TIBCO Software, WebMethods, Oracle, and Microsoft are readying their infrastructures to handle radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, which is poised to flood the manufacturing industry, thanks to mandates from major retailers to their suppliers. The vendors in the space are all focusing on data management and integration with existing database and enterprise resource planning systems. Some companies have already decided to take a middlware approach to support RFID technology. The trick will be finding a solution that is compliant and interoperable with a company's existing systems. TIBCO will announce its RFID Agent and Event Cache this summer. The two products are aimed at easing data integration and management. RFID Agent will let users route RFID data to various points on an enterprise network. Event Cache is a repository that lets users capture and query RFID data, and then store it. Following its RFID Starter Pack, webMethods has released its interface to VeriSign's directory software. Its product will let users confirm product information. Oracle database users will be able to retrieve RFID data and integrate it into its ERP applications using Oracle's Application Server 10g. Microsoft's assembled RFID Council, which includes professional service provider Accenture, will focus on building functionality into Council members' products and providing links to Microsoft's SQL Server database and BizTalk integration products.