A year-long test of cloud computing by Domino’s Pizza has worked out.
More companies may be tempted to try out cloud computing after a fast food firm spoke of the benefits it has achieved.
Domino’s Pizza has been using infrastructure as a service and platform as a service products in its testing and development areas for around a year, Computer Weekly reports.
These open source services have proved hugely popular and now the IT team is keen to move even more operations into the cloud to make things smoother for staff and customers.
IT director Colin Rees explained that the company chose testing for its cloud computing trial because it is not front-facing and so would not affect customers if it was slow to integrate at first.
"Cloud is an important technology, but we wanted to build our experience and understanding of it in a low-risk way. It was a good way to test cloud computing technology, its flexibility and scalability," he commented.
Domino’s has already recorded cost savings and better efficiency – for example, staff can increase provision during busy periods like weekend evenings and slow it down during off-peak times.
"We have seen some big improvements in reliability and we expect to see some pretty substantial savings by using more cloud services," Mr Rees said, adding that as much as 80 per cent of the firm’s workload could find its way into the cloud eventually.
This may be essential if a new concept being tried out at a Domino’s in Utah proves popular. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, live video streams of pizza making are being broadcast from Lehi so customers can watch their food go from the ordering process to the delivery box.
It may be that the food provider needs a lot of efficient infrastructure if customers in this country decide they want that option too.
A recent study from the Manchester Business School, published by Forbes, showed that start-ups are also now finding that cloud engagements are helping to keep their costs low while sowing the seeds of innovation by taking care of things like document storage.