How Starbucks Taps 7 Tech Trends
Starbucks put mobile payments on the menu early, but it's just warming up with cloud computing and big data analytics. Here are 7 ways that Starbucks CIO Stephen Gillett, <em>InformationWeek</em>'s 2011 Chief of the Year, utilizes emerging tech.
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In 2008, Starbucks faced a "technology debt," according to CIO Stephen Gillett. Starbucks had under-invested in its IT infrastructure in order to focus on fast growth by adding stores. That formula began to falter as same store sales slipped. Gillett was hired in 2008 as part of a turnaround at Starbucks led by the return of founder Howard Schultz as CEO.
"Upon my return as CEO, it became apparent that Starbucks needed to overhaul its aging technology infrastructure," Schultz says. The company put off big IT projects because, when Starbucks was focused on quickly adding stores, any big technology project was seen as a risk to that growth.
But Starbucks in the past three years has paid down some of that technology debt. It has invested in a new point-of-sale and CRM system. It has given laptops to store managers and equipped them with cloud-based collaboration tools. It's testing online scheduling software. And the company has become a leader in mobile payments with its smartphone payment app, which handled more than 20 million transactions this year.
For leading this effort, Gillett won recongition as InformationWeek's Chief of the Year for 2011.
But Starbucks isn't done with IT investments. It has just finished implementation of the CRM system in 2011 and is only now ready to tap that system's potential for more personalized and measurable marketing. Here's our look at seven hot enterprise technology trends that Starbucks is tapping into via projects and initiatives.
With the help of 2-D barcode scanners, Starbucks this year began letting people pay in its U.S. stores with a smartphone app. The app, which ties to Starbucks' loyalty and payment cards, has done more than 20 million transactions in 2011.
My Starbucks Idea, launched in 2008, still thrives as an online suggestion box where customers vote ideas up or down. Starbucks' Facebook page, with 26 million "Likes," is another source of customer ideas, while also letting people send gift cards using the social network.
Starbucks is testing desktop virtualization to let employees choose among computers, tablets, or smartphones-- and switch among the devices -- while still securely accessing corporate apps.
Starbucks is experimenting with cloud, using Microsoft's Office 365 online service for store email and productivity apps, but running corporate systems on premises. It uses some SaaS options, such as Salesforce.com's Ideas platform. But for infrastructure needs, it relies nearly entirely on its own heavily virtualized data center, rather than public cloud services.
Starbucks opened the Tech Cafe at its Seattle headquarters in late 2011, giving employees an IT support environment with the feel of an Apple store. Employees are encouraged to drop in to discuss a problem, or to share an idea for how they could use IT better. The Cafe shows an IT organization open to new approaches.
Starbucks vies with locals Amazon.com and Microsoft for talent, so it's showing off its tech innovations on YouTube and other media. CIO Stephen Gillett also wants his IT organization to be "the destination employer within Starbucks"--so that the first resumes for an IT opening come from inside the company.
Starbucks is rolling out a Siebel CRM system that will enable new options for analyzing customer and product trends and delivering more personalized marketing.
For more about Starbucks CIO Stephen Gillett, read InformationWeek's cover story profiling his innovative IT efforts and strategies.
More CIO Of The Year:
For more about Starbucks CIO Stephen Gillett, read InformationWeek's cover story profiling his innovative IT efforts and strategies.
More CIO Of The Year:
In 2008, Starbucks faced a "technology debt," according to CIO Stephen Gillett. Starbucks had under-invested in its IT infrastructure in order to focus on fast growth by adding stores. That formula began to falter as same store sales slipped. Gillett was hired in 2008 as part of a turnaround at Starbucks led by the return of founder Howard Schultz as CEO.
"Upon my return as CEO, it became apparent that Starbucks needed to overhaul its aging technology infrastructure," Schultz says. The company put off big IT projects because, when Starbucks was focused on quickly adding stores, any big technology project was seen as a risk to that growth.
But Starbucks in the past three years has paid down some of that technology debt. It has invested in a new point-of-sale and CRM system. It has given laptops to store managers and equipped them with cloud-based collaboration tools. It's testing online scheduling software. And the company has become a leader in mobile payments with its smartphone payment app, which handled more than 20 million transactions this year.
For leading this effort, Gillett won recongition as InformationWeek's Chief of the Year for 2011.
But Starbucks isn't done with IT investments. It has just finished implementation of the CRM system in 2011 and is only now ready to tap that system's potential for more personalized and measurable marketing. Here's our look at seven hot enterprise technology trends that Starbucks is tapping into via projects and initiatives.
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