Eagle Boys

Head Office, Brisbane

~180 Franchise Stores and Company throughout Australia and Fiji.

	Business Issues
Franchisor:	Reliable and automated collection of sales data from stores. Ability to implement menu and price changes quickly in a very competitive market. Minimise labour intensive data handling and administration at Head Office. Automatic translation of raw data into business intelligence Fast and accurate feedback from marketing initiatives. Accurate reporting on key business performance indicators. Support for a multi-tiered pricing structure Timely IT support for Head Office and field based staff IT equipment to match modern store fit out standards IT budget control with known costs.
Franchisees:	Reliable point-of-sale system Flexibility in point-of-sale system Accurate and timely reporting on store key performance indicators Ease of training new staff Consolidated view of multiple stores for multi store operators Integration with small business accounting packages to save administration overheads Timely maintenance and support throughout the geographically dispersed network Secure access to store data from “anywhere” Ability to accurately measure raw material and labour costs. Control over IT costs, particularly for regional operators
	Challenges
	Geographic dispersion of the franchise network presented a problem for ongoing support and maintenance, particularly in critical failure situations. Point of sale system for pizza stores is complex due to the fact that it incorporates a manufacturing process and tracking ingredient usage is essential to accurate reports. Maintaining security of collected data while providing easy remote access for franchisees and Head Office staff Gaining consensus from all stakeholders on the functional requirements of the point of sale system. Providing redundancy for critical point of sale system components whilst maintaining tight budgetary control Providing cost effective training to staff Data migration from existing system

The Solutions

Architecture

The overall solution is based around the provision of a secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) connecting all Eagle Boys stores to Head Office and a centralized data repository. The Wide Area Network utilizes low cost ADSL services, where they are not available, a permanent dial up connection is provided. A private IP addressing scheme is used.

Each store is equipped with a small Local Area Network (LAN) consisting of a number of servers, workstations, printers and specialist point of sale devices.

A distributed, Web based point of sale system, iPOS was chosen for it’s modular flexibility, ease of connectivity, ease of use and rich feature set and proven ability in the marketplace.

A consultative process between all stakeholders resulted in an agreed point of sale software specification which encompassed point of sale, stock control, labour and reporting modules. The iPOS platform was then customized and tested exhaustively prior to large scale deployment.

Commercial Considerations

Professional Outsource Solutions, working closely with the client, put together a turnkey solution for franchisor and franchisees where all system components as well as ongoing support and training are packaged together and provided for an ongoing monthly fee. This has helped to defray the initial project costs and ensure budgetary certainty throughout the application lifecycle.

The complete solution is backed by written performance guarantees and service level agreements.

Success Highlights

• A Standard Operating Environment was developed and deployed to ensure uniformity at all sites across the network.
• All active devices, operating systems and applications are fully managed and monitored from a central Network Operations Centre (NOC), greatly reducing unnecessary downtime for the stores.
• All machines in the network are automatically patched, virus updates downloaded automatically, faults are detected prior to becoming critical to store operation and environmental factors are actively monitored.
• A central asset registry of all deployed hardware and software is maintained by the NOC.
• Our helpdesk is available from 8am to 12pm to deal with any issues that the client may have. The helpdesk engineers have the ability to remotely access all machines in the network to diagnose problems.
• All user training is conducted on-line, eliminating the need for costly on site training.
• All store sales data is collected automatically and stored in the central data warehouse where it can be accessed authorized Head Office staff and franchisees.
• Sales data is automatically imported into Eagle Boys accounting system thereby eliminating time consuming double handling of data.
• Information can be exported directly to MYOB and Quickbooks reducing administration costs for franchisees.
• Comprehensive and customized reports have been developed to provide all stakeholders with easy access to key business performance indicators.
• Critical system components such as servers and make line monitors can be functionally duplicated in the store in the event of failure – greatly reducing downtime.
• Spare equipment has been deployed at strategic locations to ensure timely replacement in the event of a failure.