The field of RFID middleware is still young. Technology vendors are feeling their way around and some still do not have a clear idea of what RFID middleware should do.

But end users know what they want.

Venture Development Corporation (VDC) recently put together a report about RFID middleware. Frontline Solutions has the story:

"At a high level, requirements are across the map," said Mike Liard, analyst at VDC. "It really depends on what they want to do."

The market for RFID software is expected to have the fastest compound annual growth rate of any other RFID segment through 2008, according to VDC's research. The overall RFID market reached $1.7 billion in 2004, and is expected to grow 36% annually through 2008, reaching $5.9 billion. While the hardware segment will have an average growth rate of 27.6%, and services will grow at a 47.8% clip, software will have a CAGR of 59.8%.

According to VDC, five middleware functions dominated the end user want lists:

• Provide a consistent interface for the RFID interrogator infrastructure. Standard interfaces--human, machine, network, application--do not exist across various RFID interrogator solutions.
• Data filtering and transport. Similar to the lack of standard interfaces, users cite the varied methods used to filter, compile, and route RFID data traffic as a key challenge during the implementation and integration process. Users are looking to RFID middleware to account for these differences, and resolve them in a consistent manner.
• Manage the RFID reader/interrogator infrastructure. Key functions cited by users and evaluators included local and remote monitoring, upgradeable software/configuration, and remote power on/off.
• Support for multiple host platforms requesting RFID data. The most often cited platform challenges included: warehouse management systems (WMS), order entry/ order management systems (OMS), transportation management systems (TMS), logistics management systems (LMS), supply chain management systems (SCM), and data warehouses.
• Support for legacy systems.

"Right now, core products are meeting the basic needs of data aggregation and data filtering and routing," Liard said. "As users better understand the business value of RFID, they'll be calling for more features and functionality.

"Each application is unique," he continued. "It's tough to develop off-the-shelf software when everyone is just figuring this stuff out. People are still feeling their way around."

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