How Top-Performing Restaurants Stay Fast, Flexible, and Always Connected
According to market research involving 250+ restaurant owners and operators
Table of Contents
Introduction pg. 3
Chapter 1: Downtime is the Enemy of Growth pg. 4
Chapter 2: Streamlining for Speed, Scale and Sanity pg. 8
Chapter 3: Turning Guest Data into Growth pg. 14
Chapter 4: Building Future-Ready Restaurants pg. 19
Appendix: Research and Underwriter Notes pg. 24
In today’s restaurant industry, where every second counts and every transaction matters, there’s no room for systems that stall, lag, or crash under pressure. Whether it’s a frozen POS terminal during the lunch rush, a delayed order in the kitchen, or an outage that takes your entire mobile ordering system offline, operational downtime sends revenue out the door, frustrates guests, and demoralizes staff. And yet, many restaurants are still running on yesterday’s infrastructure, hoping it holds up tomorrow.
The truth is, the stakes have never been higher. Between labor shortages, razor-thin margins, rising food costs, and guests who expect digital convenience as a baseline, operators can’t afford to operate in the dark. They need visibility. They need resilience. They need a tech stack that doesn’t just function but performs flawlessly under pressure.
Enter a new breed of restaurant leaders who are flipping the script. These operators aren’t just patching holes in legacy systems. They’re reimagining their operations from the ground up. They’re embracing edge-powered platforms that deliver real-time performance and self-healing uptime, whether it’s during peak hours or a system update. They’re replacing reactive IT with proactive intelligence, eliminating failure points before they interrupt service. And they’re integrating their systems so tightly that front-of-house, back-of-house, and off-prem operations operate as one seamless ecosystem. This isn’t about adding more tech for tech’s sake. It’s about smarter infrastructure: flexible, scalable, and secure. It’s about creating a restaurant environment where staff are empowered, guests are delighted, and operations run as smoothly at scale as they do at store #1.
This eBook explores how top-performing restaurants are eliminating downtime through resilient architecture, automating the right workflows to streamline operations, and using data to unlock faster, smarter growth. Because in an industry where every second and every customer counts, the difference between good and great isn’t just the food. It’s the infrastructure behind it.
Between labor shortages, razor-thin margins, rising food costs, and guests who expect digital convenience as a baseline, operators can’t afford to operate in the dark.
Chapter 1
Downtime is the Enemy of Growth
If there's one truth every restaurant operator knows firsthand, it's this: when your systems go down, everything grinds to a halt.
The grill might still be hot, and the line cooks still sharp, but if the POS freezes orders stop. If the kitchen display blinks out, tickets back up. If mobile ordering stalls, so do your off-prem sales. And if your team is stuck troubleshooting instead of serving guests, you're not just losing revenue you’re losing trust.
In an era where restaurants are expected to move fast, serve flawlessly, and operate with surgical efficiency, downtime isn't just an inconvenience. It’s a growth blocker. A brand killer. And, for many, an all-too-common occurrence.
A Hard Look at Restaurant Reality
New research conducted for this eBook reveals an industry that understands the risks of downtime but continues to battle its consequences. Fewer than half of restaurant operators (45%) rated their current tech infrastructure as “generally reliable,” and only 20% went so far as to call it “very reliable.” That means one in three restaurants is actively dealing with frequent or ongoing reliability issues.
The effects are as predictable as they are painful:
70% of operators reported revenue loss from critical system failures
55% said outages created labor strain, with staff forced to improvise or troubleshoot
50% saw guest satisfaction decline as wait times increased and service quality dipped
Perhaps most telling: more than half of respondents said they were “extremely” or “moderately” concerned about system failures during peak periods. It’s a daily pressure point and one that the most successful brands are aggressively working to eliminate.
Infrastructure Isn’t Invisible Anymore
In the past, technology failures happened behind the scenes. Guests might have noticed delays but wouldn’t have blamed “the system.” That’s changed. Today’s diners are digital-first. They expect seamless mobile ordering, real-time order tracking, lightning-fast payments, and consistent uptime across every channel.
In an era where restaurants are expected to move fast, serve flawlessly, and operate with surgical efficiency, downtime isn't just an inconvenience.
