Choosing the Right Systems Integrator

Identify an internal team of stakeholders, which will basically perform the tasks for which an advisor would be responsible. The entire team should attend a course about the technology it is about to work with. There are many such courses available; take a good look at the course descriptions to make sure you choose an appropriate one. Thoroughly investigate the company offering the training to ensure previous students are pleased with the experience they had in similar classes, and check with any certifying bodies with which the educator claims to be affiliated.

Once this is completed, the team should identify the issues to be solved, draw up a high-level plan and create the RFPs to give to the systems integration company. The systems integrator will be responsible for reviewing the RFPs and selecting the best companies for the job. Required reading for the team should be the 10 Questions to Ask Your Integrator article I referenced earlier, because it will keep you from going down the wrong track. The team should have bi-weekly status meetings, at which each member discusses the portion of the project for which he or she is responsible. After each meeting, the team should meet with the systems integrator to ensure consistent communications among all parties involved.

This is not to imply that traditional systems integration firms are not trustworthy. Corporate auditors will tell you the reason they exist is to make sure everyone is thinking about the good of the company when they make decisions. Well, the RFID team is there for that same purpose—to ensure everyone on the project has the good of the project in mind at all times.

Which approach is right for you? Either way, the road to a successful implementation will be complex. In one scenario, you hire a neutral third party to orchestrate everything needed to ensure success, as per your definition of success. In the other scenario, you dedicate the time and attention of a number of your own internal resources to define success and drive the project to that definition.

The real question boils down to this: Can you afford to distract your internal resources from the day-to-day business they were hired for to tackle this new agenda, or does it make sense to keep them on task and pay someone else to get it done? You decide.

Mark Brown is the vice president of professional services at RFID4U, a global provider of RFID education and advisory services with RFID design, construction and integration projects throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Mark is leading cutting-edge RFID deployments. He and the team of experienced consultants he leads are industry-recognized and trusted subject matter experts, known for their participation in major industry initiatives, such as Auto-ID Labs and EPCglobal workgroups. They have authored several well-publicized white papers and three best-selling RFID certification books, and speak at major trade shows and industry events. RFID4U partners with the best RFID manufacturers, service providers and laboratories throughout the world, demonstrating cutting-edge technology to solve challenges throughout diverse organizations in all industry verticals.