RFID EDITOR'S NOTE
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Explaining the Value of the Visibility RFID Creates
This firm was smart enough to come to us so that we can educate its staff about what event organizers need, and I'm more than happy to apply my knowledge of the technology to help them build something that delivers value to other event organizers. But absent my knowledge, this company might have a hard time selling its system, because it would only provide a fraction of the value it's capable of providing (because the provider of the system has a limited understanding of events and how the system could be used to deliver value).
One solution is for the vendor to get far more knowledgeable about the events business. If the company understood the events business as well as I do, it would create a system that would appeal to events companies. But I don't see how you could do that without becoming an event organizer (or retailer, manufacturer or whatever). And it's even harder if you plan to sell in four or five vertical markets.
So another solution is to educate end users regarding the benefits of radio frequency identification. That's not necessarily that easy to do (they have to want to be educated), but I think it's easier than learning everything there is to know about an industry so you can build solutions that solve more than a single problem.
When I meet end users who don't know anything about RFID, I explain that it's a technology that enables you to collect data wirelessly and automatically. It would be like having an army of people watching your assets, inventory, tools and vehicles at all times. The army could tell you when they were in the wrong place, or when they were overheating or getting too cold, or whatever. But you don't need to pay people, because the data is collected automatically and alerts can be sent to managers automatically.
This is the future of business—there can be no doubt. Businesspeople will come to understand that RFID delivers capabilities never before possible, just as the Internet did, and the PC did, and the mainframe did. It might take years for businesspeople to fully grasp it—so far, the mainstream business press and most analysts have not—but those who deploy a solution to solve one business problem will quickly realize RFID can do other things as well.
All I'm saying is that we need to explain to businesspeople that RFID can be deployed as an infrastructure to solve a lot of business problems. The beauty is that with vision, you can start with one problem, solve it and use the savings to tackle another. If we don't talk about RFID, we can't communicate the many things the technology can do. And if we don't communicate the many things it can do, end users will never get the full value of the solutions they buy.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal. If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below. To read more of Mark's opinions, visit the RFID Journal Blog or click here.
One solution is for the vendor to get far more knowledgeable about the events business. If the company understood the events business as well as I do, it would create a system that would appeal to events companies. But I don't see how you could do that without becoming an event organizer (or retailer, manufacturer or whatever). And it's even harder if you plan to sell in four or five vertical markets.
So another solution is to educate end users regarding the benefits of radio frequency identification. That's not necessarily that easy to do (they have to want to be educated), but I think it's easier than learning everything there is to know about an industry so you can build solutions that solve more than a single problem.
When I meet end users who don't know anything about RFID, I explain that it's a technology that enables you to collect data wirelessly and automatically. It would be like having an army of people watching your assets, inventory, tools and vehicles at all times. The army could tell you when they were in the wrong place, or when they were overheating or getting too cold, or whatever. But you don't need to pay people, because the data is collected automatically and alerts can be sent to managers automatically.
All I'm saying is that we need to explain to businesspeople that RFID can be deployed as an infrastructure to solve a lot of business problems. The beauty is that with vision, you can start with one problem, solve it and use the savings to tackle another. If we don't talk about RFID, we can't communicate the many things the technology can do. And if we don't communicate the many things it can do, end users will never get the full value of the solutions they buy.
Mark Roberti is the founder and editor of RFID Journal. If you would like to comment on this article, click on the link below. To read more of Mark's opinions, visit the RFID Journal Blog or click here.
