August 1998

Global Access to Critical Information Using the Internet
By Cydney Berry & Damon Neth

Two years ago, Matt Reppert had a dream. His dream, as the owner of the San Antonio based Jazz restaurant chain, was to build a corporate data infrastructure that would allow him to see up-to-the-minute company performance information from anywhere in the world. A goal that most busy, traveling entrepreneurs can embrace. Matt's vision was to install and maintain one system that his stores and remote accountant would access on-line, real time as a management tool for day to day operations, while also affording Matt access to company performance information using browser-based technology. There was only one catch: he could not find any company that readily had a solution to meet his requirements.

The initial step in building his dream system was implementing the Aloha POS system by Ibertech. This touch-screen-based system provided Jazz with a consistent and standard information base. Following the implementation of Aloha, Matt and Ibertech worked with Eatec, a provider of back-office systems software to complete the picture. Eatec had a back-office product with the functionality to meet Jazz's needs from a food cost management, sales analysis, general ledger, and reporting standpoint, but did not have the Internet enablement that Matt desired.

However, with the release of new Microsoft Visual Basic programming tools designed to maximize use of the Internet, Eatec was able to enhance its existing software so that one centralized system can be accessed by remote users not only over the Internet, but over any communications backbone. This necessitated that Eatec port its application from the existing 16-bit Microsoft Access database to the full 32-bit SQL Server database. According to Peter Marguglio of Eatec, SQL Server was the only database product that provided enough performance and throughput to deliver an acceptable Internet solution.

The resulting system allows all Jazz sites to utilize Eatec as a real-time management tool, performing day-to-day operations in the system. When a user is working in Eatec at the store level, they are actually logged in over the Internet, via ISDN access, to the corporate system. As the end-users record physical counts or receive inventory, data is posted in the centralized system and is immediately available for reporting. Reports may be run for a single site or any combination(s) of sites. Consolidated financials are also generated. And, most importantly, the information is available using a web browser from anywhere in the world.

The solution has resulted in the following benefits to Jazz:

• Provided store-level users access to operational controls without the headache and expense of administering remote systems.
• Acquired an enterprise-wide solution without extensive technical support costs.
• Eliminated the need for cumbersome uploading and downloading of information between corporate and store systems.
• Accommodated store expansion without taxing the information systems; adding a store is quick and simple.
• Facilitated centralized purchasing functions.
• Maximized management effectiveness by supplying just-in-time information.

What were the biggest challenges in building this system? According to Peter, Eatec needed to deliver a product whereby many functions could be performed on the server, rather than on the network, so as to minimize Internet connection time. Matt explained that since the stores are in multiple states, Jazz was challenged by having to deal with different Internet Service Providers, where such things as quality of ISDN services, band width, and hardware compatibility vary from ISP to ISP. From an end-user standpoint, the biggest hurdle was getting the company to embrace the enterprise-wide vision.

To date, Jazz has implemented the system at three of its six restaurants, with plans to go live in all of them in the near future.

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