Although this blog is focused more on who's using RFID from a user standpoint, there is now considerable interest in RFID from what you might call 'familiar, traditional' software vendors.
This is important when it comes to managing the data which RFID generates. RFID does not exist in isolation, or just as an acronym, something -'mea culpa' - we're all guilty of labelling it from time to time. It's about the data it generates and what that means for the business. And that means taking the RFID data and turning it into usable applications.
IBM, Oracle and SAP have been making a noise for some time about RFID middleware, and now they're being joined by Microsoft, which is releasing BizTalk Server R2.
BizTalk Server R2 includes RFID middleware, and Microsoft is now working with a series of partners to provide applications utilising RFID to solve business problems, such as reducing out-of-stocks, or better tracking of work-in-progress.
Microsoft will be discussing these issues at an event organised by RFID Journal in the US next month. By then, more practical details about BizTalk Server R2 should have emerged.
On the subject of events, there's a major one in Cambridge next week, IDTechEx RFID Europe with a string of users and RFID specialists presenting, including Marks & Spencer, Sony, Ahold, BP, IATA and standards group EPCglobal, to name but a few.