When I joined Parker’s Kitchen, data was clearly king, guiding key decisions at every level of the company. Like many growing organizations, we had systems producing data and teams generating reports, so we made a purposeful decision to split data management and reporting responsibilities between our business intelligence (BI) and IT departments.
This model has served us well over the years. IT “owns” the infrastructure, including the governing data architecture, security and integration across our systems. Our IT team ensures that we have clean data pipelines, real-time availability and scalable cloud solutions designed to support the velocity of our operations.
BI, on the other hand, is more closely aligned with our overall business functions. The BI team at Parker’s Kitchen partners directly with our operations, finance and marketing teams to translate business questions into analytical models and user-friendly dashboards. Ultimately, the BI team serves as interpreters, not just analysts. Delivering data stories that drive action and support core business decisions solidified our decision to split BI and IT.
This strategic separation of duties creates balance: IT ensures the data foundation is solid, and BI turns that foundation into business value.
A Data-Driven Experience
To hold ourselves accountable and to ensure that we’re on the right track, we measure everything we deploy. Whether we’re rolling out a new point-of-sale feature, launching a mobile app update or enhancing loyalty enrollment, our first question isn’t just how it works; it’s how well it works. We put real emphasis on the feedback loop: define success, measure adoption, quantify the impact and refine quickly.
This process applies to internal customer service as well as our external guests. When we launch a digital campaign with loyalty or a new foodservice item, for example, we don’t just measure implementation. We measure labor efficiency, turnover impact and even how store managers perceived ease of use to track user experience feedback. Similarly, when we deploy new tech in-store — like assisted self-checkout or integrated pin pad loyalty enrollment — we monitor not only transaction time and throughput but also guest satisfaction scores and loyalty conversion rates.
Everything we do with data at Parker’s Kitchen ladders up to support one singular mission: improving the customer experience. In convenience, seconds matter. The speed of checkout, the personalization of an offer and the accuracy of inventory are all critical touch points that either build trust or break it. Data helps us see where we’re delivering on our brand promise and where we’re falling short so we can make strategic adjustments before small issues become big problems.
The Parker’s Kitchen leadership team has consistently fostered and nurtured a culture of curiosity. Teams across the company have always been hungry for insight. They ask questions and challenge assumptions. They don’t want data just to validate decisions, they want it to guide them in making those decisions at every stage.
We’re not perfect, and there’s always more to build, fix and refine. At Parker’s Kitchen, we are laser focused on continuous improvement, so we see the data-driven experience as a journey we’ve purposefully created. Dividing traditional BI and IT roles, focusing on measurable impact, and making data part of every decision are all important steps along that journey.
We’ve moved beyond simply collecting data. Now, we’re using data to connect the dots, close gaps and ultimately elevate the way we serve our internal teams as well as our external customers.
And that’s what taking data to the next level really looks like for us.
Scott Smith is the VP of IT at Parker’s Kitchen. He has implemented streamlined processes and spearheaded the integration of innovative technologies to drive growth and improve operational efficiency.
