In praise of hardware
The devices in McDonald’s restaurants enable new capabilities that drive our business.
by Beth Porter, Strategic Communications & Alignment, U.S. Technology
When customers enter a McDonald’s restaurant, they are greeted by the friendly smiles of crew, the smell of tasty burgers and fries, and a warm, welcoming environment. But running in the background are hardware devices and technologies that also contribute to McDonald’s success in providing the best customer experience possible.
Hardware infrastructure is a foundational component to delivering new capabilities and features. From eye-catching digital menu boards to kiosks where customers can conveniently place orders, to kitchen monitors that expedite food preparation, restaurant hardware has evolved to meet the needs of today’s customers.
Afif Chamass, Senior Director, Deployment, Infrastructure and Support, U.S. Technology, is amazed at how far restaurant technology has come since he joined McDonald’s 17 years ago in his home country of Lebanon.
“I started as an IT person, and I did a rotation in one of our restaurants that was only supposed to last a few weeks, but ended up stretching for six months,” says Afif. “Honestly, I credit those six months with where I am today. The experience helped me to understand McDonald’s restaurants, business, successes, and the hardware and technology behind it all.”
Now based in the U.S., Afif is continuing to drive the technology agenda forward.
“Our purpose is to deliver resilient, stable, and secure solutions that make restaurant managers’ and crews’ jobs easier. We aim to deploy all technology frequently and without disruption, and proactively support U.S. restaurants with speed, clarity, and convenience; hardware is at the core of this.”
The sheer scale of McDonald’s technology footprint is constantly growing and evolving. Across the more than 13,000 locations in the U.S., hundreds of thousands of devices keep McDonald’s restaurants running.
Ensuring each restaurant’s hardware is up to date and running the latest software is an immense effort across McDonald’s U.S., owner/operators, and the Operations Technology professionals employed by the owner/operators. Proactive management of technology portfolios is critical to:
- Identify the latest security patches to protect from cyber threats and vulnerabilities, ultimately safeguarding the McDonald’s brand and owner/operators’ businesses.
- Deploy software with new functionality needed to support business objectives. This includes point-of-sale software used for the execution of initiatives, such as the improvements to the Mobile Order & Pay experience, and a new, holistic system for making our classic burgers taste even better.
- Implement new technology faster. Allowing old devices to remain in restaurants increases complexity, and as a result, it takes longer to build, test, deploy, and manage new technology solutions.
- Optimize technology solutions, as newer technology may run slower or encounter issues on older hardware devices.
“We view technology maintenance as a collaborative effort between McDonald’s USA and the owner/operators,” says Afif. “We recognize it’s a continuous investment to maintain security standards and restaurant operations. In some scenarios, the potential loss of sales due to system issues could cost more than an investment that can protect you, your revenue and cash flow, and the McDonald’s brand.”
To that end, McDonald’s strives to offer seamless support to owner/operators for all their technology needs by providing a platform that allows them to track equipment in their restaurants; by offering expertise and education on technology solutions; and by enlisting and training in-house technology professionals that help implement and maintain new technologies.
And of course, McDonald’s is always looking at how to use technology to make our system and architecture more efficient, and to remain a leader in the industry.
“Hardware opens the door for future initiatives to lead and grow the business,” says Afif. “Our steady progress and successes are enabled by technology, and I feel honored to be part of this team.”
