Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Restaurant Chain Upgrades Systems and Cuts 2,000 Servers Using Virtual Machines
Overview
Country or Region:United States
Industry: Hospitality
Customer Profile
Jack in the Box, Inc., of San Diego, California, operates and franchises nearly 2,000 Jack in the Box and more than 160 Qdoba Mexican Grill restaurants in 33 states. It employs nearly 46,000 people.
Business Situation
Jack in the Box wanted to upgrade its restaurant systems to reduce maintenance costs but couldn’t disrupt older business management and point-of-sale applications running on Microsoft® Windows NT® version 4.0.
Solution
The company implemented Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and Microsoft Windows ServerTM 2003 in restaurants to run critical applications on Windows NT-based virtual machines.
Benefits
Rapid Windows NT migration
Hardware costs reduced by 50 percent
Maintenance costs reduced
Faster access to business data / “Using Virtual Server 2005, we can immediately upgrade our restaurant hardware … to take advantage of higher performance, reliability, and management features while running older applications on Windows NT.”
Brian Yates, Director of BusinessSystemsRestaurantPOS and Platform Development, Jack in the Box
Jack in the Box, one of the best-known fast-food chains in the United States, recently determined that it needed to upgrade the technology it used in nearly 2,000 restaurants. Rather than launching a massive code rewrite, Jack in the Box decided to host the older applications and operating system on virtual machines using Microsoft® Virtual Server 2005. The company has long-term plans to base the applications on the Microsoft .NET Framework, and to run them on the Microsoft Windows ServerTM 2003 operating system. Currently, however, the use of Virtual Server 2005 makes it possible for Jack in the Box to immediately migrate old applications to new hardware while also reducing restaurant servers by 50 percent and reducing server maintenance costs.
Situation
Founded in 1951, Jack in the Box operates and franchises two U.S. restaurant chains—Jack in the Box and Qdoba Mexican Grill—in 33 states. The company also operates more than two dozen proprietary Quick Stuff convenience stores—each includes a gas station and is developed adjacent to a Jack in the Box restaurant. Jack in the Box is among the most popular quick-serve hamburger chains in the United States, with more than 2,000 restaurants and a half-billion guests annually.
With the company’s attention focused on a multifaceted growth strategy and a comprehensive initiative to reinvent the Jack in the Box brand, it had fallen behind on maintaining back-office technology in its restaurants. One server in each of its nearly 2,000 restaurants runs a point-of-sales (POS) application from Progressive Software on the Microsoft® Windows NT® Server operating system version 4.0; a second computer runs 19 back-office applications—such as inventory management, staff scheduling, and payroll. The back-office applications use a variety of databases—Microsoft SQL ServerTM version 7.0, SQL Server Desktop Edition, and Microsoft FoxPro®database development system.
“We wanted to knit our restaurant back-office applications more closely together for greater information exchange and analysis,” says Brian Yates, Director of Business Systems Restaurant POS and Platform Development for Jack in the Box.
The old restaurant computers were also costing a great deal to manage and support. “As we opened new restaurants, the older applications wouldn’t run easily on newer hardware,” Yates says. “The older machines and operating systems were difficult to manage due to their inability to take advantage of modern management tools, and they were difficult to patch and protect against security vulnerabilities.”
Updating the 4,000 remote computers involved sending upgrades to restaurants and spending a considerable amount of time following up. A simple operating system or application update took up to 11 weeks to implement and was a time drain on IT staff.
Jack in the Box set out to redesign and upgrade its restaurant systems to decrease operational costs and give the company better access to daily business data. The company could not, however, rewrite the 19 back-office applications and upgrade its computers and operating systems in 2,000 restaurants overnight.
Solution
Because Microsoft is a key technology vendor, Jack in the Box looked to Microsoft for help in bringing its restaurant systems uptodate. The local Microsoft account team recommended upgrading Jack in the Box restaurant back-office systems to the Microsoft Windows ServerTM 2003 operating system and eventually basing the back-office applications on the Microsoft .NET Framework. An integral component of the Microsoft Windows® operating system, the .NET Framework provides a programming model and runtime for Web services, Web applications, and smart client applications.
Building restaurant systems on a robust Web services–capable operating system and programming paradigm would allow Jack in the Box to easily exchange data between its restaurant applications, thereby improving information access and business agility. A Windows Server 2003 foundation would also allow Jack in the Box to take advantage of modern system monitoring, management, and security tools, thereby lowering operational costs.
Virtual Machines Allow Staged Migration
It was impractical to consider rewriting all 19 back-office applications at once; that would be a two- to three-year effort. Jack in the Box needed a way to move current applications to a more modern, robust restaurant technology infrastructure without impacting the business.
With these challenges in mind, Jack in the Box turned to Microsoft Virtual Server 2005. Virtual Server 2005 is a virtual machine solution designed for Windows Server 2003. A virtual machine is a server that is implemented in software and mimics aspects of a physical server, appearing to users and applications as a separate physical server. By implementing Virtual Server 2005, a company can house several virtual machines on one physical machine. Multiple virtual machines can reside on one physical server. Each virtual machine can run a different operating system and various applications in complete isolation from other virtual machines. By running numerous virtual machines on one physical server, a company can increase operational efficiency in software test and development, application migration, and server consolidation scenarios.
“Using Virtual Server 2005, we can immediately upgrade our restaurant hardware and operating system software to take advantage of higher performance, reliability, and management features while running older applications on Windows NT,” Yates says.
As a bonus, the use of Virtual Server 2005 allows Jack in the Box to eliminate one server per restaurant, consolidating both back-office applications and the POS application on one physical computer. The company’s field server count will be reduced from 4,000 to 2,000 systems.