If your tech doesn’t work, your customer experience doesn’t work. And in a world of instant reviews and social media amplification, there’s no margin for error. Yet many operators are still running on tech stacks that can’t keep up. According to the research, only 20% of restaurants describe their systems as fully integrated. Half admit their platforms are only partially connected often a patchwork of tools with redundant workflows and communication gaps.
And the problem scales. Among multi-unit brands operating 21–200 locations, integration and uptime challenges only multiply. Larger operations tend to rely on more tools often six or more distinct platforms across the front and back of house and 25% of all respondents said managing their systems required heavy IT involvement. The result? Slow recovery times when things go wrong. Limited insight when performance dips. And costly downtime during the very moments when execution matters most.
The Shift from Reactive to Resilient
Despite these pain points, a new generation of operators is changing course. They’re building systems designed for resilience, not just functionality. They're replacing fragile tech stacks with edge-powered platforms and hybrid cloud architectures that don’t blink when the network hiccups. They’re prioritizing tech upgrades that directly reduce downtime, enhance reliability, and future-proof operations at scale. And they’re doing so for one simple reason: because uptime is growth.
Here’s what the research shows they’re investing in next:
60% plan to upgrade POS systems for speed, stability, and edge processing capabilities
50% are modernizing back-office systems, reducing complexity and enabling remote management
45% are enhancing loyalty and CRM systems, recognizing the value of personalized, data-driven guest engagement
Real-time data and infrastructure reliability round out the list of top priorities
A new generation of operators is changing course. They’re building systems designed for resilience, not just functionality
This isn’t theoretical. It’s strategic. These are the kinds of upgrades that allow restaurants to move from firefighting to forward-thinking. And the leading operators are already seeing the benefits in smoother service, less downtime, and greater adaptability when the unexpected hits. It’s not just the systems they're building smarter operational foundations. Here’s how:
They treat reliability as a competitive advantage. It’s not just about keeping the lights on it’s about never missing a sale, a shift, or a moment to impress a guest.
They eliminate single points of failure. Whether it’s a tablet that crashes under load or a menu system that can’t sync fast enough, they swap fragility for fault tolerance.
They integrate and simplify. Rather than juggle a half-dozen point solutions, they invest in connected ecosystems that share data, reduce duplication, and support real-time recovery.
They measure uptime like they measure sales. Because when your systems are up, your team performs. When they’re down, everything else follows.
They scale smarter. With only 20% of operators saying their infrastructure is “fully scalable,” forward-looking brands are ensuring that every new location opens with stronger, more reliable tech than the last.
Looking Ahead: Uptime as a Growth Strategy
Downtime isn’t just an IT issue. It’s an operational liability. A brand risk. A barrier to growth. Restaurants that want to scale profitably and sustainably can’t afford to operate on brittle systems. They need infrastructure built for speed, built for pressure, built for resilience. And that means shifting from reactive support to proactive design.
In the chapters ahead, we’ll look at how top-performing restaurants are automating workflows, empowering teams with real-time data, and engineering for continuous uptime. Because in an environment where expectations never stop rising, reliability isn’t optional. It’s foundational.
Restaurants that want to scale profitably—and sustainably— can’t afford to operate on brittle systems. They need infrastructure built for speed, built for pressure, built for resilience.
Chapter 2
Streamlining for Speed, Scale, and Sanity
In an industry built on speed, consistency, and margin discipline, operational drag is the silent killer. Bottlenecks in the kitchen, miscommunications between FOH and BOH, and manually intensive workflows don’t just slow service they chip away at profitability and wear down your team. Multiply that by dozens or hundreds of locations, and the cost of friction becomes unsustainable.
Top-performing restaurants are done patching workarounds. They’re transforming their operations with automation and streamlined systems that not only reduce complexity, but also accelerate performance across every shift, every store and every guest interaction.
The Complexity Conundrum
The average restaurant tech stack is getting more complex by the year. According to the research conducted for this study, over 70% of restaurants use at least three different technology systems in their day-today operations, with 30% using between six and ten. These include POS platforms, inventory systems, kitchen display systems (KDS), digital ordering platforms, loyalty engines, labor scheduling tools, and more.
And yet, only 20% of restaurant owners and operators report having a fully integrated stack. Half say their systems are only partially integrated and often require manual effort to reconcile data or coordinate between systems. That lack of interoperability is more than an inconvenience. It means lost efficiency, delayed decisions, and higher risk of service errors.
