RFID Ramps Up

More and more users are showing an interest in RFID technology, according to a survey released this week by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA).

For some time now, vendors have been touting RFID as a way for users to track products and parts, and the technology is even being pushed as a way to keep tabs on data center gear.

CompTIAs survey of more than 155 IT channel companies found that 46 percent of their customers had implemented one or more RFID solutions, either as pilot projects or in production.

The most popular RFID deployment at the moment is apparently asset tracking, which was cited by 32 percent of the companies surveyed, closely followed by personal identification and supply chain applications.

“RFID offers adopters of the technology a number of benefits," said Todd Thibodeaux, president of CompTIA, in a statement released this week. "From improvements in manufacturing, inventory, and distribution processes, to reduced costs for product theft, spoilage, or obsolescence.”The wireless technology, which initially seemed best suited to the retail sector, is clearly touching a much broader set of users. With vast amounts of data now likely to be generated though RFID, these same organizations will also be looking for somewhere to store all this information.

There was some skepticism when Byte and Switch first started talking about an RFID/storage boom more than two years ago, but maybe this prediction was not so wide of the mark after all.Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Byte and Switch's editors directly, send us a message.