The Wireless Wars
I must apologize for not posting something sooner. I took a much needed family vacation and returned to a mountain of work in the office…But, enough with the excuses already!
For those of us that have been around awhile, we remember the BUS wars of a few years back. Any time ISA has volunteers working on a standard addressing a major technology shift, controversy begins. This is currently happening with the ISA100 wireless standard.
I will be the first to admit that I am not an unbiased observer in the wireless wars, like I was during the BUS wars. I am employed by one of the large vendors involved in this arena. But as the President of ISA, I am disturbed by the formation of technology camps and the resulting controversy. Apparently there are times when consensus is all but impossible!
So…How do we resolve that?
The obvious answer is to let the market duke it out and for the users to ultimately decide. This happened with Beta vs. VHS. Why not allow the market to determine the right protocol for wireless? Ah, but the users don’t want to invest in a technology that may be driven out of the market place. They want a standard so they know where to invest their wireless dollars. There is the added pressure that ISA has been criticized for not getting standards to market in a timely fashion. This is not the fault of ISA per se. ISA staff depends on the volunteers to drive the standards activity—especially when the barriers to quick delivery are technical in nature.
So is there a resolution to this dilemma?
I’m not sure there is a quick and easy solution. While the ISA100 Committee and working groups continue to attempt writing a standard that meets with consensus, we (ISA, WINA, and all the vendors involved with the technology) have the opportunity to educate users on the right questions to ask before they invest in wireless instruments and networks.
There is much to be gained from wireless technology in the manufacturing arena. Wireless provides a way to make measurements that were uneconomical in the past or measurements that were all but impossible to make. I encourage users and vendors alike to not only self-educate themselves on wireless technology, but also to provide input to the technical gurus on the Standards committee. They need to hear the perspective of “outsiders” to help develop the best path forward for the standard.
Hopefully consensus will be reached soon, and a resulting standard published. But in the meantime we all get to enjoy watching the controversy develop. For those of us in automation, it ranks right up there with the political debates of an election!
For those of us that have been around awhile, we remember the BUS wars of a few years back. Any time ISA has volunteers working on a standard addressing a major technology shift, controversy begins. This is currently happening with the ISA100 wireless standard.
I will be the first to admit that I am not an unbiased observer in the wireless wars, like I was during the BUS wars. I am employed by one of the large vendors involved in this arena. But as the President of ISA, I am disturbed by the formation of technology camps and the resulting controversy. Apparently there are times when consensus is all but impossible!
So…How do we resolve that?
The obvious answer is to let the market duke it out and for the users to ultimately decide. This happened with Beta vs. VHS. Why not allow the market to determine the right protocol for wireless? Ah, but the users don’t want to invest in a technology that may be driven out of the market place. They want a standard so they know where to invest their wireless dollars. There is the added pressure that ISA has been criticized for not getting standards to market in a timely fashion. This is not the fault of ISA per se. ISA staff depends on the volunteers to drive the standards activity—especially when the barriers to quick delivery are technical in nature.
So is there a resolution to this dilemma?
I’m not sure there is a quick and easy solution. While the ISA100 Committee and working groups continue to attempt writing a standard that meets with consensus, we (ISA, WINA, and all the vendors involved with the technology) have the opportunity to educate users on the right questions to ask before they invest in wireless instruments and networks.
There is much to be gained from wireless technology in the manufacturing arena. Wireless provides a way to make measurements that were uneconomical in the past or measurements that were all but impossible to make. I encourage users and vendors alike to not only self-educate themselves on wireless technology, but also to provide input to the technical gurus on the Standards committee. They need to hear the perspective of “outsiders” to help develop the best path forward for the standard.
Hopefully consensus will be reached soon, and a resulting standard published. But in the meantime we all get to enjoy watching the controversy develop. For those of us in automation, it ranks right up there with the political debates of an election!
posted by ISA at
11:01 AM
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