Ask Phillip “Phil” Crawford about the most outlandish proposal of his technology career, and the Yard House Restaurants chief information officer leaves you slack-jawed with a tale about one that was put to him, as opposed to one he cooked up.
“After our third store, we were approached to drop POS systems and go back to paper, pencils and calculators. It was sold as a more cost-effective way of doing business,” the 36-year-old CIO recalled. “Obviously, that proposal didn’t get too much attention.”
The bustling, high-volume chain generates average annual sales volume of about $8 million, according to reported results, which makes the idea of a paper-based system unworkable.
What does work at 28-unit Yard House — apart from its world-class selection of draft beers from 100 to 250 taps per location and eclectic casual-dining menu — is classic rock music. Company founder and chief executive Steele Platt is reputed to put a premium on the audio-visual systems in Yard House restaurants, with a press release by one of the chain’s hardware suppliers placing the cost per unit for such technology at nearly $250,000.
In-house responsibility for those AV systems falls to Crawford, who seems to take the assignment in stride and in keeping with a job that also recently saw him tap his department’s resources for the benefit of Round it Up America. That company philanthropic initiative raised more than $250,000 for charities in less than a year by asking customers to “round up” their dining checks to the nearest dollar, and donate the remaining change.
Title: Chief information officer, Yard House Restaurants, Irvine, Calif.
Education: master of business administration and computer information systems, University of Phoenix; bachelor of science, business administration, Northern Arizona University
Reports to: Jeff Uttz, chief financial officer
Born: 1974
Residence: Irvine, Calif.
Family: wife, 3 children
Hobbies: running, swimming,
surfing, hanging out with family
What does the audio-visual part of your work entail?
I oversee the design, development, installation, programming and maintenance of the AV systems. I work hand-in-hand with our provider [No Static] to ensure that we have the best technology in the stores that offers the best listening and viewing environment for our guests.
What were the technology requirements of Round it Up America?
There were two. One was the ability to interface with the POS system so an additional line can be added to the credit-card voucher so a guest can leave an additional amount, above a tip. The second was the ability to interface with the credit-card processor and POS system to treat the donation as a separate transaction for reconciliation, yet retain the original card information when first swiped by the guest so a rerun wouldn’t be required.
What are some of the other key IT changes that have taken place at your company during the past two years?
Implementation of a paperless human resources [management] system, redevelopment of [our] website with ties to mobile applications [and development of] a virtual machine environment.
What are two of your company's IT projects in progress and what prompted them?
“Colo” [or co-located IT systems] expansion, [which] stemmed from overall growth and additional requirements for space and resources. Further advancement of internal intranet applications to facilitate communication among stores, regionals [facilities or personnel] and the corporate office.
How does your department get involved with the social media initiatives of the marketing group?
We work hand-in-hand with marketing on social media products, whether it be about development or updates to existing social media initiatives — Twitter, Yelp, Facebook, MySpace — or to assist in constructing promotions that take advantage of new technologies, such as Q technology and Microsoft Tag.
What is your greatest challenge and how are you dealing with it?
Our biggest challenge is overcoming the communication barrier. Often, IT speaks a different language than operations, marketing and accounting, and we have learned that we need to co-exist and synergize together, not be stalemated when it comes to projects and initiatives that drive the company forward. Often, the simplest approach is just to listen and not overcomplicate [things].
What do you consider the most exciting emerging technology with a foodservice application?
I believe handheld technology and pay-at-the-table is the most emerging. We are just now catching up with the European community for this type of technology, and its return on investment has been well proven, [not only] from a speed-of-service standpoint, but also from perspectives of cost of credit card and PIN [debit] transactions [and] security of cardholder data.
Contact Alan J. Liddle at [email protected] .