The Automation Advantage
The solution? Automation built on tightly connected platforms. Not just automation for the sake of it, but targeted tools that simplify workflows, eliminate manual tasks, and empower teams to focus on what matters: hospitality and execution.
Top-performing restaurants are transforming their operations with automation and streamlined systems that not only reduce complexity, but also accelerate performance across every shift, every store and every guest interaction.
Top-performing restaurants are automating in five key areas:
Multi-Channel Order Aggregation. Unified ordering platforms consolidate third-party, web, kiosk, and mobile orders into a single system reducing human error and speeding up service.
Order Routing & Kitchen Coordination. Smart KDS systems automatically route tickets based on prep time, station load, and order complexity balancing throughput and reducing bottlenecks.
Inventory Management & Waste Reduction. Automated inventory platforms sync with POS and sales data to provide real-time ingredient usage, flag anomalies, and suggest reorder quantities.
Labor Scheduling & Forecasting. Modern labor platforms integrate sales forecasts, employee availability, and compliance rules to auto-generate schedules that optimize cost and coverage.
Vendor Management & Invoice Reconciliation. Back-office systems use AI to match invoices against expected deliveries, flag discrepancies, and process payments with minimal oversight.
Underpinning many of these advances is the adoption of virtualization technology, which allows restaurants to consolidate multiple applications and workloads onto a single, high-performance platform. By virtualizing POS, inventory, scheduling, and analytics systems, operators can reduce their hardware footprint, streamline IT management, and ensure higher system uptime.
Real-World Impact: From Lag to Lift
The impact of automation is immediate and compounding. In a recent case study, a 40-location QSR brand implemented a fully integrated backoffice suite that automated inventory tracking, labor scheduling, and daily reporting. Within three months, they reduced food waste by 18%, lowered overtime hours by 12%, and shaved five hours per week off of manager admin time per location.
Automation built on tightly connected platforms. Not just automation for the sake of it, but targeted tools that simplify workflows, eliminate manual tasks, and empower teams to focus on what matters.
What Is Edge Computing and Why It Matters for Restaurants
Edge computing refers to processing data locally, on-site at the restaurant, rather than relying solely on a centralized cloud server. In this model, data is handled “at the edge” of the network, closer to where it’s generated and needed. That means decisions, insights, and workflows can be executed in real time, even if the internet connection is slow, unstable, or interrupted. In a restaurant environment, this architecture brings a range of advantages:
Continuous Uptime. If your store loses cloud connectivity, your POS still works. Orders still route to the kitchen. Payments still process. This is critical during peak hours when even a brief outage can cause massive disruptions.
Faster Response Times. Because data doesn’t have to travel to the cloud and back, edge-enabled systems respond faster. Order updates, routing logic, and kitchen adjustments happen instantly improving speed of service and reducing ticket times.
Resilience at Scale. As restaurants add new ordering channels (mobile, kiosk, thirdparty delivery), the local edge helps manage the complexity by keeping key workflows close to the source even across multiple units.
Reduced Bandwidth Costs. Local processing minimizes the amount of data that needs to be continuously streamed to the cloud, lowering network strain and associated costs.
Greater Operational Control. With critical data and applications running locally, operators gain more autonomy over their systems and become less reliant on centralized IT and less vulnerable to third-party service interruptions.
According to research conducted for this study, 15% of restaurant operators reported using edge computing extensively, while another 30% used it for specific systems like POS or kitchen management. With downtime and latency top-of-mind for most operators, this number is expected to rise quickly, especially among brands seeking to scale while ensuring consistent performance and guest experience across locations.
According to research conducted for this study, the top operational priorities for restaurant tech investment in 2025 include:
• POS upgrades (60%)
• Back-office modernization (50%)
• Loyalty/CRM enhancements (45%)
• Real-time dashboards and data access
It’s no surprise. Restaurants are recognizing that eliminating lag whether it’s data lag, decision lag, or order lag is the key to unlocking consistency at scale.
Real-Time Data = Real-Time Decisions
But automation without visibility is just a black box. That’s why forwardthinking brands are combining streamlined workflows with real-time operational insight. Yet as the research shows, only 25% of restaurants say they have true real-time access to operational data across systems. Most receive updates hourly or at end-of-day.
