The Overlooked RFID Questions

Shhhh. Do you hear that? Listen closely. It's a tiny voice buried deep down below all the hoopla, hype, and cheering about RFID (radio frequency identification) technology. It's a voice not many people are listening to these days, and it's saying, "Can RFID really help my business?" That voice, by the way, is your customer's, and this is just the beginning of the questions you're going to be faced with when selling this technology.

But the questions may not be the ones you're prepared to answer. In other words, these are not going to be technology-related questions like, "Which frequency will work best for me?" or "What type of tags should we use?" No, those are the easy ones. Instead, you'll be interrogated by CFOs demanding answers to questions like, "Aside from a mandate, is there a strong business case for implementing RFID at my company?"

Just as if you were proposing a new bar code-based data collection system, you need to understand all aspects of your customer's business operations and how that technology will fit in. That may sound obvious, but with the popularity of RFID today, some VARs may think the technology will sell itself. At the most, RFID's popularity may get you in the door. From there, though, it's all up to you. Sure, some companies are willing to adopt new technologies because they like to stay ahead of their competitors. But will they do so with little return on investment or a long payback? Unless they are mandated to, I doubt it. Furthermore, are they willing and capable of changing their business processes by implementing RFID? You can go to all the RFID training courses you want, buy RFID starter kits, and become certified on the newest hardware and software, but you'll still have squat if you can't prove a good business case for RFID.

That realization can be disheartening to some VARs. But c'mon, this isn't the first time you've encountered a technology that, on the surface works fine, but may not be a good fit for everyone — despite the hype. Just look at wireless technology. I'll bet you still have some clients who collect data in batch mode, right? And they are still thriving. Similarly, you have to ask yourself if RFID will improve your customers' business processes and productivity. Will an RFID system offer more accurate data than an existing bar code system? If not, then is it worth it? Or, is the customer willing to sacrifice a few percentage points of data accuracy for RFID's promise of increased productivity or reduced labor costs (e.g. research firm Yankee Group says the improved data synchronization and tracking ability of RFID could cut between $2 billion and $4 billion in costs from the consumer packaged goods and retail industries)?

Will RFID really help your customers' businesses, or will it become just a necessary evil they must accept in order to do business? In either case, you have a lot of questions to answer.