Restaurant chains often struggle with keeping their IT budget on course. Restaurants are already dealing with higher labor and food costs not to mention changing customer service demands. So if there are opportunities to reduce costs elsewhere, industry leaders must take advantage.
Fast casual restaurants require specialized technology for maintaining fast-paced operations and meeting customer expectations. In fact, larger food industry brands typically have to manage their IT needs at corporate headquarters as well as supporting their franchisees. For these specific requirements, finding opportunities to reduce IT costs may benefit from some expert assistance.
Quiznos, a sandwich fast casual dining franchise, emerged from bankruptcy in 2014 and was purchased by an investment firm in mid-2018. With new ownership and leadership resetting the corporate direction, the Quiznos team knew it was important to address its IT challenges to lay a strong foundation.
The challenge:
Reduce costs and improve infrastructure
The internal IT for Denver-based Quiznos had become bloated with infrastructure that wasn’t sustainable. Company leadership knew they not only had to offer easy-to-use technology platforms for franchisees but also improve their IT operations at the corporate office.
Gerry Lopez, CEO of Rego Restaurant Group, had specific questions when deciding to outsource IT: “We were looking for two main things: What were their capabilities and cost.”
He was impressed when he met with RedNight. “They didn’t come in pitching stuff we didn’t need. Rather, they shaped their services to what we needed,” said Lopez.
The solution:
Migrate to the cloud and manage support
The biggest shift for the company was moving everything to the cloud, along with using RedNight as its managed IT services partner for ongoing management of the entire internal IT infrastructure, software development, support for Amazon Web Services (AWS), and help desk services.
Dana Martin, Director of Human Resources for Rego Restaurant Group said, “Before, it would take a long time to get a response from IT. Now, our experience with RedNight has been (that) they are proactive and complete things quickly.”
The RedNight
difference:
Changing how Quiznos looks at IT
With the move to the cloud, it could have been chaotic. Every employee had new equipment to learn, and there was a lot of change in a short period of time. But, RedNight handled it differently.
Executive Vice President of Operations and Development Patrick Hilton commented, “There was a systematic approach. It wasn’t just putting out fires. It was a lot smoother than anything I had experienced.”
The results:
The cloud delivers better efficiency
Cloud computing with AWS has introduced the advantages of a more flexible, efficient workplace with virtual desktops. Before, the Quiznos team didn’t have the ability to use freelancers or do much work outside the office. Now, anyone on staff or in the field can work from anywhere securely and effectively.
Real savings achieved
Because the new ownership was giving new life to a well-known brand, cutting costs was critical to support a successful turnaround. Before engaging RedNight, Quiznos spent about $2.5 million annually on IT services. In their first year with an IT services provider, they expect to cut that spend to $1.5 million, with more savings in the future.
“In just the first year, we’ve realized a 40% savings, and we’ve improved our IT operations significantly,” said Ron Lund, Senior Vice President at Rego Restaurant Group.
More than a vendor
Quiznos leadership has been able to build a great relationship with the RedNight team.
Ron said, “They are much more than a vendor – they are a strategic IT partner. They helped us understand how technology fits into our business goals. They are able to easily translate complex tech speak into business speak.”
Lopez remarked, “If you don’t want to worry about IT and just focus on what you do, then you need to talk to RedNight.”
Learn more about how RedNight reduced Quiznos’ IT costs and improved their infrastructure by watching the video.
If you’d like to learn more about working with RedNight, contact us today.
Watch video here: