When Microsoft launched its so-called "Smarter Retailing Initiative" in mid-January, company officials said Microsoft planned to support radio frequency identification (RFID) but didn't offer specifics.

Get More Details on the Smarter Retailing Initiative Here

But on Monday, the Redmond software giant offered additional details as to how and when it plans to add RFID support to at least some of its software.

Over the course of the next two years, Microsoft will deliver versions of its Navision financial solution, its Axapta ERP offering and its Retail Management System — all products aimed at small and mid-size businesses — that will include RFID support, among other features. That's according to Satya Nadella, corporate vice president of development for Microsoft Business Solutions.

The Navision and Axapta releases with RFID support are slated for 2005; the Retail Management System one for 2006. (Microsoft is slated to update al three of these three product lines in 2004, but RFID support won't be added until the subsequent releases.)

Check Out Microsoft's Business Solutions Roadmap

Microsoft already has demonstrated how it plans to incorporate RFID support, by way of a pilot supply-chain-management solution it developed for Axapta customer KiMS, a Danish snack maker. The pilot, which went live in December, 2003, was done as a proof-of-concept demonstration. It took three months to conceptualize, develop and deploy, Nadella said.

"We took their Axapta implementation and extended it with demand planning for forecasting; MBN (Microsoft Business Network) for tracking purchasing flows, exception handling" and the like, explained Nadella. Microsoft also extended KiMS' warehouse-management system with RFID as part of the pilot, he said.

Microsoft wants to provide its SMB customers with complete solutions, Nadella said, automating everything from the partnering process, to collaboration, to purchasing. "Partial automation just creates more pain," he said. "We are making sure that very little integration is needed out of the box."