A Publication of iSeries 400 Experts Total Information Service
By Heather DalleTezze
Monday August 21, 2006
A new set of no-charge tools that gives companies the ability to model various Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) solutions and develop applications to suit their needs is now available on IBM’s alphaWorks Web site. System i shops can use these tools to get up to speed on RFID and to determine whether they can leverage RFID to boost their business.
“RFID is now becoming a more mature technology and people are starting to understand that there is a return on investment (ROI) associated with its implementation. We applaud the team at IBM in the creation of this [toolset] to help users speed up the application development process,” says Tim Zimmerman, senior director, Strategic Alliances, Intermec Technologies, Charlotte, NC.
Among the tools are an RFID Device Development Kit with technical articles and tutorials, an Application Level Events (ALE) Preview for RFID-enabling applications in the early stages of development, and an RFID Integrated Solution Enablement (RISE) modeling program. All of these tools are free of charge.
System i shops could be next wave of RFID adopters
While RFID implementation has, for years, been reserved for retail giants and the federal government due to cost and complexity, recent advances in RFID technology may make it accessible to more System i shops than in previous years. Some experts say RFID can now be used to boost efficiencies in nearly all mid-sized businesses.
“I think it [RFID] is going to be important for IBM and iSeries customers. The prices of the technology have come down, the performance of the technology has gone up, and the level of standardization has increased. I believe we’re starting to see the beginnings of much wider adoption of the technology in everyday business, whether it’s to track deliveries in the supply chain, doctors in hospitals, containers in shipping ports, or even bags at airports,” says Ashley Stephenson, chairman, Reva Systems, Chelmsford, MA.
Some analysts say the overall lack of expertise in RFID causes SMBs to struggle to design and implement RFID strategies that justify the expense. “Most people have heard of RFID but don’t have a strong understanding of what it could potentially do for them. The challenge for the SMB market is really to work out how to implement RFID, which generates an awful lot of information — not all of which is useful. Each individual organization needs to work out where it makes sense for them. Because not everybody wants to know where every box of paper clips is,” says Tony Lock, research director, EMEA, Sageza Group, London, UK.
Lock says IBM’s modeling program could help System i shops determine how best to use RFID. “Modeling is becoming much more important, and it’s really becoming visible in the SMB market for the first time. You can model how businesses are running today and how you’re actually using the information you’re generating internally — and turn that data into real business information,” says Lock.
But Lock cautions against getting too excited about RFID just for the sake of the technology. To eliminate confusion, overspending, and unwieldy gobs of information, System i shops should take care to plan thoroughly. “The main thing is that they don’t have to use [RFID] everywhere just because they can,” says Lock.
For more information, see www.alphaworks.ibm.com/topics/rfid.
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