In a foodservice organization, managers and supervisors are constantly juggling multiple activities that need to be continuously monitored and adjusted to increase efficiency, improve customer service, and increase sales. Such juggling acts are repeated on a larger scale throughout the enterprise. That's why providing easier access to appropriate, accurate, and timely information-allowing people throughout the organization to make faster, more-informed decisions-is a business imperative in foodservice.
Microsoft and its partners can help you meet this need by providing a complete end-to-end environment for real-time analytics, focused on gaining business insight, monitoring business activities, and sharing information collaboratively across the organization. Microsoft and its partner solutions make extensive use of tools and technologies that are not only available today but are probably already deployed throughout your company. Foodservice operators gain the opportunity to extend this collaborative infrastructure from their head office to their stores, taking greater advantage of their entire technology investment and lowering life-cycle costs. The Microsoft business intelligence (BI) platform offers an integrated approach to BI, allowing foodservice companies to provide their people with the precise information they need to enhance each customer's experience while at the same time gaining processing efficiency that reduces operational costs. On This PageBusiness ChallengePeople throughout the foodservice industry want more than just static, backward-looking reports from their BI solution: They want insight to support collaborative analysis, forecasting, and decision-making so that BI can help drive better business decisions-and, ultimately, company performance. This requires an integrated system that provides complete, coherent information that is easily accessible to people throughout the enterprise. However, several significant challenges exist in the foodservice industry: | • | Many foodservice companies currently run different BI applications for different departments-as many as six within a single company. | | • | Different BI systems may be used at headquarters than at the unit level, the result of franchise-owner models as well as the industry's high level of merger and acquisition activity. | | • | A number of legacy and proprietary applications are still being used, making application interfaces and data management particular challenges. | | • | High employee turnover depletes institutional memory and puts a premium on applications and tools that are already familiar to users, minimizing training time and costs. |
These challenges make many foodservice companies cautious about investing in enterprise-wide BI solutions, even when they know that delivering information to people in a format that allows them to take action or to make better business decisions is critical to business success. The Microsoft BI platform leverages platforms already in place in the industry and offers a cost-effective solution, from an operational database and data warehouse to end-user analytic or presentation tools. Business Insight SolutionsDescribed below are just some of the business insight solutions that Microsoft and its partners offer in the foodservice industry. | • | Business intelligence. Restaurant BI solutions based on the Microsoft Office system and SQL Server give foodservice managers the tools they need to analyze and collaborate on unit performance in real time, improve efficiency, lower costs, and identify key business trends to help keep them ahead of their competition. Real-time information gathering and reporting applications can help your managers and staff act on the needs of your customers quickly. | | • | Enterprise portals and dashboards. Portals and dashboards provide tools for presenting actionable BI to restaurant employees and suppliers. Portal solutions can help your people improve internal productivity and collaboration by providing them with the infrastructure to share and manage documents, improve information searches, create and manage workspaces, and build communities. | | • | Supply chain management solutions. Inventory management is a tough job. Solutions that optimize supply chain management help make this essential activity less painful, more efficient, and more cost-effective. These solutions control the raw materials and ingredients necessary for delivering quality food and beverage offerings to your customers. |
Business BenefitsBy using the infrastructure and user interface (UI) that organizations already have in place through Windows-based, SQL Server, and Microsoft Office software, Microsoft BI solutions give people actionable information in real time, allowing them to create a truly differentiated guest experience. | • | Front-line employees gain access to real-time information. Having key information at hand can mean the difference between a dissatisfied guest and a smooth customer-service experience. Access to critical information about individual guest preferences gives your people the ability to provide targeted service, increase responsiveness, and make faster decisions. | | • | Opportunities abound for ongoing guest data collection. An integrated, enterprise-wide approach to BI gives people throughout the organization the tools needed to collect data on PCs or mobile devices during key interactions, adding more detail to guest profiles and setting the stage for more positive interactions in the future. | | • | Familiar applications and UI extend BI's value. The Microsoft BI platform leverages the Microsoft Office system on the front end, so people can create reports in Office Excel, link them to Office PowerPoint, and easily update both reports and presentations. Providing people with the information they need in the Microsoft Office system from the start lets BI reach virtually all employees and increases collaboration. | | • | Easier integration with existing systems. Using the Microsoft infrastructure your company already has in place helps integrate existing systems and unlocks the vital data they contain. | | • | Improved behind-the-scenes capabilities. Intuitive views provided by scorecards and dashboards allow people to analyze and manage revenue, expenses, inventory, labor scheduling, and key performance indicators in real time. People gain greater ability to measure and predict performance, such as forecast trends, determine optimal pricing, or predict sales figures. The end result: increased customer satisfaction along with better operational performance of the restaurant chain. |
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