That means decisions, from prep adjustments to shift swaps to labor allocation, are often being made based on outdated or incomplete information. And that’s a problem. Because in a business where trends can shift by the hour, yesterday’s data is already stale.
Top-performing operators are using real-time dashboards for:
Monitoring ticket times and throughput in the moment
Flagging store-level exceptions for immediate action
Adjusting staffing or prep based on live demand
Tracking on-hand inventory to avoid 86s and over-ordering
Coordinating LTOs and marketing campaigns with operations in sync
This real-time intelligence is increasingly enabled by edge computing, especially in environments with spotty internet connectivity or high volume of in-store data processing. About 15% of restaurants now use edge extensively, and another 30% use it for key systems like POS and kitchen coordination.
Real-time intelligence is increasingly enabled by edge computing, especially in environments with spotty internet connectivity or high volume of in-store data processing.
A common concern with automation is that it means fewer people. But the smartest operators know it’s not about replacement it’s about reallocation. When line managers aren’t chasing down reports, they can coach staff in the moment. When kitchen staff don’t need to double-check order slips, they can focus on execution. When IT teams aren’t putting out fires, they can build better infrastructure. Automation doesn’t remove the human element. It reinforces it by letting people focus on high-impact work instead of low-value repetition.
And yet, the road ahead isn’t automatic. Only 20% of qualified respondents to the survey conducted for this study indicated that their systems are “fully scalable” to support future growth or advanced technologies like AI or robotics. Another 25% admitted their infrastructure needs significant upgrades to stay competitive. So, what’s the way forward? Standardize platforms across locations. Avoid tech sprawl by consolidating around core systems that scale with you.
Build for flexibility. Choose tools that work across formats QSR, fast casual, dine-in, off-prem so your operation can evolve without switching stacks.
Enable self-service analytics. Empower teams at all levels to see and act on insights. No data analyst required.
Align IT with ops. Make sure infrastructure investments support realworld execution, not just vendor promises.
System complexity is slowing down operations. Most restaurants are juggling multiple systems that don’t fully integrate, increasing friction and downtime risk. Strategic automation is helping top brands streamline critical workflows, reduce waste, and boost team productivity.
Real-time insight is now a must-have, not a luxury. Operators need data visibility across shifts and systems to make smart decisions at speed. The future is scalable, not stacked. Restaurants investing in flexible, resilient platforms will have the agility to grow without reengineering every time they open a new location or launch a new service channel.
Most restaurants are juggling multiple systems that don’t fully integrate, increasing friction and downtime risk.
Chapter 3
Turning Guest Data into Growth
Personalization isn’t just a marketing buzzword anymore it’s a revenue strategy. In an era where loyalty is harder to earn and easier to lose, knowing your guests and acting on that knowledge in real time is one of the most powerful ways to stand out.
Top-performing restaurants are no longer just serving meals; they’re building relationships. And they’re doing it by connecting the dots across guest behavior, preferences, and transaction history to deliver experiences that feel tailored, frictionless, and consistent across every visit, every location, and every channel. But there’s a catch: most restaurants still aren’t there yet.
The Disconnected Reality
According to the research conducted for this study, only 20% of operators described their CRM and loyalty platforms as fully integrated with other key systems like POS, digital ordering, or mobile apps. Meanwhile, more than half said their platforms were only partially integrated, and 25% said they rely heavily on IT support to extract or reconcile guest data across systems.
That means most restaurants are flying blind when it comes to guest insights. Offers aren’t personalized. Engagement isn’t timed. And loyalty campaigns often feel generic rather than relevant.
In today’s environment, especially across fast casual and QSR formats where over half of our respondents operate that kind of disconnect isn’t just inefficient. It’s expensive.
The Shift to Unified Guest Intelligence
The smartest restaurant operators are shifting away from siloed data systems and toward real-time, unified guest intelligence platforms that capture, connect, and activate data across every touchpoint, from dine-in and drive-thru to mobile ordering, kiosk interactions, and loyalty programs.
The smartest restaurant operators are shifting away from siloed data systems and toward real-time, unified guest intelligence platforms that capture, connect, and activate data across every touchpoint.
