RFID Needs The Channel

Not surprisingly, RFID is on Steve Cuntz' mind. As president of POS (point of sale) and AIDC (automatic identification and data collection) distributor BlueStar, Inc., Cuntz is well aware of the channel's apprehension and excitement regarding this technology. In June 2004, his company launched RFID Today!, a program designed to help resellers with the hardware, middleware, and environmental surveys required for a successful RFID install. "The most profound trend in the AIDC channel is the emergence of RFID as a viable commercial technology," states Cuntz. "While pundits continue to argue about suitability or reliability issues, they are missing the gravity of what is happening -- commercial demand is upon the channel."

If You Wait On RFID, You Lose
According to AIDC trade organization AIM (www.aimglobal.org), there are nearly 43,000 suppliers that must come into RFID tag compliance within the next 16 to 24 months. Mandates like those from Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense are not only pushing the development of RFID standards and equipment, they are changing the future data expectations of businesses. Namely, organizations will come to expect -- in the very near future -- real-time asset management and the resultant cost savings. Cuntz says VARs that ignore the RFID trend now will lose future business. "This emerging technology is here today. A wait-and-see attitude will not keep you in the game."

Cuntz says that if he were a VAR, he would conduct a thorough examination of his current customer base to discover if any customers are already seeking solutions to comply with mandates. It is possible that you may have had a casual conversation about RFID and could have inadvertently indicated to a customer that you were not sure about industry acceptance. Such a casual response may have triggered an online search for information that could lead to the selection of one of your competitors.

But what happens when you are faced with your first RFID project? Will you be ready? Cuntz says too many VARs attempt to "go it alone" with RFID, instead of, at first, partnering with someone with experience. "I have seen numerous resellers trying to figure out where the pitfalls of the technology are, listening to the experts tell them what is going to go wrong, and then consequently spending a lot of money on research and education," he explains. "It reminds me of someone trying to reinvent the bar code. Why do it? The channel already has partners with the knowledge to complete the task."