Making RFID Work

Symbol Technologies' $230 million cash bid last week to buy Matrics, a maker of RFID tags, is another clear indicator that this technology will become more ubiquitous in the next two years. And not just at big retailers like Wal-Mart.

What has been less clear to this point is how the traditional IT channel can help customers reach RFID nirvana. But I see several ways in which business technology solution providers can participate, even now.

One major opportunity, of course, is taking the data collected by RFID readers and getting it into a form that can be analyzed and acted upon. That's where toolkits such as RFTagAware Compliance Jump Start from ConnecTerra come in. The package, priced at $18,000, includes a four-antennae license for server software that extends RFID-tagged information into enterprise applications. Reader and printer hardware are separate, although ConnecTerra estimates their addition will boost the total cost of the solution to about $30,000.

Not into the whole middleware thing? Then maybe you can help smaller product suppliers comply with the RFID mandates from Wal-Mart or the Department of Defense. Radio Beacon, a developer of warehouse management software, has released kits letting smaller companies print RFID-enabled labels that also include today's more widely used UPC system. Even more compelling: The kits interface with Microsoft Great Plains and Solomon applications and also include a printer and labels.

Finally, if you're more into helping your clients plan and fine-tune business processes, you might take a page out of Capgemini's RFID strategy book. The integrator said last week it has started a pilot with ISV SupplyScape to apply RFID technology to the detection and elimination of counterfeit drugs.

By itself, RFID is certainly one of the most overhyped technologies we've encountered in the past year. But the signals for real revenue opportunities are growing stronger each day, if you apply the right integration mind-set.

Are you listening to the RFID signals? HEATHER CLANCY, Editor at CRN, appreciates your comments at [email protected].