What this looks like in practice:
1. A guest places a mobile order on a brand’s app.
2. The system recognizes this is their third order in two weeks, and they’ve consistently added avocado and hot sauce.
3. At checkout, they receive a one-click offer for a loyalty bonus if they try a new spicy item.
4. In-store, the POS automatically surfaces this guest’s history, enabling staff to offer a targeted upsell.
5. Post-visit, they receive a follow-up survey with a reward incentive tied to their in-app preferences.
Every interaction is connected. Every offer is relevant. Every experience builds on the last. Restaurants that achieve this level of personalization are seeing clear returns:
Increased visit frequency from segmented loyalty offers
Higher average ticket sizes from personalized upsells and bundling
Improved satisfaction scores due to consistent recognition and targeted engagement
Reduced churn through lifecycle campaigns that identify and win back lapsed guests
In fact, according to a 2025 McKinsey study, personalization can deliver revenue lift of 10–20%, with even higher upside in QSR and fast casual segments where transaction volume is high and guest data is rich but underutilized.
Our own research echoes this: nearly 55% of operators cited “enhancing guest experience” as a top-three driver of their 2025 tech investment strategy, second only to reducing downtime. And 45% specifically cited loyalty and CRM system improvements as a priority.
Importantly, it’s not just about knowing your guests; it’s about acting in the moment. Yet only 25% of restaurants report having real-time access to guest engagement data. For most, data is only available in aggregate or after a delay, making it difficult to capitalize on time-sensitive behaviors.
It’s not just about knowing your guests; it’s about acting in the moment.
Examples of real-time guest data in action:
On-premise triggers that offer instant rewards for high-spend or highfrequency guests
Cart abandonment notifications for mobile orders, triggered within minutes
Dynamic promo logic that adjusts in real time based on item availability, weather, or foot traffic
AI-driven segmentation that continuously learns from behavior and adapts offers accordingly
Restaurants that connect guest data with real-time decisioning engines are able to create truly responsive experiences ones that evolve with each interaction and feel personalized without adding operational burden.
Connected Data = Connected Channels
Another key advantage of unified guest intelligence is cross-channel cohesion. When your loyalty platform knows what your guest ordered at the drive-thru, and your mobile app knows what offer was just redeemed in-store, your brand becomes seamless. Promotions make sense. Rewards feel earned. And communication becomes a two-way street.
This matters even more for multi-unit brands. Roughly 25% of survey respondents operate between 21 and 200 locations and consistent personalization at scale is one of their biggest growth levers.
For example: A dine-in guest at Location A redeems a targeted reward based on past preferences. The next week, they receive a push notification from Location B closer to their office with an incentive tailored to their midweek lunch habits. Their loyalty status, preferences, and past interactions all carry over without needing to re-register or reintroduce themselves.
This kind of omnichannel intelligence drives more than just conversion. It builds trust, habit, and emotional connection key components of longterm brand equity.
Restaurants that connect guest data with real-time decisioning engines are able to create truly responsive experiences.
The Role of AI in Guest Engagement
The future of guest intelligence is predictive. While most restaurants are still focused on personalization based on past behavior, the next wave is about anticipating needs before the guest expresses them.
This includes:
Predictive churn models that identify guests at risk of dropping off and intervene with targeted win-back offers
AI-optimized campaign timing, where outreach is delivered at the moment a guest is most likely to engage
Dynamic pricing and bundling, customized in real time based on inventory levels, preferences, and promotions
That said, confidence remains low. Only 25% of operators said they feel “very confident” that their current tech stack can support advanced technologies like AI and machine learning. That means now is the time to lay the groundwork through unified platforms, better data hygiene, and scalable CRM systems that can grow with your guest strategy.
Personalization at scale is no longer optional. It’s a proven growth strategy that drives frequency, spend, and retention.
Data silos are holding restaurants back. Without connected CRM, POS, and digital systems, most brands are leaving valuable guest insights and revenue on the table.
Real-time guest intelligence enables instant, context-aware engagement across mobile, in-store, and off-premise channels.
AI-driven personalization is the next frontier but only possible with unified, clean, and accessible guest data.
In the next chapter, we’ll look at how top restaurants are preparing for what’s next: designing infrastructure that’s scalable, secure, and smart enough to support emerging technologies, from robotics and computer vision to AI-powered inventory, staffing, and guest interaction. Because the brands that lead tomorrow won’t be the ones with the most tech. They’ll be the ones with the smartest data and the systems to act on it.
