Released on: October 1, 2008, 8:22 am

Press Release Author: Heike Schuster / ODIN technologies

Industry: Industrial

Press Release Summary: ODIN technologies IT Asset Tracking Benchmark™ reveals
passive RFID technology, including components only just available in the last few
weeks, shows breakthrough performance on IT devices like servers, laptops, blades,
and other high-value IT assets.

Press Release Body: Dulles, VA, September 9, 2008 – Today ODIN technologies, the
leader in RFID solutions, automation software, and research released the industry’s
first scientific evaluation of passive RFID technology focused on IT asset tracking.
The IT Asset Tracking Benchmark™ reveals passive RFID technology, including
components only just available in the last few weeks, shows breakthrough performance
on IT devices like servers, laptops, blades, and other high-value IT assets. The
vendor-neutral study shows unequivocally that passive RFID is ready to meet IT asset
inventory needs with superior operational efficiency. Through RFID, companies are
able to better track and secure sensitive and costly IT hardware.

“For years, companies employed labor-intensive and cumbersome barcodes or expensive
active RFID solutions to track IT assets. That paradigm is about to change. The IT
Asset Tracking Benchmark™ proves there’s a better way. A way that saves time,
improves accuracy, and is cost effective: passive RFID,” stated Patrick J. Sweeney
II, founder of ODIN technologies. “The sensitivity and performance of RFID
equipment doubles every year – we call it ‘ODIN’s law’. Finally, within the last six
months the technology has emerged to make RFID the best option for tracking IT
assets. It’s been a perfect storm of advances in passive technology, such as chip
innovations, metal mount tag formats, and more sensitive reader circuitry. This
Benchmark will have the highest impact of any we have done over the past six years
because it shows the most value to a broad range of end-users.”

The ODIN study demonstrates a variety of spectacular results such as inventorying a
rack of 40 servers in 12 seconds or identifying all IT equipment within a typical
cubicle five times faster than manual methods with 100% accurate data entry. The
Benchmark shows that RFID is best suited for IT asset tracking, however it is
important that end-users understand the many nuances ODIN discovered which are
critical for guaranteeing successful implementation the first time.

The IT Asset Tracking Benchmark™ is the 12th installment of ODIN’s RFID Benchmark
Series™ which independently evaluates RFID equipment performance based on physics.
The benchmark is designed to answer common end user questions:

· How to implement RFID successfully
· Which tagging solutions work and which lead to failure
· How the technology is used to solve problems
· How to build a business case

Tests Included
IT asset managers are tracking equipment to satisfy Sarbanes Oxley regulations,
ensure data security, improve efficiency, support accuracy, and improve the
maintenance process. Through scientific tests comparing tag performance and
analyzing common uses of IT asset tracking, the benchmark equips IT asset managers
to make the best decisions for their respective businesses.

The five scientific tag tests include:

· Sensitivity – Will tags still respond if reader power is decreased?
· Orientation sensitivity – Which tags require a handheld reader to be at a
particular angle?
· Distance – What is the optimal range to read tags with a handheld reader?
· Material dependency – Which tags work on both metal and plastic equipment cases?
· Blade server inventory – Which tags perform best when placed on blade servers?

The five use case tests include:

· Rack inventory – How does distance, power settings, or reader equipment affect
inventory of a rack full of servers?
· RAM inventory – Can individual sticks of RAM be inventoried with RFID technology?
· Cubical inventory – Can a handheld reader inventory a variety of IT assets spread
throughout a cubical?
· Cubical speed comparison – How does RFID compare with manual inventory?
· Control point inventory – How easily can a stack of IT assets be read passing
through a doorway?

Vendor Products Tested
ODIN engineers selected seven metal mount tags from four vendors based on a number
of factors including physical dimensions, performance and commercial availability.
Tag size and form factor is an important consideration because many tags are too
large or do not have the appropriate dimensions to fit on the front of a narrow
blade server or other IT equipment. Multiple readers were also used during testing.
A clear lesson is that no one tag or reader is appropriate for all use environments
and end-users should look to their suppliers of IT equipment to provide pre-tagged
hardware.

ODIN technologies established itself as the leading RFID integrator with more than
200 global projects completed, by leveraging labs in the United States and Europe to
learn more than anyone about RFID equipment performance for end user applications.
By scientifically testing each new RFID technology and product offering, ODIN brings
a level of expertise to end users unmatched in the RFID industry. The ODIN engineers
learn and experiment in the lab, so customer recommendations and deployments are
based on hard earned lessons. Additionally, through the RFID Benchmark Series™ we
hope to make RFID buyers better consumers of vendor information and increase the
likelihood of successful implementations.

Accessing the Benchmark
The IT Asset Tracking Benchmark™ is available for download now at the ODIN
technologies Store ( www.ODINtechnologies.com ). The cost is $1,500 for an
enterprise wide business license. Educational institutions can contact ODIN for a
free copy of the report.

About ODIN technologies
ODIN technologies is the leader in the physics of RFID solutions for healthcare,
aerospace, financial services, oil & gas and government agencies. Global
corporations on five continents leverage ODIN technologies’ expert engineers and
patented RFID deployment automation and monitoring tools to achieve accuracy, speed
and visibility for their RFID deployments. In addition to turn-key solutions, ODIN
technologies publishes the RFID Benchmark Series™, the industry's first and most
referenced head to head performance analysis of RFID equipment. ODIN’s RFID
optimization software EasyRFID™ has been successfully used at dozens of companies
across more than 150 sites worldwide to ensure accurate and scalable RFID
implementations. ODIN serves clients from offices in Dulles, Virginia, USA, Tokyo,
Japan, Dublin, Ireland and Budapest, Hungary. www.ODINtechnologies.com


Web Site: http://www.ODINtechnologies.com

Contact Details: Contact:
Heike Schuster
ContactODIN@odintechnologies.com
703.968.0000
ODIN technologies, Trusted RFID Experts