GRAPEVINE TEXAS —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
To stay ahead of the curve, IT executives “have to keep your ears open and your eyes open,” said Gary Trobaugh, vice president of business technology for Papa Murphy’s International Inc., during a panel discussion by chief information officers, or CIOs, at FS/TEC 2008 here. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“Innovation is one of those things that you have to watch the populace [to understand],” he said. “What exactly is it that people are using? Cell phones are a big deal. Texting is by far the most communicative method for those in their 20s and below.” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Trobaugh’s company is based in Vancouver, Wash. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
He was joined on the panel by Tamy Duplantis, vice president of information technology at Potbelly Corp. in Chicago; David Kaufman, senior vice president and CIO of Aramark Corp. in Philadelphia; Alan Liddle, managing editor of Nation’s Restaurant News in New York; and Przemyslaw Poppe, director of information technology for AmRest Holdings in Warsaw, Poland. The moderator was FS/TEC co-chairman Robert Grimes of Accuvia. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Technological innovation is crucial to lure and retain customers and employees, said Duplantis, whose company operates 190 quick-service Potbelly Sandwich Works restaurants in nine states. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“We were talking about the next generation, and we have to embrace these technologies that they use and the speed at which they multitask and the devices that they use to communicate with each other and to reach out to their social networks,” she said. “That’s also the way you have to reach them for training, learning [and] ordering.” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Duplantis said it’s easy to fall behind technology’s adaptation. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“I really feel like we just started with online ordering, fully integrated to our point-of-sale, which is so efficient and sweet,” she said. “But they use their cell phones more than they use their computers. I think we have got to find a way to give them that avenue into us [and] to use that for training.” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Kaufman said Aramark, which has 250,000 employees and operates in 19 nations, counts higher-education accounts among its client mix. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“You look at students and where they are and how we can serve them better,” he said of insights into future technology that can be gleaned by observing how young people use their cell phones, laptops and online social networks. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“The innovation comes from how we leverage those technologies” and from understanding young people and how “they want to operate” and “the way they want food delivered to them,” Kaufman said. “Innovation comes from just watching and listening.” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
At one point, the Aramark CIO commented: “If you want immediate feedback on what you are doing, just check out some of the blogs that are out there. You get immediate feedback on your food, service, quality and everything else.” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
The panelists said they look to vendors for some help with technology needs forecasting. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“I think the vendors have a lot more bandwidth to research and penetrate the industry and find out what’s going on across the other devices and what people are using,” Duplantis said. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Addressing an IT human resources challenge faced by some operators, she remarked, “You can’t have a staff two generations older than your largest customer base or the people you are trying to reach to recruit [for employment] and to come into your establishment.” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Addressing operator pushback on some technologies, Trobaugh, whose company operates or franchises about 1,000 Papa Murphy’s Take ‘N Bake Pizza restaurants, said: “Our installed base of franchisees believes that high-speed Internet is still a luxury. We try to sell it as much as we can, as we all know the credit card swipe is quicker, and we’re trying to bring in PCI [Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard] compliance, [but] they just see it as something we don’t need quite yet.” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Poppe said that while high-speed Internet connections to support the likes of above-store reporting and accelerated credit authorization are readily available and affordable in Poland, “in places like Russia, you can have it, but it costs a fortune.” DSL, for example, can cost as much as $500 U.S. per month, he said. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
AmRest has 270 restaurants in Central and Eastern Europe, including its own concepts and franchised outlets of such U.S. brands as Burger King, Starbucks, KFC and Pizza Hut. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“Sometimes we are a guest under someone else’s roof,” Kaufman said of clients and situations that can complicate Aramark’s connectivity decisions. “If we are in a financial institution, they may not allow me to be on their network. So we have to look at different ways [to move data].” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
He said Aramark finds it important to partner with telecommunications companies. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“It’s not just because of the bandwidth side” of the networking equation, he said. “You go to some countries overseas, whether it’s Europe or the Far East, [and] you are seeing that people not only order from their cell phones, but that’s their billing mechanism as well.” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Cellular technology can also help restaurant operators meet deadlines. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“Cellular is basically everywhere,” Duplantis said. “When we are having challenges opening a new unit and can’t get the phone company in because our window of opening a store is so small, we actually can get cellular modems in there and they run great.” —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Moderator Grimes pointed out that the day before the panel met, an appellate judge had upheld a New York law requiring restaurateurs to post nutritional information on menu boards. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“That’s probably the first step to [more rules for] on-demand nutritional information,” he said. “We may be headed for…a time when two-sided printing on receipts” is needed to show transaction information on the front and nutrition details on the back. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Restaurateurs are tackling other regulatory issues that touch on technology, panelists said. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
Duplantis said Potbelly has been asked to provide audio capabilities for its website to meet the needs of the blind in compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.
“Blind people need to be able to move through your website, at least through key areas,” she said of what the law requires. —Restaurant information technology executives are inspired to innovate from without as well as from within their own organizations, some of those professionals recently indicated.