While most restaurants are still focused on personalization based on past behavior, the next wave is about anticipating needs before the guest expresses them.
Chapter
Operational resilience. Seamless integration. Real-time intelligence. For years, these have been aspirational buzzwords in the restaurant industry. Today, they’re table stakes.
The pace of innovation in hospitality is accelerating. Restaurants are no longer just foodservice businesses; they’re data-driven enterprises that depend on digital agility, infrastructure reliability, and systems that evolve with the brand. And as the competitive landscape shifts, the ability to rapidly adapt without disruption is emerging as the most critical capability of all.
This chapter explores how the most forward-looking restaurant operators are laying the groundwork for long-term innovation, scalability, and growth by investing in robust, edge-powered infrastructure that can support advanced technologies without compromising simplicity, security, or service continuity.
Future readiness isn’t just about having the most tools, it’s also about having the right foundation.
Rethinking Restaurant Infrastructure
Our industry research shows that while most operators understand the importance of infrastructure modernization, few feel fully prepared for what’s coming:
Only 20% of qualified respondents to the survey conducted for this study said their systems were fully scalable for growth
25% said significant upgrades were needed to support emerging tech
Just 25% felt “very confident” their platforms could handle AI, robotics, or automation within the next 2–3 years
Yet the demand is clear: brands want to reduce downtime, enhance realtime visibility, and deliver consistent service across increasingly complex environments, including hybrid models, dark kitchens, and multi-brand footprints. The solution isn’t more complexity. It’s smarter architecture.
Future readiness isn’t just about having the most tools, it’s also about having the right foundation.
The Case for Edge-Enabled, AI-Ready Operations
At the core of future-ready restaurant operations is a modern edge architecture. Rather than relying entirely on centralized cloud infrastructure, edge solutions bring compute and data processing closer to where service happens inside the restaurant itself. This approach delivers game-changing advantages:
1. Always-On Availability. Systems continue running even if cloud connectivity falters. POS, kitchen systems, mobile ordering, and payments stay operational ensuring no revenue loss during hightraffic periods.
2. Local Intelligence with Cloud Coordination. Edge platforms enable real-time decisions on-site (e.g., order routing, menu optimization, inventory flags), while syncing with cloud-based analytics and management tools across the enterprise.
3. Lower Latency = Higher Performance. Edge processing slashes the delay between action and result. This means faster order flows, quicker staff response times, and smoother guest experiences especially in drive-thrus, kiosks, and mobile-first formats.
4. Operational Resilience at Scale. When systems are modular, portable, and locally self-sufficient, expansion becomes easier. Whether launching a new format, testing a concept, or onboarding a franchisee, operators can deploy quickly without heavy IT dependency.
5. AI-Ready Foundations. Edge infrastructure is designed to support advanced technologies such as machine learning, computer vision, predictive analytics, and robotics. It’s not just built for now it’s built for what’s next.
Technology should fit the restaurant and not the other way around. That’s why future-ready systems prioritize open architecture, interoperability, and modularity. The days of locked-in vendor stacks and rigid point solutions are coming to an end. Operators need the freedom to integrate new applications, whether it’s AI-enabled drive-thru optimization, smart kitchen sensors, or personalized digital signage, without needing to rebuild the entire tech stack.
Rather than relying entirely on centralized cloud infrastructure, edge solutions bring compute and data processing closer to where service happens.
According to the research conducted for this study, 25% of restaurant leaders agree that poor system integration is one of their top three pain points. And for multi-unit brands with diverse formats, the ability to plug in new tools without disruption is increasingly vital.
A future-ready platform does more than connect. It orchestrates:
POS, kitchen, CRM, and labor systems work as one, sharing data in real time
APIs support rapid innovation, new integrations, and vendor flexibility
Security protocols and compliance features are embedded into every layer
Hardware and software can be deployed consistently across diverse store environments
This flexibility is what allows top brands to move faster than the market and scale without compromise.
Security, Sustainability and Simplicity
While performance is paramount, future readiness must also include:
End-to-End Security: With guest data, payment systems and operational
IP increasingly at risk, restaurant infrastructure must include secure boot, encrypted storage, and system-level controls across devices, locations and endpoints.
