OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-This will be a busy year for RFID technology, according to ABI Research. As manufacturers ready for the 2005 deployments of RFID by Wal-Mart and the U.S. Department of Defense, ABI expects news around developing standards, large company entrants, startup software developers and numerous systems integrators.
Already, Texas Instruments, Symbol Technologies, NCR, Philips and Sun Microsystems have entered the RFID fray. In addition, IBM, Accenture, BearingPoint, Unisys, RedPrairie, and Manhattan Associates plan to make runs as systems integrators.
According to ABI, questions surrounding the deployment of large-scale RFID projects include where to store the data, what data should be stored, how to secure and maintain data, and what is the optimal method to integrate data with existing business solutions.
“Due to the time constraints and the still-developing standards, prior relationships will drive RFID integration contracts even more than with previous rollouts, such as ERP or supply-chain management systems,” said Erik Michielsen, ABI senior analyst. “This is not necessarily good for the RFID business, as the process discourages competition and rewards relationships over capabilities. The upside is that established relationships will better enable scalable, successful solutions due to better understanding of environment, staff and business goals.”
