During a current volatile market, where small businesses find themselves more vulnerable than ever, security systems that are mindful of the complicated demands of our current era can make the difference.
Whether it be a chain restaurant or an independently owned neighborhood bar, having physical security that is robust and multi-faceted could play a positive role on that business’s bottom line.
Restaurant Technology News highlights ways restaurant chains can streamline their current security system management programs, which also offers a rubric small mom-and-pop businesses can follow. The article correctly pinpoints that, historically, physical security for a restaurant meant video surveillance systems with “on-premises storage and monitoring.” Yes, it might have been acceptable to have this be the sole system in place — one that could be managed from one location — but as the piece’s author Genetec’s Scott Thomas writes, “it can limit the ability to manage security across multiple sites.”
Thomas says that cloud-based, hybrid security solutions are the best way “for restaurant chains to oversee and monitor multiple sites from a single location.”
“A centralized control center based on a cloud or hybrid system provides a way for restaurant operators to identify widespread issues and resolve them more efficiently. Security managers can gather regional data for an investigation or identify supply chain deliveries at different locations,” Thomas writes. “Cloud-based systems can even be used to improve general business operations and drive growth.”
Software-as-a-service (SaaS) models are now the norm in the restaurant world. They can significantly help business operations outside of security, too.
For instance, processes like point-of-sale, online ordering, and payroll have all moved over to the cloud, Thomas writes. This will only continue to become the norm. There’s a big benefit for a restaurant since he adds that businesses that use cloud models “reap benefits from less costly IT management, protected data backups, faster technology updates, and other economies of scale.”
While the example Thomas hones in on is the ubiquitous American restaurant chain, there are important lessons for small businesses, too.
Traditional video surveillance systems that aren’t connected to the cloud will put any restaurant or bar at a great disservice. It is the best way to ensure your data is protected, your physical assets are shielded, and your business can thrive and compete alongside the other restaurant down the street that has already been using cloud-connected security systems.
Thomas says cloud solutions for surveillance and monitoring can help restaurants “improve their security management, as well as overall operations.” By way of the cloud, these kinds of businesses “can stay safer and more connected, accessing the latest technologies to support their growth and enhance their operations.”
Peter Cavicchia II 