crossenterprise

Crossenterprise refers to activities, systems, and architectures that span multiple legal entities or organizations, enabling interorganizational collaboration, data exchange, and business process integration beyond the boundaries of a single company. It encompasses cross-enterprise resource planning (CERP), cross-organizational application integration, and cross-organizational business-process management, including supply chain collaboration, partner ecosystems, and shared procurement.

Technologies commonly employed include standards-based data interchange and messaging such as EDI, XML, JSON, and industry-specific formats; communication protocols (AS2, AS4); application programming interfaces (APIs); service-oriented architecture (SOA); enterprise service bus (ESB); and integration platforms as a service (iPaaS). Master data management, identity and access management, auditability, and strong governance are often essential to maintain data quality and security across organizations.

Benefits include improved efficiency, shorter cycle times, better visibility across the value chain, coordinated planning, and potential cost reductions. However, crossenterprise initiatives face challenges such as data sovereignty, regulatory compliance (for example GDPR and sector-specific rules), data quality, governance, trust between partners, contract alignment, and security risks.

Common use cases involve supply-chain integration, supplier collaboration networks, shared procurement and invoicing, cross-border trade, and multi-organization enterprise resource planning that align processes like order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, and demand planning.

See also: inter-organizational collaboration, supply chain management, enterprise application integration, EDI, iPaaS.