Forrester evaluates RFID middleware market
to take advantage of the long-term benefits of RFID implementation,
according to a new report.
RFID mandates from retailers such as Wal-Mart, Metro-AG, and Tesco have created a short-term urgency around suppliers' RFID plans, and consultancy firm Forrester has identified RFID middleware as the tool that suppliers can use to manage RFID data.
The software works by routing it between tag readers and the multitude of systems within their businesses.
"Many suppliers have found themselves in a position in which - in the short term - they must implement RFID to comply with high-profile mandates," said Forrester Research vice president and research director Sharyn Leaver. "In order to gain long-term benefits, these suppliers need to intelligently incorporate the data they are collecting to make improvements to their overall business processes."
To assess the state of the RFID middleware market, Forrester evaluated 13 middleware vendors using the Forrester Wave methodology, including approximately 75 criteria.
The consultancy found that many early RFID middleware solutions focus on features such as reader integration and coordination, and basic data filtering capabilities. As the market matures, says Forrester, middleware platforms will need to include a deeper set of capabilities including: reader and device management, data management, application integration, partner integration, process management and application development, packaged RFID content, and architecture scalability and administration.
Forrester conducted two Wave assessments. The first evaluates RFID middleware vendors for early adopters, whose main focus is complying with RFID mandates.Manhattan Associates, OATSystems, and SAP lead the pack of vendors with strong mandate solutions that strike a balance between core middleware features like reader integration and data filtering and capabilities that resemble applications like EPC commissioning and track-and-trace tools.
Forrester believes that the platform and application giants will eventually provide effective, scalable RFID middleware platforms, however, most of these large vendors have not released their RFID-specific middleware offerings. Forrester expects Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft to bring their RFID-specific solutions to market over the coming months.
The second Wave assessment used different criteria weightings to reflect features that will matter most in broad, long-term deployments. Features like architecture scalability, integration, and process management will become essential in broad deployments.
Forrester says that SAP's experience straddling the line of applications and infrastructure puts it in the lead position for long-term middleware success. IBM's and Oracle's flexible, multitiered architectures planned for their RFID middleware offerings show promise for broad deployments.
The assessment should provide suppliers with valuable information, as RFID implementation is proliferating at an incredible rate. Many see the technology as inevitable as bar codes were a few decades ago, and with Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer driving the concept, suppliers have little choice but to jump on board.
In fact, Wal-Mart recently announced further milestones in the rollout of the technology. By June 2005, for example, the system should by live in up to six distribution centres and up to 250 Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Club locations, rising to 600 stores by October 2005.
Finally, the next wave of suppliers - some 200 this time - will be asked to switch to the RFID system by January 2006.
German-based retail chain Metro, with a turnover of €54 billion, has also been carrying out an RFID implementation programme. The group has just analysed the results of its Future Store Initiative, which suggests that efficiency rose by 12 to 17 per cent with RFID.
Losses and theft were down 11 to 18 per cent, and merchandise availability increased 9 to 14 per cent.
As with Wal-Mart, Metro plans to start a full rollout shortly. The first wave starts in November, with the rollout going on until December 2005, taking in 100 suppliers, 269 stores and eight distribution centres.
RFID tags are tiny computer chips connected to miniature antennae that can be affixed to physical objects. The most common application of RFID contains an Electronic Product Code (EPC) with sufficient capacity to provide unique identifiers for all items produced worldwide.
When an RFID reader emits a radio signal, tags in the vicinity respond by transmitting their stored data to the reader. Passive (battery-less) RFID tags, read-range can vary from less than an inch to 20-30 feet, while active (self-powered) tags can have a much longer read range. The data is then sent to a distributed computing system involved in supply chain management or inventory control.
