This article was originally published by RFID Update.
February 17, 2005—It’s been a year since Microsoft announced the formation of the RFID Council as a vehicle to collaborate with partners to develop systems and tools around RFID. Today, for the first time in months, the company announces updates on its RFID initiative. The Redmond, Washington, giant is reportedly working on a “platform” (read: middleware) with which customers will be able to integrate their RFID hardware, software, and services. Javid Sikander, Microsoft’s group program manager for RFID strategy, was vague on the middleware’s details, but it is known that it will use the company’s proprietary .Net framework to integrate with its SQL and BizTalk Server applications. Also planned is the RFID enablization of three of the company’s four ERP suites: Axapta ERP, Navision, and Great Plains. Such an aggressive expansion of RFID features in core ERP products is consistent with Microsoft’s strategy to skip chasing the slap-and-ship deals of today and focus on providing more complex RFID capabilities in a couple years time, when it expects RFID to have become interwoven throughout the enterprise.
Microsoft’s moves are good and bad news. Bad news for those who might find themselves competing against the feared adversary. Good news for industry as a whole: the reach and diversity of Microsoft’s RFID projects are a clear testament to the company’s belief in the substantial long-term value of RFID.
