HotSchedules transforms restaurant operations with Google Workspace

Client

HotSchedules is a software solution company that provides scheduling and other back-office applications to restaurant and hospitality customers. Currently serving more than 1.8 million users in over 128,000 locations across 26 countries, HotSchedules delivers and implements tools that make running a restaurant or hospitality business easy and efficient.

Business challenge

As a widespread dynamic company with a worldwide reach, HotSchedules needed a solution that would support any location or device to create a natural, fluid way of working that connects people and ideas to take their business to the next level. Red Book evaluated their current solutions and systems and realized they weren’t meeting the needs of their staff to better serve their clients. HotSchedules’ previous email solution was expensive and difficult to manage; the executive team believed that its cost was eclipsing its value, and it lacked the mobility and flexibility that the company required.

Solution

HotSchedules’ executive team saw potential in Google Workspace — potential that was bigger than email or file and document sharing, or even IT. Ultimately, HotSchedules looked at Google Workspace as a way to revolutionize and transform how they communicated and conducted business. Ben Albert, Enterprise IT Manager at HotSchedules stated, “Our decision to move to Google Workspace wasn’t just about the ability to have everything in the cloud and easier for business and IT to manage. It was the fact that it would be easier for everyone to connect and work together anywhere in the world.”

At their San Francisco office, HotSchedules’ executive team started experimenting with Google Workspace for some small scale projects and were impressed by the way its innovative collaboration tools like Google Drive and Hangouts allowed them to communicate and access their projects anywhere, from any device. Furthermore, the cost of Google Workspace was a mere 25% of HotSchedules’ previous solution, and on top of that, significantly lightened the burden on IT.

HotSchedules partnered with SADA for their implementation needs due to SADA’s impressive portfolio of clients and proven track record of successfully implementing Google Workspace for other industry leaders. Albert shared, “SADA really guided and shaped the implementation from start to finish: from coming up with a strategic project plan to handling all the migration tasks, and even training our users to effectively use the powerful collaboration tools in Google Workspace like Hangouts and Drive.”

Results and benefits

“After the migration, we had numerous people come up to us and say that they liked it a lot better and were really getting into Google Drive,” said Albert. “There’s one single system that everyone can use to quickly find and share documents instead of looking in five different places for resources or company information.” HotSchedules is also enjoying significant cost savings each year with Google Workspace. Their IT team has also gotten back about 10 hours per week that had previously been spent managing their old system.

“Google Workspace has completely changed how we work; the collaborative environment is unmatched,” shared Mindy White, Operations Project Manager for HotSchedules. HotSchedules’ employees are impressed with the ability to share and edit critical information without the constant battle of managing multiple versions of spreadsheets and documents. Not only can sensitive information be shared with specific groups of people, but controls can be put in place to make sure information remains secure and doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. Also, managers can see when people are viewing information and can easily track the trail of edits that have been made.

“As a project manager, Google has completely streamlined the way I work,” added White. “When I need an approval from my supervisor, I can send him a link and know right away when he’s viewed and approved it. And never having to save anything, that’s been a lifesaver.” HotSchedules’ employees also enjoy the functionality of Google Calendar, the added benefit of built-in communication tools like Google Hangouts, and the ability to easily take surveys and gather important information with Google Forms.

HotSchedules’ HR department, in particular, has recognized exceptional value in housing all of its HR documents in Google Drive. The ability to share documents with no login required has improved their onboarding process, and it’s easier for employees to find and access important company information stored in one central location. White stated, “With Google Workspace, we have been able to streamline corporate communications and transform our workflows to be more efficient. I have already seen Google play a huge part in every little system and process improvement within our company.”