In 2002, Patrick J. Sweeney II, ODIN's founder teamed up with a handful of engineers, including Dr. Daniel Engels - the author of the electronic product code (EPC) and former director of MIT's Auto-ID Center, to create a company focused around the disruptive technology soon to hit mainstream - RFID. Sweeney had recently sold his company, ServerVault, and had investigated RFID for use in a data center. He saw the potential of the technology before it ever hit the popular press.

What the team realized very early on is that RFID required a very in-depth understanding of physics and most equipment necessitated a PhD to properly deploy in large scale. After several early efforts - from Wal-Mart's first RFID town trial which Engels was the project lead on, to the first pilot for the US Department of Homeland Security - the team started to map several recurring challenges. These were obstacles that could be overcome with physics-based RFID software tools and processes; so they began creating tools to make RFID easier for a wider audience beyond PhDs. The goal was make RFID easy and create Supremely Satisfied Clients™.

At the same time, Sweeney felt compelled to tell the truth about the technology and not let the marketing hype of aggressive, venture-backed companies looking for a fast exit confuse the marketplace. This is when he decided to write 'RFID for Dummies' (now Amazon's best-selling RFID book)and give away many of the company's early secrets for deploying accurate systems. This was only the start of Sweeney's goal of sharing knowledge and truth with RFID consumers, the Benchmark series would be next, and then Learn RFID online.

As ODIN began to expand due to demand from Wal-Mart and DoD suppliers, it was clear the industry needed an honest broker. ODIN began testing every piece of available equipment in its lab, thus creating the Benchmark Series - a "consumer reports" for the RFID industry. These reports are one-of-a-kind and have helped push the performance characteristics of vendors and created metrics every vendor could be measured by. Thousands of purchases world-wide have been influenced by the ODIN Benchmark Series.

This test-then-deploy strategy also helped make ODIN's engineers the best educated and most experienced in the industry. In order to make sure each reader or tag company put its best foot forward for ODIN's Benchmark test, they routinely send their top engineers to ODIN's Lab to show new products, integrate with software and try to make sure the readers being tested for the Benchmark series get the best possible performance. ODIN learned the back doors, inside hacks and tricks for getting great read performance.

After hundreds of tests for live clients, ODIN released it's first tag testing software in 2005, and hasn't stopped building software since. The EasyRFID Suite which includes deployment, management, and monitoring tools have all been built so that ODIN clients can have one trusted source for all their RFID software needs. This allows end-users to take more control over their RFID initiatives, and partners to use ODIN's tools to provide an unprecedented level of service to their clients.

To make sure ODIN is well-recognized as having the best employees in RFID, we set the early bar for certification by having more engineers take and pass the CompTIA RFID+ certification than any other company. ODIN's founder was awarded the annual CompTIA Leadership Award for his work in moving the RFID industry forward with vision and integrity.

From the very beginning, ODIN has been run with sound business principles, has no venture capital, and is cash flow positive. Despite being one of the most successful players in the RFID space, it is still privately held with headquarters in Ashburn, Virginia; an 8,000 square foot facility in Budapest, Hungary; an office in Dublin, Ireland; and a small sales office in Tokyo, Japan.