IBM adds RFID capabilities to WebSphere products

Computerworld - IBM today unveiled new software to help companies integrate radio frequency identification (RFID) capabilities into their IT systems, including a new server application that brings RFID benefits to existing IBM point-of-sale terminals.
In an announcement today, IBM said the new applications include two IBM WebSphere products that will help automate business processes using RFID technology. The applications are IBM WebSphere RFID Premises Server, which aims to integrate RFID tags and networked RFID readers with customers' IT systems, and IBM WebSphere Remote Server, which manages applications in remote locations, including retail stores and warehouses.
IBM also announced its RFID Device Infrastructure -- embedded standards-based software that manufacturers can use when building RFID products for use with the customers' systems.
Ann Breidenbach, IBM's director of strategy for sensor and actuator solutions, said the new offerings extend the company's WebSphere suite to an enterprise's remote locations, rather than just in central offices.
One customer, Metro Group, a large German retailer, is deploying RFID capabilities throughout its supply chain using an RFID middleware product based on the IBM WebSphere RFID Premises Server, IBM said. Metro is working to provide a virtual view of RFID-tagged pallets and cases shipped to its distribution centers. About 20 Metro suppliers have integrated their processes into the system so far, and another 80 are scheduled to do so next year.
A spokesman for Metro couldn't be reached for comment today.
Sharyn Leaver, an analyst at Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc., said today that the offerings are good for IBM WebSphere customers because they can use existing hardware while adding useful functions.
"The big news is that they're packaging a product," Leaver said. "This is a clear sign that they're serious about it."
The new applications are based on open Java standards, and clients can use Eclipse-based tools supported by industry standards to customize business processes.