Take the Time to Consider New Beginnings

AGIIS Update

Take the Time to Consider New Beginnings

By Josh Wall, AgGateway AGIIS Product Manager

Over the past few years, I’ve made it a practice in the New Year to set aside time to reflect on activities of the prior year and plan for things to come in the months ahead. This little exercise has proven to be beneficial for me both personally and professionally. It provides the opportunity to analyze what could be improved from the past so I can be better prepared for the future.

The first week back to work in January, I set aside some time to review the AgGateway annual plan to gain perspective on a few tasks that I’ll be working on soon. Three words jumped off the page at me: “Create, Engage, and Grow”, AgGateway’s theme for 2021. I want to share how these three words could apply to AgGateway members in the context of eConnectivity, specifically regarding the Ag Industry Identification System (AGIIS), and the impact these words can have to an organization if applied throughout the year.

Create

If your organization has not created eConnectivity goals for the year, now is the time. I encourage each of you to look at your current eConnectivity plans and set some obtainable goals for 2021. For some, this may be a starting point and 2021 is the year your company creates an eConnectivity plan. AgGateway has developed some great resources that will help you get started, which can be found on the “Get Connected” page of the AgGateway website. Another good place to start is making unique identifiers the foundation of your plan. If you have not had a chance to check out AGIIS, I would encourage you to reach out to the AgGateway Member Services team.

Engage

For organizations that are aware of the resources that AgGateway offers but have not fully engaged, maybe 2021 is the year to dive in and understand the AgGateway resources available and the benefits they will provide to your organization. Is your organization leveraging the benefits of a full AGIIS subscription? Are you maintaining your AGIIS subset and applying entity and product updates? Do you have an AGIIS synchronization plan in place? These are all questions that should be considered and will increase your engagement, all while providing value to your organization.

Grow

This could be the year that you “Grow” your eConnectivity capabilities and knowledge. That may be in the form of adding additional trading partners or a new connectivity message. It may mean starting an AgGateway working group to tackle a digital challenge your organization has been struggling with for years. From an AGIIS perspective, it could be using an API to automate your interaction with AGIIS.

Whatever stage your organization is in with your eConnectivity plan, know AgGateway is there to help. I would encourage you to review the AgGateway Annual Report, as it may trigger some thoughts you have not considered before. If you have any questions or would like to learn more about current AgGateway working groups or resources available, please contact AgGateway’s Member Services at Member.Services@aggateway.org or at +1 (866) 251-8618.