Quick service restaurant leader Domino’s Pizza prioritizes order streams, improves reliability for customers, and furthers tech innovation ambitions such as drone delivery, with Macquarie’s nbn, VoIP and SD-WAN services.
Macquarie Telecom has announced it has signed a large deal with Domino’s Pizza Enterprises Limited, to roll out nbn, VoIP and SD-WAN services to more than 720 Domino’s stores across Australia.
This will ensure customers have fast and reliable access to applications, that franchisees and stores are supported for new innovations, and will ensure sufficient capacity for the organization to embark on its technology roadmap and further improve experiences for customers and team members.
An ASX 100-listed company and a household name, Domino’s delivers pizza to customers around the world. Domino’s operates more than 3,000 stores in 10 markets, including its 720 plus Australian stores, and has almost 100,000 team members and franchisees. Globally, three Domino’s orders are placed every second, and more than 209 million pizzas are ordered every year.
The organization decided to overhaul its digital environment to accommodate the continued growth of online ordering, which has increased by 21.5% year-on-year. Domino’s ANZ CIO Daniel Hawkins said the transition is also aimed at providing new innovation and services to franchisees.
“The sheer volume of online sales, particularly during busy periods such as Friday and Saturday nights or special events in the calendar, was the trigger point for this transformation,” he said.
“We’ve always been a company that’s used technology as a tool to provide a better experience, so we needed a network that could match up to that and become a foundation for new digital services for customers, team members and franchisees now and into the future.”
Macquarie was selected from a group of vendors to implement SD-WAN with 4G backup, nbn and a VoIP phone system across Domino’s’ Australian stores. This was seamlessly rolled out to 400 sites within five months, with the remaining 320 sites to be completed in the next four months.
Hawkins says the quality of voice connections and Internet speeds has made it easier for customers to communicate and place orders. The addition of SD-WAN – which maximizes speed and prioritizes applications to suit Domino’s’ needs – has oiled the wheels of the organization’s operations to an unprecedented degree.
“The fact that Macquarie is the leading provider of SD-WAN systems in Australia was a massive drawcard. We have visibility over our entire order system now, so we can see the source of traffic, whether it’s phone, point of sale or online, and prioritize the applications as we need them by ramping up the bandwidth.”
Group Executive at Macquarie Telecom Luke Clifton said Domino’s’ transformation is yet another example of the difference a strong digital underpinning can make to an organization.
“There’s not a person in Australia unfamiliar with Domino’s and the part it plays in delivering hot, fresh pizza on special occasions like State of Origin. This reputation is important to uphold, and we are privileged to play a part in an organization which has the same focus on excellent customer service,” he said.
“The role our SD-WAN solution has played in improving Domino’s operations demonstrates the reason for its meteoric growth since we launched the service in 2017. We have never seen a faster rollout of a product, having now surpassed the 7,000-device milestone, a leap of 1,000 in just four months.”
Macquarie’s SD-WAN is powered by VMware-owned VeloCloud technology. On the Domino’s deal, Brad Anderson, Vice President and Managing Director for VMware in A/NZ, commented: “It’s incredible to see our SD-WAN technology form such an integral part of a partnership between two leading Australian companies. Our partnership with Macquarie Telecom has gone from strength to strength since its launch in 2017, and we look forward to enhancing that partnership further as SD-WAN becomes a centerpiece across Australian organizations’ networks.”
Macquarie is also providing Domino’s with a flexible and scale-able digital backbone to facilitate future growth opportunities and make headway with technological innovation.
With increased bandwidth capacity, Domino’s will be better placed to innovate in Australia. The organization is looking at bringing drone deliveries to Australia, with the service going through its latest stage of trials in New Zealand this year. The reliable digital connectivity will also play a part in Domino’s’ upcoming revamp of its online ordering system and help to support the use of future technology in stores.
We asked Daniel Hawkins, CIO, Domino’s ANZ, further questions about the project.
What technological challenges did the growth of online ordering pose to your business?
It’s actually about more than just online ordering, it’s about ensuring that our infrastructure and systems can handle an increased volume of ordering in general. Whether that be online, or via the phone. We upgraded our infrastructure to ensure that our customers always get the best customer experience when they order from Domino’s, all the way from when they place their order to being able to track it from the store to their door.
How has your partnership with Macquarie Telecom helped resolve these challenges?
Our partnership with Macquarie Telecom immediately helped to boost the capacity and speed of our infrastructure, ensuring that all of our systems and services run seamlessly. We also have more visibility than ever before over the traffic and tracking across the system which is incredibly valuable.
What benefits have been gained from the extra visibility brought to you by your partnership with Macquarie Telecom? How has this improved the efficiency of your company?
With SD-WAN we can now see the traffic that goes over the network, including what applications are taking up the most bandwidth and what needs to be prioritized based on this. This has increased not only the efficiency of our ordering systems, but also the efficiency of our support team.
How has the partnership with Macquarie Telecom helped enhance your customer service?
Our partnership with Macquarie Telecom has improved the effectiveness and efficiency of our systems, which in turn reduces friction for our customers and improves their overall Domino’s experience. And nothing is more important to us than that.
Can you explain how SD-WAN has become a centerpiece across your Australian networks?
SD-WAN has given us the backbone we need to continue to innovate at a store level. From better supporting existing innovations like DOM Pizza Checker and GPS Driver Tracker, to being instrumental in the roll out of our new website and app (coming soon!). At the end of the day, it’s important to not only bring in new customers, but to deliver on their experience and keep them coming back. Having the correct store infrastructure in place helps us do this.
Why did you choose to work with Macquarie Telecom?
For us it was all about flexibility and reputation. Macquarie Telecom is one of the largest businesses with a number of SD-WAN sites and has successfully completed many SD-WAN roll-outs. They offered the flexibility we were looking for, as well as a superior product which was customized to suit the needs of our business, and the willingness to grow and innovate with us.
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