Peter Nyheim
Instructor, Technology, Pennsylvania State University
PCI Data Security Standard is still of issue with respect to firewalls. Currently, we don’t have advanced firewalls and, problem is, some 40 to 50 percent of all credit card fraud occurs in restaurants. From a security standpoint, we’re going to be looking at mobile POS systems that will allow diners to pay at the table rather than watch their credit cards disappear for minutes.
Labor scheduling and time-and-attendance technologies are always of issue, but even more so these days, now that restaurants are under pressure to reduce costs.
Digital signage is of growing interest. Retailers and restaurateurs are discovering they have underutilized real estate at their disposal.
Ron DiNella
Chief Financial Officer, Morton’s Restaurant Group
I would like to see an agenda that considers the importance of integrating front and back of house. I expect we will because of the show’s co-location with NAFEM. In today’s environment, anything that can reduce labor is of the utmost importance. Additionally, we’re always looking for better ways to communicate with our guests and gain a greater understanding of their purchasing habits—especially guests who are already committed to the brand.
David Weick
Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer, McDonald’s Corporation
PCI security is certainly top of mind these days. I don’t regard that as a competitive issue; it’s an industry issue. For the restaurant industry, it’s been something of a forced fit, but that doesn’t mean the ultimate solution needs to be. One problem is that PCI appears to have been configured with large-scale restaurants in mind. It might have been intended as a one-size-fits-all proposition but, fact is, it doesn’t work as well for smaller restaurants.
Given the downturn in the economy, I would expect to hear discussion about anything that is quicker, cheaper, better in terms of data transmission—not only to transmit readable data in a short period of time, but in formats that are integrated. Granted, that type of approach can get pretty complicated pretty quickly. I’m not sure there’s a single standard or approach that everyone could adopt.
Elizabeth King
Vice President, Partner Resources, Starbucks Corporation
Expect to see and hear about updates to some of the standard technologies, both hardware and software, in the areas of POS—including kitchen systems and drive-thru options—and labor scheduling. There is growing interest in HR technology in the areas of online training, staffing systems, and workforce planning. The challenge of hiring great people and then properly training and retaining them is very important to understand and solve. As labor costs become a larger part of the profit and loss scheme, deploying the right people to the right location at the right time is critical.
Also, it would be interesting to see how suppliers and operators are dealing with the public’s growing awareness of concerns about information security and privacy. Other areas of interest include the latest in food-safety technology; the effectiveness and return on investment of self-service payment options; new equipment or software that helps reduce the use of natural resources; and any new developments with real-time data-analysis tools for use by management.