Environmental Efficiency: Energy-efficient compute and storage platforms, especially those that support edge and hybrid models, reduce environmental impact and lower operating costs, aligning with sustainability goals.
Simplicity at Scale: Operators don’t need more dashboards. They need intuitive management tools that provide a single view across sites, systems and metrics with minimal friction and maximum visibility.
Restaurant infrastructure must include secure boot, encrypted storage, and system-level controls across devices, locations and endpoints.
These attributes aren’t extras—they’re part of what enables the next generation of operational excellence.
Future-Proofing Growth: A 5-Point Framework
Restaurants looking to modernize for long-term success can take a cue from the leaders. Here’s how they’re preparing:
Architect for Always-On Operations. Adopt edge-enabled systems that ensure uptime, reduce latency, and support real-time responsiveness.
Unify Data, Systems, and Stores. Connect POS, kitchen, CRM, labor, and digital systems into a single, integrated platform.
Design for Intelligence. Build an infrastructure that can support AI workloads from predictive staffing to dynamic pricing to real-time guest engagement.
Standardize to Scale. Use modular, deployable infrastructure that’s consistent across locations and adaptable to new formats or concepts. Enable Centralized Control with Local Autonomy. Empower HQ to manage brand-wide initiatives while allowing individual stores to operate efficiently and independently.
Top-performing restaurants don’t wait for disruption. They build for it. They understand that infrastructure isn’t just a cost center or a tech decision. It’s a business strategy. By investing in secure, resilient, edgepowered platforms that unify operations and enable intelligent growth, these brands are transforming complexity into control and building the agility needed to thrive in the next era of hospitality. Some advanced platforms support this approach by delivering fault-tolerant, edge-ready infrastructure that ensures mission-critical applications stay continuously available, even in the most demanding restaurant environments.
Because the future doesn’t belong to the restaurant with the most technology. It belongs to the one with the smartest foundation one that delivers fault-tolerant, edge-ready infrastructure to keep mission-critical applications continuously available, even in the most demanding restaurant environments.
By investing in secure, resilient, edgepowered platforms that unify operations and enable intelligent growth, restaurants can transform complexity into control and build the agility needed to thrive in the next era of hospitality.
As trusted advisors accelerating time to value and delivering peace of mind to our valued customers, Penguin Solutions has over two decades of experience providing end - to - end solutions that solve complex challenges in computing and memory
We deliver high performance and high availability compute infrastructure solutions and services. We are experts in the infrastructure required to successfully deploy and run data intensive and critical workloads from edge to core to cloud— most notably artificial intelligence (AI), high - performance compute (HPC), faulttolerant (FT), and edge computing infrastructure. Our Stratus high availability and fault tolerant computing platforms ensure the continuous availability of our customers’ critical applications and data in remote data centers and edge locations.
Starfleet Research is the IT market research division of Starfleet Media and a global leader in benchmarking best practices for technology-enabled business initiatives . Our research reports — designed to help hospitality companies and other organizations optimize performance and achieve their strategic objectives — are read by thousands of industry professionals worldwide . Our portfolio of digital content assets, including Smart Decision Guides, Benchmark Reports, and co-branded eBooks, is widely regarded as the most trusted resource for IT decision makers tasked with evaluating and purchasing technology solutions and driving continuous performance improvement . Starfleet Media’s other properties include the industry - leading publications Restaurant Technology News and Hotel Technology News
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Research notes: In Q2 2025, Starfleet Research conducted an online survey to capture the perspectives of restaurant executives, IT staff, and other industry practitioners with firsthand experience managing operations in restaurant organizations of varying sizes and formats. 253 qualified respondents participated, from the following geographic locations: North America (71%); Europe (14%); Asia (6%); Other (9%) including Latin America, the Middle East, and Australia/New Zealand. The job levels and roles of survey respondents varied, with 55% serving in leadership positions, including owners, principals, CEOs, COOs, and other C-level executives; 36% serving as directors and managers, including IT directors, restaurant managers, and operations leads; and 9% in advisory or other staff roles, including consultants and systems administrators. Respondents represented a broad cross-section of the industry, with most organizations (69%) operating between 2 and 20 locations. The sample included a mix of restaurant types: Quick Service (33%), Fast Casual (21%), Casual Dining (19%), Fine Dining (11%), and Multi-format or Other (16%).
