More technology providers to offer RFID technology

Keep an eye on the growing Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) market. A recent surevey by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) of technology resellers and solution providers find that most are poised to add RFID solutions to their portfolios, but also that their customers have been slow to embrace the technology. The survey found that 84 percent of technology resellers, solution providers, systems integrators, and consultants will or may offer RFID products and solutions in the next three years. Nearly two-thirds of the companies (65.6 percent), however, said their customers have yet to implement RFID solutions. Among channel companies with customers who have implemented RFID, most said that less than 20 percent of their customers are using the technology.

Despite the slower-than-expected adoption rate, companies in the information technology (IT) channel remain bullish on future opportunities in the RFID market, the CompTIA survey indicates. Among companies that see their organization offering RFID products and services, 89 percent expect to focus their efforts on hardware installation and maintenance. Just over 46 percent of companies said they will offer software implementation services; 38.9 percent will offer other RFID services; and 31.5 percent plan to focus on software development.

You may recall that the same organization published a study two weeks ago showing that the growing popularity of RFID technology has led to a shortage of qualified RFID technicians to install and maintain RFID applications.