Porter Apple
Move to the “Cloud” lightens the burden on Porter Apple Company.
Presented with the “jaw-dropping” cost of a new server, multi-restaurant, multi-concept operator, Porter Apple Company, moved its multi-provider IT system to the Decision Logic Managed Private Cloud Solution. By doing so, the company not only gained a fully scalable, high-performance solution, it was able to avoid a costly capital investment in favor of an affordable monthly fee and minimize the pain of the typical system migration.
Situation: The owner of nine Applebee’s restaurants and operator of three Carino’s and a Chevys, Porter Apple Company is one of Sioux Falls’ leading providers of quality food, beverages and entertainment. The firm has long recognized the importance of technology as a way to gain operational efficiencies, access business intelligence and control costs. However, continued growth placed additional demands on existing IT infrastructure to the point where it could not support additional upgrades to its accounting software
system without a significant investment in hardware, along with the resources to install, manage and maintain it. Further complicating the situation was an inadequate backup routine that was too reliant on manual processes.
“Basically, we needed a new server. We needed to upgrade our software. And we needed a better backup solution,” said LeAnn Robbins, controller for Porter Apple Company. The Decision Logic Managed Private Cloud Solution presented a solution that would enable Porter Apple Company to address existing issues and accommodate future growth.
Solution: Already the company was four upgrades behind on the DacEasy accounting solution, yet facing the “jaw-dropping” costs of a new server to accommodate them, Porter Apple Company was definitely between the proverbial rock and a hard place. “We have always been committed to investing in technology,” she said. “However, a new server would be a huge investment. On top of that, we had to look at the cost of resources for installing, managing and maintaining it.”
A conversation with Jim Barber, Chief Technology Officer for Decision Logic, presented an alternative utilizing the firm’s new Managed Private Cloud Solution. Porter Apple had been using Decision Logic’s enterprise software for five years and had given its accounting firm direct access to the Decision Logic data in order to save time and improve accuracy.
Presented with the “jaw-dropping” cost of a new server, multi-restaurant, multi-concept operator, Porter Apple Company, moved its multi-provider IT system to the Decision Logic Managed Private Cloud Solution. By doing so, the company not only gained a fully scalable, high-performance solution, it was able to avoid a costly capital investment in favor of an affordable monthly fee and minimize the pain of the typical system migration.
“At first, I didn’t know what to think. We couldn’t believe that there was a single solution that could deliver a cost-effective server, permit us to upgrade our DacEasy software and upgrade our Microsoft Office software, but once he explained the Cloud, I could see that Decision Logic was doing this right,” said Robbins. It would also provide the company with an automated backup solution as an alternative to the manual backup system where backup media was stored in the company safe.
The move to the Decision Logic Managed Private Cloud Solution began with the accounting system, DacEasy. The implementation took just days.
“Decision Logic was with us through the entire process. They worked with us to contact the DacEasy software tech and we all walked through the upload together over the phone. The actual transfer of data only took five hours,” Robbins said. “From the first conversation with Decision Logic, it took less than two weeks for us to be up and running in the Cloud.”
Results: Today, Porter Apple Company is finding greater efficiency and cost savings in the Cloud environment. “With our old server environment, you could read a novel between transactions. We cannot believe how much faster it is. Our small administrative staff will be much more efficient now that the software runs more quickly,” Robbins said.
In addition, the cost savings were significant. “Instead of making a huge capital investment in hardware and software, we pay a monthly fee that covers storage, backup and software. Our software will be automatically upgraded, without incremental expense to us,” she said. “And this solution will expand as big as we need – allowing us to add memory and storage as needed.”
The company plans to extend these cost savings and efficiencies throughout its operation. Work is underway to migrate line of business for the Applebee’s stores to the Decision Logic Managed Private Cloud Solution to take advantage of the IPSec configuration.
“This will increase the security of our customers’ credit card data and keep us PCI compliant. At the store level, this will help us to lock-down the computers and prevent viruses,” she said. The company will also move its Decision Logic enterprise solution to the Cloud as well.
About Decision Logic: Decision Logic provides Web-Based Back-Office Software and Managed Private Cloud Solutions for comprehensive multi-unit restaurant management. The software suite delivers in-depth reporting on sales, costs and menu mix trends enabling restaurants to take control of their operations and improve profitability as a result. Decision Logic’s Cloud environment was recently featured as a Microsoft Case Study. Visit the website at www.decision-logic.com to view the Microsoft Case Study or for more information about Decision Logic.
Contact Decision Logic to discover how you can benefit from a move to the cloud. 866–334–1934 or slee@mydlweb.com