Microsoft Cranks Up RFID

Microsoft plans to release some RFID products within months. July 6, 2005

Microsoft demonstrated its RFID products Wednesday and said it would release an early version of the technology during the third quarter.

Microsoft also announced an alliance with Alien Technologies to support Alien’s RFID reader and tags that are available for applications like supply chain management, logistics, and anti-counterfeiting. Microsoft is displaying tags from the Morgan Hill, California-based company at the show, along with products from companies like SamSys Technologies of Ontario, Canada.

At the TechEd conference in Amsterdam, the company handed out RFID (radio frequency identification) tags and told attendees they would be contributing data just by walking around the show. The company said it used SQL Server 2005 and RFID readers placed throughout the conference to gather the data.

Microsoft said that its thrust on RFID comes from a demand by many of its customers who are already using the technology, which uses tags to send data to a receiver/decoder, thereby allowing easy tracking of the tagged items. The technology has its greatest appeal for retailers and other businesses that need strong inventory management and depend on efficient movement of goods between warehouses and their stores.


“RFID is popular among our customers but many of them are struggling in the rollout. By taking a Microsoft easy-to-use approach, we hope to solve the cost and complexity that customers using RFID face now,” said Steven Martin, a group product manager.

Product Capabilities

Microsoft said its products will have plug-and-play capabilities and interfaces that allow it to work with other business applications. It plans to offer its technology as part of its business solution products and also the middleware as product for customers who want to build their own applications.

The company will start offering the product to its early adopters in the third quarter of 2005, Mr. Martin said. Microsoft’s RFID infrastructure is expected to hit the market in late 2006, although pricing hasn’t been determined.

Microsoft’s RFID initiatives follow in the steps of those taken by its competitors, like IBM and Oracle, which have committed to offering infrastructure software to support RFID. In 2004, Microsoft joined EPCglobal, an organization that is leading the development of industry-driven standards for the Electronic Product Code (EPC) Network to support the use of RFID.

The company has taken a fairly cautious approach to RFID, said Erik Michielsen, director of RFID technology at ABI Research in Oyster Bay, New York. “The Microsoft product development life cycle has always taken a long time. But with RFID, Microsoft wants to make sure it offers easy-to-use setup across multiple markets,” he said.

Microsoft has also waited patiently to ensure that it is able to use the latest standards in RFID technology to roll out a product for small- and medium-sized businesses. “Microsoft has been waiting to include EPC Generation 2 technology so that it can result in higher volume and more network-focused products,” said Mr. Michielsen.