Valley Management is a leader in managing store technology through its cutting edge approach to developing a technology team consisting of:
STPs (Store Technology Person) - This individual is the technology responsible manager in the store. They troubleshoot according to their trained skill set, escalate within the organization's network, communicate between the OTP3 and their management team and execute any store level technology initiatives as required. The STP goes through a 6 hour training class and ongoing training sessions as needed. Valley Management currently has 16 trained STPs, some whom are the primary contact for technology in the restaurant.
OTP2s (Operations Technology Person level 2) - This individual has advanced from the STP training and has completed the more technical training and certification from an OTP2 trainer. They receive greater access to tools and knowledge through this class. This individual has phone support responsibility for their store as well as another store. They serve as a mentor for their assigned STP and escalate issues to the OTP3 or the help desk as needed. Valley Management currently has 12 OTP2s who range in primary job from Swing Manager to Operations Supervisor.
OTP3 -(Operations Technology Person level 3) - This individual leads the technology team, stays current on all technology troubleshooting, is a mentor and resource for all levels of the technology team and helps the Owner/Operator to plan for technology reinvestment. Valley Management values being a leader in technology in the region and the nation. Our OTP3 participates in mentoring other OTP3 around the region, serves or served on different national boards, including the ONLC and ELC, and has participated in national webcasts about the VMI program. Our OTP3 also functions as the PCI-ISA for Valley Management, servers as the designer and webmaster for valleymanagement.com, supports all the POS systems, store and supervisor laptops and the VMI office network.
VMI's approach to technology has yielded some impressive results. Our training twelve month call average to the help desk is under 1 call per month per store while the national average is about 5 calls per month per store. This results in issues being dealt with in a quicker, less stressful way in our stores and the managers can focus on taking care of guests, not being on the phone with the help desk. Our stores also have less downtime and our engaged team of technology professionals is proactive towards maintaining our equipment, which leads to less issues as well. We maintain as swap pool that is positioned in strategic stores as a part of our response plan. We have eliminated all break/fix contracts with our POS vendor, which helps to save the operator money and at the same time gives us the flexibility to make reasonable decisions on fixing or replacing old equipment when it breaks. Our program consistently saves VMI money each year, keeps our managers on the floor and our equipment running through our technology vision!
VMI’s technology vision is: Eliminate, Educate, Innovate.
Eliminate – Eliminate the frustration of our managers, crew and customers when technology does not work correctly. Eliminate the unnecessary calls to the help desk. We do this through quick internal response to technology failures by our team of committed technology people. Elimination is the heart of our VMI tech team.
Educate – We teach the use of new technology so that it is used properly, we teach basic troubleshooting to our management teams, and use each technology issue as an opportunity to expand the knowledge base of our technology team. Education is the soul of the VMI tech team.
Innovate – We continue to challenge the status quo within the current technology support structure. We find ways to support our store's technology better and be leaders in the OTP community. We continue to challenge ourselves find new ways to save VMI on technology expenses. Innovation is the mind of the VMI Tech team.
Eliminate, Educate, Innovate - Heart, Soul, Mind - Working together to make technology work for VMI.
For more information or questions about our proven program, please contact our OTP3 - Todd Vahlsing HERE