iAnywhere Simplifies RFID Network Deployments With New Software Solution
iAnywhere Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY), today announced RFID Anywhere™, a platform that helps enterprises plan, develop, deploy and manage radio frequency identification (RFID) network solutions. With an advanced service-oriented architecture, RFID Anywhere speeds the deployment of RFID solutions through easy integration with existing applications and processes – even those that are highly distributed. In addition, the software directly manages RFID and other data collection and control devices, such as barcode readers and printers, so that developers and integrators are insulated from low-level interfaces and can focus on business logic.
Across many vertical industries, including healthcare, transportation, government and retail, RFID technology offers greater visibility and control of business assets and processes, thereby increasing productivity. As organizations deploy full-scale RFID networks, however, they are faced with the challenge of integrating and managing the diverse hardware devices, evolving standards, software infrastructure and multiple applications required to support a complete end-to-end solution.
“Challenges faced by customers implementing RFID solutions are similar to those found in mobile and remote applications, such as the need for always available access to information, integration of a variety of data sources and managing data and devices remotely. With more than a decade of experience in solving these issues, iAnywhere is well positioned to help customers solve their RFID challenges,” said Steve Robb, senior director of marketing, iAnywhere.
“Middleware has emerged as one of the critical elements to ensuring successful RFID project implementations,” said Richard Dean, program director for IDC’s Mobile Enterprise and RFID Services. “As more companies roll out RFID projects in 2005, most of these firms will benefit from their investment in middleware through faster deployments that can adapt to the rapid evolution of RFID technology and standards.”
Early Adopters Speed Business Processes with RFID Anywhere
Early adopters of RFID Anywhere, such as ProPath, a leader in pathology services to physicians and hospitals, understand the value of tracking specimens, inventory, and work flow processes to improve efficiency and information quality. ProPath has selected RFID Anywhere to follow biopsies and other pathology specimens as they are processed and analyzed in their laboratory.
“Over 1200 patient cases enter our lab each day-each specimen holding essential information for a waiting physician and patient. The more efficiently we perform testing and deliver reliable results, the sooner the doctor can relieve a patient’s anxiety or initiate appropriate treatment,” said Krista Crews, Executive Director, ProPath. “RFID Anywhere offers us a unique platform for our RFID network that will eliminate manual processes today and help us add new RFID applications in the future.”
RFID Anywhere Features Overview
RFID Anywhere’s next-generation architecture enables a range of features unmatched in the market:
- Support for RFID standards and protocols, including EPC Reader Protocol 1.0, ALE 1.0, ISO-15693, ISO-18000-3, and ISO-11784, is managed through a unified interface, greatly simplifying the challenge of integrating and managing numerous devices, applications, standards and protocols.
- The network simulator allows the impact of data loads and content on existing networks and applications to be assessed early in the project – even before readers and other RFID-enabled hardware have been acquired.
- A service-oriented architecture enables easy integration into the existing infrastructure including feeds into multiple existing applications and interfaces with system and network management software. With its support for distributed configurations and edge processing, RFID Anywhere allows multiple locations to collect RFID data whether or not the rest of the enterprise is available to receive it.
- RFID Anywhere’s connectors and controllers handle the interfaces with commonly-used RFID hardware components, such as readers and printers, letting developers and integrators focus on business logic and not the code-level complexities of evolving devices and standards. As a result, companies can confidently select RFID hardware based on features, price, support, and reliability criteria without sacrificing functionality, usability or performance. Further, support can be provided for other network devices such as barcode scanners and programmable logic controllers, allowing RFID technology to be fully integrated with existing data collection and control equipment.
- Operating as a network service, RFID Anywhere provides extensibility so that the physical network of readers can be leveraged in additional, future RFID use cases allowing multiple business scenarios to be addressed with a single solution. Companies are able to adopt new uses for their original RFID network, continually improving their return on investment.
- Other iAnywhere technologies extend RFID Anywhere’s feature set even further, with local data persistence and comprehensive store-and-forward messaging that result in fault-tolerant, guaranteed delivery of RFID data.
Additional Resources
RFID Anywhere 1.0 is currently being used at a number of leading companies. For more information, please visit ProPath and iAnywhere in the Sybase booth (#5152), call (800) 801-2069 or visit http://www.ianywhere.com/products/rfid_anywhere.html .
About iAnywhere
iAnywhere is the worldwide market leader in mobile and embedded databases, mobile middleware and mobile and remote device management. More than 15,000 customers and 1,000 partners rely on the company’s award-winning enterprise products, including SQL Anywhere® Studio and XcelleNet® frontline solutions. In addition, its AvantGo® mobile Internet service has millions of registered subscribers. iAnywhere is a subsidiary of Sybase, Inc. (NYSE: SY). Visit www.ianywhere.com for more information.
