport layer
(iv) Physical layer

EDI was developed to solve the problems inherent in paper-based transaction processing and in other forms ofelectronic communication. Implementing EDI system offers a company greater control over its supply chain and allow it to trade more effectively. It also increases productivity and promotes operational efficiency.
The following are the other advantages of EDI.
(i) Improving service to end-users
(ii) Increasing productivity
(iii) Minimizing errors
(iv) Slashing response times
(v) Automation of operations
(vi) Cutting costs
(vii) Integrating all business and trading partners.
(viii) Providing information on process status
(ix) Optimizing financial ratios.

The types of EDI were constructed based on how EDI communication connections and the conversion were organized. Thus based on the medium used for transmitting EDI documents the following are the major EDI types:
(i) Direct EDI
(ii) EDI via VAN
(iii) EDI via FTP/VPN, SFTP, FTPS
(iv) Web EDI
(v) Mobile EDI
1. Direct EDI/point-to-point : It is also called as Point-to-Point EDI. It establishes a direct connection between various business stakeholders and partners individually. This type of EDI suits to larger businesses with a lot of day to day business transactions.
2. EDI via VAN : EDI via VAN (Value Added Network) is where EDI documents are transferred with the support of third party network service providers.Many businesses prefer this network model to protect them from the updating ongoing complexities of network technologies.
3. EDI via FTP/VPN, SFTP, FTPS : When protocols like FTP/VPN, SFTP and FTPS are used to exchange of EDI based documents through the Internet or Intranet it is called as EDI via FTP/VPN, SFTP, FTPS.
4. Web EDI : Web based EDI conducts EDI using an web browser via the Internet. Here the businesses are allowed to use any browser to transfer data to their business partners.Web based EDI is easy and convenient for small and medium organizations.
5. Mobile EDI - When smartphones or other such handheld devices are used to transfer EDI documents it is called as mobile EDI.Mobile EDI applications considerably increase the speed of EDI transactions.