Proxicom also developed software within the process that would help distributors construct their deliveries, taking full advantage of minimums and maximums allowed on trucks as well as determining the best mix of product per palate. The software does that, Gallo says. The result is error-free orders. People conducted EDI and electronic commerce through VANs primarily for security, Gallo says. You don't want people to be able to grab proprietary information.
VAN lines are proprietary communications networks.
That helped with security by the simple fact that you had to be a customer to even have access. The Internet, however, was accessible to all. Built over time by military efforts and links made to universities nationwide, the Internet developed into what can be described as a public highway. All one needs to access that highway is a simple inroad. Whereas on a VAN line, the access road and the highway are all proprietary.