The participants from the Business Payments Coalition's E-Invoice Exchange Market Pilot today announced the establishment of the Digital Business Networks Alliance (DBNAlliance), a nonprofit organization that serves as the legal entity overseeing the Exchange Framework.
The DBNAlliance will be responsible for operating the electronic delivery exchange network in the United States. DBNAlliance's mission is to make the exchange of business-to-business documents smooth and frictionless, eliminating all the obstacles and inefficiencies that businesses are experiencing with traditional invoicing methods.
"The US e-invoicing exchange framework will enable businesses to reduce costs, drive efficiency, increase accuracy, and improve security around their invoicing processes," said Jim Taylor, CEO, MarineNet and Interim President of the Digital Business Networks Alliance. "The DBNAlliance is committed to making it as easy as possible for businesses to connect with the exchange framework so that they can realize the benefits of e-invoicing."
The Digital Business Networks Alliance electronic network employs a four-corner model, where e-documents are sent and received through an access point or service provider that connects companies to the network. DBNAlliance will assist access points in connecting to the exchange framework and has responsibility for the definition of electronic delivery standards, policies, rules, and guidelines. The exchange framework contains four types of participants as part of the four-corner network - the supplier, two access points otherwise known as service providers, and the buyer.
Following the initial launch of the exchange framework, DBNAlliance will bring to market the electronic exchange of business-to-business documents to improve the efficiency of B2B payments and supply chain management.
The board of directors for the DBNAlliance consists of e-invoice service providers, corporate executives, and electronic document exchange experts who have extensive experience and knowledge of the exchange framework. Board members include:
Chris Welsh, CEO, OFS Portal and Chair of the DBNAlliance
Jim Taylor, CEO, MarineNet and Interim President of the DBNAlliance
Dolf Kars, CEO, Storecove E-invoicing and Chair of the Membership & Adoption committee
Alex Baulf, VP, E-Invoicing, Avalara
David Harless, Director - OTC, GBS CI and Transformation, Halliburton
Ellen Nielsen, Chief Data officer, Chevron
Pankaj Gudimella, Senior Director, Microsoft
Ricardo Poli, Americas Head of Globalization Product Management & Chief Product Owner, SAP
Shawn Green, Manager, Supply Chain Global Services & Technology, ConocoPhillips
Today, DBNAlliance has more than 30 members and is actively recruiting new members with an initial focus on businesses in the energy, supply chain, and life sciences industries. Companies interested in connecting to the exchange framework can do so through a DBNAlliance access point service provider.
For access point service providers, the framework facilitates the connection of buyers and suppliers, simplifying a supplier's connection and ensuring that connection meets their customers' business rules. The framework enables access point service providers to enroll more suppliers onto their network, providing greater supply chain engagement for their buyer clients and improving straight-through processing. Service providers can become a full member of the DBNAlliance, which comes with an official DBNAlliance certificate.