Appetize Doubles Length of Forecasting Outlook With Kantata
Industry
Company
What Kantata Replaced
Headquarters
The Challenge
As Appetize (now a part of SpotOn) began to thrive and grow as a leader in the industry, the company’s legacy systems for project tracking became less suitable for their needs. The system initially provided Appetize functional data entry, though the company’s reliance on manual data processes and limitations regarding project visibility and reporting prevented the Operations team from forecasting future needs.
Ultimately, the legacy system Appetize relied on for everyday needs created several distinct challenges that increased alongside the company’s continued success. These included manual data analysis and hurdles associated with rapid growth. Appetize relied on Google Sheets that were color coded and required large amounts of manual work to determine a person’s utilization rates across a period of time. This affected the accuracy of resource forecasts against actuals. Appetize’s rapid growth required a reliable platform as it scaled up the number of projects worked on. This need increased as the size and sophistication of completed projects grew, with Appetize completing more than 40 major projects per quarter, with most including onsite time.
Appetize is a leading, fully cloud-based point of sale (POS), digital ordering and enterprise management platform trusted by the world’s highest volume businesses. Appetize’s mission is to elevate the guest ordering experience while making operations more efficient and productive.
“The insights found through Kantata are actionable, and we can make changes we need right then and there.”
Vice President of Client Services, Appetize
The Solution
The limitations created by legacy systems led Appetize to search for a stronger resource management solution that could support its unique needs. After evaluating the field, Appetize chose Kantata for its resource pptimization capabilities. Appetize’s demands for a better resource management solution included:
Project Creation and Allocation
Appetize didn’t use a platform that could create project-based allocations or integrate with the data created in Salesforce. With Kantata, Appetize now had the ability to create new projects that worked for its teams’ unique demands, even when used for resources spread across different time zones.
Dependable Time Tracking
The company needed to implement easy-to-use, dependable time tracking that would provide insights into project delivery and resource utilization rates. Being able to use this in conjunction with project management meant that Appetize’s pathway to further growth could be possible without the complications created by legacy systems.
Supporting a Remote Distributed Team
Appetize has offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta, as well as a strategically-placed implementation team based in nationwide locations who are available to be on site at any stadium throughout the United States. The Appetize team needed a project management solution that could connect team members to help facilitate more effective work and offer the ability to see where processes could be strengthened for further success.
“Having the flexibility provided by Kantata has been invaluable. The service and the team has been really helpful. I couldn’t do my job as well without these reports.”
Vice President of Client Services, Appetize
Benefits
- Forecasting horizon increases to 12 weeks
- Management of 40+ major projects per quarter
- Support for rapid companywide scaling
- Salesforce integration supports project implementation
Forecasting horizon doubles in length
Support in move to remote work
The Results
Insights Into the Future
With Kantata Insights, the Appetize implementation team is able to create custom reports for the finance team and report on forecasts and actuals on both a resource and project basis. Appetize is able to see who is available for a particular week, both in billable and non billable work. With Kantata, Appetize has doubled the length of its forecasting outlook, extending from their previous length of 6 weeks to now a 12-week forecast. With these insights, the Appetize team can prepare for future demands with even greater clarity.
Fast, Automated Project Creation
Kantata is now used by Appetize’s implementation team to automate the creation of projects from sales and opportunities generated in Salesforce. With the use of templates for different project types, the team is able to quickly create critical project outlines while allowing for customization that adapts to the unique aspects of each project. As a result, Appetize has grown faster and more confident in its ability to spin up needed projects.
Support in a COVID-Impacted Industry
For the safety of its staff, Appetize offered a remote work solution to Covid-19. Kantata’s insights into the resource value chain helps management better deal with changes affecting business today, including figuring out how soon they can bring back furloughed resources, when their teams reach a point of overutilization, and where gaps in projects need action.
Strengthening Projects and Teams
The project lists dashboard provides a quick glance across projects through filtering by status to dig in and quickly move between projects. Kantata’s resource management capabilities provide insights into percentage allocation to evaluate future work for each resource. By seeing which weeks have too much work and which need additional managers, Appetize can bring more resources in or push project work out further as needed.
“Tracking timesheets had always been a challenge. But being able to get time into Kantata and track our actuals was a primary driver to choose a new platform. We’re growing with Kantata as we continue to expand and have our projects become more sophisticated.”
Vice President of Client Services, Appetize