A disruptive pizza brand builds a cutting-edge tech stack to match the pizzazz of its pies.
Enabled network infrastructure upgrade with strategic support
Greatly reduced volume of support tickets
Reduced the need for a larger in-house IT team
Freed up time to complete tech stack overhaul
The Challenge: Tackling a major tech upgrade with a lean IT team.
When Greg La Fauci joined &pizza in early 2023, turnover within IT had left them without any internal IT team for a few months.
Formerly &pizza had relied on an in-house IT team with six full-time members—now, Greg was hired to take the helm of their tech stack along with a former &pizza shop leader, Osman Mohamed. These two were to support the goals of the &pizza IT department and the brand's 57 locations.
Science On Call had been handling support tickets prior to Greg's arrival, but he knew he needed more support to achieve his innovative restaurant tech vision.
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&pizza offers a combination of variety, quality, and a vibrant atmosphere that can't be found anywhere else. At its 57 locations across the Mid-Atlantic, &pizza provides bold flavors, customizable pies, and an "anti-establishment establishment" attitude that keeps patrons coming back for more than just the pizza.
The Solution: A delicious combo of ticket support and strategic advice from Science on Call
In just a few conversations with the SOC team, Greg recognized the potential to enable major infrastructure upgrades. A full-time IT team of two, supplemented by the restaurant technologists at Science On Call, would provide all the strategy and execution needed.
"Given our lean internal team, we wouldn't have been able to tackle our strategic projects without Science On Call supporting us. We get to grow our business and think about the bigger picture challenges, while soc stays focused on the day-to-day."
Greg LaFauci Vice President, Information Technology, &pizza
"Given our lean internal team, we wouldn't have been able to tackle our strategic projects without Science On Call supporting us. We get to grow our business and think about the bigger picture challenges, while soc stays focused on the day-to-day." Greg LaFauci Vice President, Information Technology, &pizza
By the Numbers
Overhauled ordering system at 57 locations in 60 days
80% reduction in support tickets
Saved $100k on network infrastructure costs
Identifying patterns to reduce number of tickets
Greg and his team had grand visions of upgrading &pizza's technology infrastructure. But these kinds of projects take time. A two-person team couldn't reasonably juggle support tickets from 57 restaurants and keep their eye on the bigger picture.
&pizza offloaded the bulk of their support ticketing to the Science On Call team. Thanks to some strong collaboration to identify root causes, &pizza and SOC were able to reduce the monthly support ticket volume from 500 to 100. With a first line of defense in place, Greg and Osman could focus more on strategic projects.
Upgrading network infra-structure for significant operational savings
Renewing a license with their current network provider would have been pricey so Greg identified a more affordable provider. Making the switch required some extra bandwidth but with Science On Call handling support, Greg and Osman took the leap to new gateway switch access point technology.
The SOC technologists supported hosting and cloud management as &pizza stood up the new network infrastructure. The brand realized vendor savings of roughly $100,000 annually by making the switch.
A tech stack overhaul to reduce overhead costs
&pizza had been operating on a proprietary, in-house tech stack. While effective, this system was expensive and difficult to maintain. An opportunity to innovate arose.
The team decided to transition to OLO and Thanx, which necessitated the installation of Toast KDS to replace the proprietary ordering system. Greg and Osman transitioned all 57 locations in just 60 days.
Science On Call's technologists provided a vital sounding board throughout the process. Given their experience with a vast array of restaurant technologies, SOC agents provided advice on the best systems to implement. They also helped strategize menu mapping, product availability, and promotions within the new system.
“SOC isn’t just answering the phone and diagnosing tickets. They’re holistically embedded into our business and receiving all of the triggers that our internal team does.”
Moving Forward…
Science On Call is looked at as a true member of the &pizza information technology team. Greg continues to grow the relationship, utilizing Science Online as a failover network and launching captive guest WiFi. As &pizza continues to grow, soc will remain a crucial part of the lean IT squad.
Greg and Osman are capitalizing on SOC's round-the-clock support to reclaim their nights and weekends and some vital peace of mind.