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The End of RFID Middleware?
Having tried to turn basic RFID middleware into something resembling a mini ERP system, the industry has, by default, succeeded in multiplying the difficulty of integrating its own software modules into existing back-end systems. As the number of RFID pilots and implementations has increased, so has the number of failed RFID projects. Unfortunately, more than a few of these failures can be attributed to problems in the middleware layer, especially in terms of integration to the back-end systems.
Perhaps the most serious challenge to the RFID middleware software industry comes from a very unlikely source: RFID hardware. The first generation of interrogators was “dumb” in every sense of the word. With very few built-in processing capabilities, these devices were fully controlled by the middleware software layer and received commands from the application server. In a sense, this early lack of reader functionality was the very reason there was a perceived need and opportunity for RFID middleware in the first place.
Since that time, however, significant developments and advances have created a second generation of readers with innovative, built-in features closely resembling those offered by current middleware vendors. In the not-too-distant future, reader manufacturers will be able to offer smart interrogators able to filter, aggregate and process RFID data from the field independently. This will certainly spell the end of the RFID middleware software market as we understand it today. The device RFID middleware was originally designed to control appears to have outgrown the software, and obsolescence seems certain.
Unless the RFID middleware community is prepared to reinvent itself radically, it could well become the first casualty of the RFID evolution. Optimists within the industry argue that many middleware companies will simply become vertically aligned software developers, focusing on one specific application area—i.e., logistics, health care or production automation. The good news is that those companies already following this line of reasoning are likely to escape relatively unscathed by the likely demise of the RFID middleware market.
Others are boldly taking their chances with the mini-ERP strategy and further developing their products. These companies are directly challenging well-established multinational enterprise software companies by rolling out their own RFID product offerings.
If today’s RFID middleware industry is to stand any chance of survival, it needs to take a completely new approach. One obvious course of action would be to produce simplified software products in greater volume with reasonable pricing instead of continuing the strategy of perfecting the art of cherry-picking. If this fails, there will hardly be a cherry tree left from which to pick.
Timo Nurminen (tel: 358-20-7418800) is the founder and consulting director of the Finnish RFID software solution provider Stockway.
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Perhaps the most serious challenge to the RFID middleware software industry comes from a very unlikely source: RFID hardware. The first generation of interrogators was “dumb” in every sense of the word. With very few built-in processing capabilities, these devices were fully controlled by the middleware software layer and received commands from the application server. In a sense, this early lack of reader functionality was the very reason there was a perceived need and opportunity for RFID middleware in the first place.
Since that time, however, significant developments and advances have created a second generation of readers with innovative, built-in features closely resembling those offered by current middleware vendors. In the not-too-distant future, reader manufacturers will be able to offer smart interrogators able to filter, aggregate and process RFID data from the field independently. This will certainly spell the end of the RFID middleware software market as we understand it today. The device RFID middleware was originally designed to control appears to have outgrown the software, and obsolescence seems certain.
Unless the RFID middleware community is prepared to reinvent itself radically, it could well become the first casualty of the RFID evolution. Optimists within the industry argue that many middleware companies will simply become vertically aligned software developers, focusing on one specific application area—i.e., logistics, health care or production automation. The good news is that those companies already following this line of reasoning are likely to escape relatively unscathed by the likely demise of the RFID middleware market.
Others are boldly taking their chances with the mini-ERP strategy and further developing their products. These companies are directly challenging well-established multinational enterprise software companies by rolling out their own RFID product offerings.
If today’s RFID middleware industry is to stand any chance of survival, it needs to take a completely new approach. One obvious course of action would be to produce simplified software products in greater volume with reasonable pricing instead of continuing the strategy of perfecting the art of cherry-picking. If this fails, there will hardly be a cherry tree left from which to pick.
Timo Nurminen (tel: 358-20-7418800) is the founder and consulting director of the Finnish RFID software solution provider Stockway.
