RFID Figures Prominently in Innovators' Plans

Filed in archive Implementation on October 5, 2005

This past weekend I finally had a chance to sit down with my copy of InformationWeek magazine featuring the "InformationWeek 500." I was pleased to see RFID featured in the descriptions of IT trends in several industries.

The InformationWeek 500 is InformationWeek magazine's ranking of the leading users of business technology. Companies get high rankings for improving processes, increasing efficiencies, embracing innovation and reaching out to customers with information technology -- among other things.

The industries that highlight the use of RFID include:

• Consumer Goods (as you might expect, RFID is a priority, given the Wal-Mart and other retailer mandates of the last 24 months)


• Automotive (RFID tags are used to direct the automotive assembly line)


• Electronics (companies are experimenting with RFID technology for computer access and security)


• Health Care & Medical (using RFID to track equipment, staff and even patients)


• Retail: Specialty Merchandising (Staples is using radio frequency readers to check shelf stock)

In addition to RFID technology, the rankings reveal an astounding array of other wireless technologies in companies' IT plans. You'll find everything from GPS-enabled cell phones, to PDAs, to Wi-Fi networks, to Blackberrys with work-order software, to tablet PCs and Bluetooth-enabled printers. While we read about these technologies individually everyday, you get a much better sense of how deeply ingrained they are in businesses' processes by reading an overview like the InformationWeek 500.

One other point of note: despite the broad range of technologies and innovative new projects, the total overall spending for all this technology actually has gone down from prior years:

"Effective strategies don't always involve spending more money. Average IT spending among the InformationWeek 500, at $293 million, is at its lowest level in five years. As a percentage of revenue, the average IT budget was 3% for the top 100 and 2.8% for the next 400 companies on our list. And while 56% of the InformationWeek 500 say they'll spend more on IT this year than last, a quarter of the top 100 are looking to reduce IT spending this year. This reflects strides some companies have made to cut costs through efficiency so they can spend money on new projects even though they're working with smaller budgets."

All of which suggests to me that technology is proving its ROI: to deliver business value, improve efficiencies and reduce costs at the same time.

Tags: RFID; Business