Tupelo Honey

Modern IT leaders are faced with challenges that can seem herculean: leading the charge for project campaigns, managing armies of vendors, battling budget constraints, strategizing for long-term growth, remaining vigilant for cyber threats and delivering results to senior leadership. In hospitality it is no different, but when the final product is customer satisfaction, it may seem like magic to transmute technical strategy into guest experience.

Recent years have been hard on the hospitality industry as many organizations remain defensive in order to navigate ongoing supply chain limitations, rising employee wages and reduced consumer spending. But limitation breeds innovation, and now there is a treasure trove of tools and tactics available to restauranteurs who seek to bolster their posture with support from modern technology.

Effective IT Departments lead with support. As you find new tools to adopt and deploy to restaurant operators, your guiding thought should be: "How does this impact the guest experience" If the answer seems negative, it may be unacceptable. It must remain clear to the IT team that providing effective support to restaurant staff allows operators to spend more time working directly with guests. The longer operators are troubleshooting, the more it weakens their interaction with the guest. Good "desk-side" manner is important, and it is equally important to remember that while the IT team may be behind a computer in a remote office, your restaurant operators are there in the heat of the kitchen and in the thick of the fight for quality service.

Think of Support in terms of logistics. Support is your supply chain for knowledge, and as the IT Department provides the tools necessary for success, it must also be able to maintain them through excellent support.

 Though often treated as a form of magic or mystery, technology is not fantasy. 

Selecting tools requires an understanding of the problem at hand. Identify pain points for your operators. Does your management team spend hours fumbling with faulty equipment, counting inventory and auditing workstations when they could be interacting with guests? Those problems are your enemies. Replace faulty equipment and automate inventory counts or audits with modern inventory management software. Freeing management from routine operating tasks means more time on the floor engaging guests, fortifying a sense of community and promoting guest loyalty.

Audits and inventory control, reservations and waitlists, and takeout methods are all traditional pain points that can be greatly nullified with modern technology. Reducing phone presence or eliminating phones entirely can push guests toward online tools for takeout and reservations, while inventory platforms provide peace of mind through unmanned processes and remote monitoring.

To complement new software, both Front of House and Back of House operators can benefit from hardware upgrades as well. Handheld point-of-sale devices are a critical modernization for the Front of House. Tableside order-entry reduces steps between the guest request and ticket submission, decreasing lost orders and mistakes as servers confirm directly with guests in real time. These devices often support staged ordering for beverages and appetizers, so items reach the table faster than was traditionally possible. Table turns are inevitably increased as payment QR codes and handheld devices enable guest self-checkout.

In the Back of House, kitchen display systems with pre-programmed prep and order times keep workstations organized and on task. Modern online ordering systems enable takeout and catering orders to be scheduled in advance and sent directly to the kitchen, eliminating FOH staff as the middleman.

All of these modernizations rely on active network connections, making your network infrastructure perhaps the most critical investment in the modern restaurant. Without redundancy, your infrastructure is fragile. It is imperative that you have an edge device that supports multiple network circuits with a primary connection such as fiber or broadband, and at least one LTE circuit as backup. Strong, redundant pathways to the Internet will enable the technological growth you need to support your team's rise in efficiency.

To further stimulate operational efficiencies, consider applying surveillance and policy previously deployed in industries like retail for loss prevention. A quality AI-enhanced surveillance system can drive accountability among restaurant staff and is most effective when coupled with policies that reinforce positive behaviors such as proactive maintenance, cleanliness, and guest interaction, while diminishing negative behaviors such as congregating at workstations, distracted device usage, and product shrink. Many point-of-sale systems now integrate with modern surveillance tools and can assist in tracking ticket times, table turns, and losses through fraudulent refunds and tipping practices.

Finally, seek vendor partnerships that are trustworthy and accountable. If you are paying for a service, accept nothing less than what was agreed to. Do not accept subpar results that could lead to unanticipated expenses down the line. Vendors should be your allies, and if that alliance falters, they may not be worthy of your business.

Though often treated as a form of magic or mystery, technology is not fantasy. Effective IT Management in hospitality requires bold strategy to conquer your goals, fortify your restaurants for operational efficiency, and honor your guests with excellent service. Practice these strategies and you too can defeat technical complications, banish inefficiencies, fulfill the wishes of executive leadership, and emerge as a Champion of Technology for your business.