The remaining server in each restaurant will be an NCR system running Windows Server 2003, Virtual Server 2005, and two virtual machines. One virtual machine will run the 19 back-office applications and the other will run the POS application. The virtual machines will run Windows NT Server as a guest operating system running on top of the Windows Server 2003 host operating system.
To provide restaurant employees with a user-friendly Web interface to all restaurant—and some corporate—applications, Jack in the Box IT staff created a Web page that uses the Virtual Machine Remote Control (VMRC) ActiveX® control. This allows the two virtual machines to be visible from a Microsoft Internet Explorer browser. Employees can select needed applications without knowing which virtual machine or operating system the application is running on.
Virtual Server 2005 gives Jack in the Box a critical means of upgrading technology without upsetting ongoing business. It gives Jack in the Box staff time to base its back-office applications on the .NET Framework and eventually host them on Windows Server 2003, taking advantage of its greater reliability and security.
Fast Migration, Restaurant Setup
Jack in the Box hired Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) to assist with its Virtual Server 2005 deployment. MCS created a proof-of-concept of virtual machine technology in the Jack in the Box environment and quickly developed a working prototype. MCS then conducted extensive integration testing to ensure the compatibility of Virtual Server 2005 with existing back-office and POS applications. To provide a comprehensive plan of action, this included process testing of designated backup and recovery procedures.
Comfortable that virtual machine technology would work well in its restaurant environ-ment, Jack in the Box had MCS create a pilot deployment as well as all the planning and development necessary for a systemwide rollout. MCS designed an architecture for virtual machine security and a deployment script by using the Component Object Model (COM) application programming interface (API) included with Virtual Server 2005.
Yates’s staff loads the deployment script onto a CD and sends it to each restaurant when a new server is installed. Remote field support personnel use the CD to create two virtual machines on the computer. The wizard-driven installation procedure can be completed in less than two hours per restaurant. Because of redundant capabilities built into the POS application, Jack in the Box doesn’t have to shut down POS systems to create virtual machines on the new restaurant computers.
Benefits
The new virtual machine–based restaurant infrastructure at Jack in the Box has given the quick-serve chain a way to minimize field server management and methodically upgrade restaurant systems. It has also allowed the company to eliminate 2,000 restaurant servers and the associated costs and management headaches. By running its new restaurant systems on Windows Server 2003, the company can take advantage of newer security and management tools thatensure a reduction in operational costs. Jack in the Box anticipates even greater operational efficiencies and business agility once they’ve rewritten back-office applications using the Framework.
Smooth Windows NT Migration
With Virtual Server 2005, Jack in the Box found a way to smoothly migrate from outdated Windows NT–based applications to new hardware without disrupting daily operations. “Without Virtual Server 2005, we would have had to stop and rewrite all of our back-office applications immediately, whichwould have been far too time- and labor-intensive,” Yates says. “Virtual Server 2005 allows us to slowly migrate one back-office application at a time to the .NET Framework and Windows Server 2003. This is a significant benefit for us.”
In a separate initiative, Jack in the Box is using the Framework to rewrite and enhance current Visual FoxPro applications by using Microsoft Visual Studio® .NET 2003 development system to build more flexible, interoperable restaurant systems.
Lower Hardware, Maintenance Costs
Using Virtual Server 2005, Jack in the Box has been able to do away with one server per restaurant—2,000 systemwide. This eliminates monthly leasing costs for the hardware as well as the time and money needed to manage those computers. “Removing 2,000 devices in the field will significantly reduce our maintenance and support costs,” Yates says.
To simplify security policy setting in its corporate network,Jack in the Box is also deploying the Active Directory® service, a central component of Windows Server 2003. Corporate IT staff can useGroup Policy with Active Directory tomanage access to the host Windows Server 2003 operating system in each restaurant. “By using Active Directory, we can automate user, group, and computer management from one location,” Yates says. “Active Directory will be a big help in maintaining a consistent server configuration in all our restaurants and will allow us to use specific user IDs for auditing and change management.”
Faster Access to Business Data
As Jack in the Box bases its back-office applications on Windows Server 2003 and the Framework, it will be able to integrate those applications and analyze the business from new angles. The tighter integration of applications will enable near real-time access to daily business data, which will spur quicker decision making and improve the ability both to notice and to correct operational inefficiencies. Linking previously siloed operational systems will help Jack in the Box to better manage its inventory and food and labor costs.
Jack in the Box plans to replace its many databases with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Standard Edition, which will run on each single restaurant server running Windows Server 2003—and be shared by the back-office and POS applications. A common data repository will make it easier to share data between back-office applications and to transfer that data to corporate servers for more frequent analysis.
“We will use the SQL Server Replication feature in transferring data to the corporate servers on a nightly basis, where it will feed our corporate data warehouse with richer, more current information,” Yates says. “Both corporate and restaurant managers will gain access to timely, accurate, and actionable information critical to operations in our highly competitive, low-margin industry.”
The SQL Server database engine will provide better data to help Jack in the Box get a more accurate, current view of loss prevention, cash register over-rings, item cancellations, labor and performance measurements, product inventory, sales performance, and speed of service.
“Virtual Server 2005 is giving us a less expensive way to run our business today, as well as a path to even greater efficiencies tomorrow,” Yates says.
Microsoft Windows Server System
Microsoft Windows Server SystemTM integrated server infrastructure software is designed to support end-to-end solutions built on Windows Server 2003. It creates an infrastructure based on integrated innovation, Microsoft’s holistic approach to building products and solutions that are intrinsically designed to work together and interact seamlessly with other data and applications across your IT environment. This allows you to reduce the costs of ongoing operations; deliver a more secure and reliable IT infrastructure; and drive valuable new capabilities for the future growth of your business.
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