The types of EDI were constructed based on how EDI communication connections and the conversion were organized. Based on this EDI service or EDI communication, there are two main categories. One is the “proprietary EDI solution” in which tools required for EDI communication and conversion are in the own property of the customer, and the user of the EDI is responsible for the development and the operation of the EDI. In the other category all of these services are offered by the EDI provider, and EDI users do not have to deal with communication protocols or EDI standards, neither do they need to invest considerable amounts in it in advance. Due to historical reasons there are “mixed” transitions between the two basic solutions, but these will rather be heading towards service provider outsourcing. In general we can say that nowadays EDI communication solutions offered by service providers are getting considerably dominant.

In everyday language, EDI communication methods distinguish the types of EDI into more categories. This way proprietary and provider EDI communication solutions can be sorted into further types of EDI communication. These are presented in the submenus in detail.