Key Factors in Selecting Outsourcers For RFID ProjectsKey Factors in Selecting Outsourcers For RFID Projects

Based on the many meetings we've had and presentations we've seen, we've divided RFID consulting firms into the following categories:

Includes IBM And Accenture

This group includes consulting firms with the most RFID experience to date; the most informative and most impressive presentations; a significant number of white papers and other RFID reading collateral; the most experience actually helping retailers with RFID mandate construction and compliance testing; the most number of references from early RFID adopters, including several closed-loop success stories; an internal center of excellence for RFID, including an R&D lab for client testing of RFID technology; and experience with a variety of competing components across leading RFID technology suppliers.

Members of this group invariably have resources that have participated early on in developing RFID standards with the Auto-ID Lab, MIT, and such. They also typically have a clear presence at RFID conferences and trade shows, both as exhibitors and speakers, and sponsor executive briefings and educational offerings to help attract new business. Members of this group also offer custom-developed RFID middleware for systems integration that's reusable from client to client.

Includes BearingPoint, Deloitte, Capgemini, EDS, Hewlett-Packard, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

This group includes consulting firms with a significant focus on RFID, informative presentations, and some white papers and other RFID reading collateral. They have some experience with early RFID adopters, including perhaps a few closed-loop success stories, and some experience with competing components across a few leading RFID technology suppliers.

Members of this group also may have a few resources that have participated early on in developing RFID standards with the Auto-ID Lab, MIT, and such and may occasionally have a presence at RFID conferences and trade shows.

Includes several midtier and regional consulting firms

This group includes consulting firms with little to no RFID experience but a desire to grow RFID competency. As a result, a small number of resources in these organizations have been given responsibility to learn as much as possible about RFID, to develop educational collateral that can be used to help sell RFID engagements, to publish white papers where possible, and to do whatever can be done to sell RFID pilot projects so the firm can gain experiential knowledge.

It's unlikely that members of this group had any participation early on with developing RFID standards and they typically have little to no exhibitor or speaker presence at RFID conferences and trade shows. It's also likely that members of this group have hitched their wagons to one or more RFID technology suppliers (not necessarily leading suppliers) so that they can sell engagements using their collective knowledge of RFID to meet the needs of their clients, invariably using components from their chosen RFID technology partners.

Includes Check Point Software Technologies, Intermec, SAMSys Technologies, Sun Microssystems, Texas Instruments, and Zebra Technologies

This group includes RFID technology suppliers that have crossed over into the RFID consulting arena. These companies are leveraging early-adopter successes with their RFID technology components and offering similar solutions to prospective customers with similar needs. Members of this group typically have a few published documents, sometimes passed as neutral white papers, which tout successes and differentiating factors with their own RFID components.

Some of these technology suppliers partner with consulting firms to deliver consulting services. Members of this group count on a strong presence at RFID conferences and trade shows, usually as exhibitors, and also may sponsor executive briefings and educational offerings, with or without partner consulting firms.

Includes Oracle, Manhattan Associates, Manugistics, RedPrairie, and SAP

This group includes software companies with a strong focus on inventory management and distribution that have added RFID tagging capabilities to their core product offering. These companies are focusing on this new capability to sell more software or consulting services.

The target market for members of this group are companies that already have their software implemented as well as companies that would consider implementing a new inventory management or distribution system, with a focus on RFID tagging capabilities that would come with the new system.

Includes International Paper

This small group includes early adopters of RFID technology, typically with closed-loop business applications, who are trying to leverage their RFID experience to companies with similar issues or interests. Though executive presentations from this group can be impressive since they share real-world experiences from a familiar business perspective, this group's expertise could be limited to their own experiences and lessons learned with their chosen RFID technology components. Experiential knowledge about systems integration also is likely limited to their internal business systems (and perhaps one or two pilots with consulting clients).

Nevertheless, members of this group should have an easier time connecting with companies in their industry since they understand the nuances of their industry better than a traditional business consultancy would.

Though these categories are subjective in nature (based on our own interactions and research), we see distinct differences between consulting firms in the first two groups--those who have the most RFID experience--and all the others. With so much uncertainty and complexity around RFID, we believe companies considering RFID would benefit greatly by leveraging experiential knowledge from a consulting firm in the first or second group (assuming competitive fees).

We also believe it would be risky for companies to engage an RFID consulting firm with little to no real-world RFID experience. Likewise, we think it would be a mistake to engage an RFID technology supplier as a principal RFID consultant due to a potential conflict of interest. And though we remain intrigued with the successes of early RFID adopters, we suspect their perspective might be limited to their specific situation and chosen technologies.

It's also important to note that even the largest RFID consulting firms appear to have favorites among RFID technology suppliers. In fact, we see many partnerships between RFID technology suppliers and RFID consulting firms. Therefore, we believe future efforts with RFID should involve working with a principal RFID consulting firm to develop an evolving strategy for complying with RFID mandates as well as investigations and direct working relationships with several RFID technology suppliers to keep up with RFID technology developments and to ensure the most strategic business fit.