CIO Forum: Who's getting the RFID benefits?

RFID is all very well for securing the supply chain but CIOs must make sure benefits are being shared equally between manufacturers and their customers, according to retail CIOs at today's silicon.com CIO Forum.

With recent research putting the average cost of an RFID rollout in excess of $500,000, it's no wonder some feel the cost and benefits to be somewhat lopsided.

Byron Thomas, UK and Ireland IS director at Kraft Foods, said: "The benefits are accrued to retailers.

We've been trying for some time to do security tagging. As an industry, we've made little progress collectively. It's a situation that's a long way off for reasons of cost.

-- Tony Johnson, IT director, Virgin Megastores

"Retailers are going to have to give manufacturers a bit of the cost. There's a big impact from retailers going 'we want to do it, we want to do it', and manufacturers saying 'you'll have to help us pay for it'."

Even from a retailer's perspective, however, the benefits can be hard to spot.

Tony Johnson, IT director at Virgin Megastores, said: "We've been trying for some time to do security tagging. As an industry, we've made little progress collectively. It's a situation that's a long way off for reasons of cost."

In the future world of retail, however, it may not be products that are being identified with technology - it may even be people.

Dave Birch, director of digital identity consultants Consult Hyperion, predicted that the advent of ID cards could even have an impact on the world of retail.

"In the next POS replacement cycle, ID cards will start making an appearance" for companies selling luxury goods, Birch said.

He added: "In retail, I think security becoming part of the customer proposition is what's round the corner. Instead of being part of the back office, it becomes part of what's being sold to the customer."

And, if proof of the growing importance of security were needed, Kraft Foods' Thomas revealed security is the fastest growing part of the company's IT. Such growth, Thomas said, may even lead the company to outsource its security - as virus writers become more virulent and the capabilities of the company's IT department are no longer able to keep pace.

"It's less to do with corporate espionage and more to do with threats to the system," he said.