Value-added network
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A value-added network (VAN) is a specialized application service provider (ASP) that acts as an intermediary between trading partners sharing data or business processes. VANs traditionally transmitted data formatted as EDI but increasingly they also transmit data formatted as XML. VANs usually service a given vertical or industry and provide value-added services such as data transformation between formats (EDI<->XML, EDI<->EDI, etc.). At one extreme a VAN hosts only horizontal business-to-business (B2B) application integration services, hosting general-purpose integration services for any process or industry. At the other extreme a VAN also hosts process- or industry-specific pre-defined integration capabilities (e.g., data synchronization services to support UCCnet compliance) and applications (e.g., supply chain order visibility). Traditionally, most VANs primarily only supported general-purpose B2B integration capabilities focused on EDI but these service providers are quickly evolving to become more process- and industry-specific over time, particularly in industries such as retail and hi-tech manufacturing.