iOLAP Delivers Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. New Solution on Amazon Web Services by Combining Syncsort DMX for Data Integration, Redshift for Data Warehousing and Yellowfin for Business Intelligence

Dallas, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/03/2015 -- Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. is excited to announce the launch of Smoke Stack, a hosted cloud application which combines data from all of the over 500 restaurants and source systems. The new system replaced the fast casual chain's previous store-by-store reporting tool. It's being delivered by iOLAP, which combined Syncsort's DMX data integration software with Yellowfin's BI platform and Amazon Redshift for data warehousing.

"Staying fresh also means being on the fast track of new technology and Smoke Stack will allow us to query and analyze vital sales, labor, inventory and customer data quickly," said Roland Dickey, Jr., CEO of Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. "Smoke Stack is also easy to use and we'll be able to seamlessly integrate the data technology into our everyday operations, introducing it to our owner operators across the country, all without painfully changing our day-to-day business processes."

The new system pulls data from point-of-sale systems and combines it with information about promotions, media buys, food purchasing patterns and inventory data, among other things. Currently, Smoke Stack has 175 corporate users and beta testers now, and Dickey's plans to roll it out to 350 restaurant operators next week.

The hosted cloud application, delivered by iOLAP, includes:

-Cloud-based Data Integration: Restaurant data is published to Amazon's Simple Storage Service, Amazon S3, and then parallel loaded into Amazon Redshift leveraging the lightweight, easy-to-use interface of Syncsort's data integration solution, DMX. The speed of DMX allows Dickey's to rapidly collect, transform and load thousands of very large files, with diverse data types from multiple servers across all of Dickey's locations, without performance bottlenecks.

-Cloud-ready Business Intelligence: Running on Linux server-based Amazon EC2 instances, Yellowfin's 100% Web-based, cloud-ready and highly scalable BI platform makes it easy and efficient for Dickey's to perform a new level of analytics. Non-technical business users can independently leverage the easy-to-use reporting and charting features to create stunning visualizations. Dickey's also uses the advanced analytics functions to measure their performance against key sales, labor, inventory costs and customer satisfaction KPIs.

-A Cloud-based Enterprise Data Warehouse: Amazon Redshift was a natural choice for cloud-based Enterprise Data Warehousing, allowing developers to quickly react to performance constraints using the many tools available within the Amazon Web Services platform. Performance expectations have been exceeded and Dickey's can cost-effectively adjust their storage needs as their data volumes grow.

-Cloud Model Pricing: Smoke Stack takes advantage of low-cost AWS data storage and processing, as well as Syncsort and Yellowfin's cloud pricing models, to deliver the entire solution cost-effectively.

"We are bringing a level of sophistication to the barbecue industry through big data, allocation of resources and predictive analytics that will allow us to serve our guests with a degree of modern precision," said Roland Dickey, Jr.

About Roland Dickey Jr.
Roland Dickey Jr. is the CEO of Dickey's Barbecue, and is responsible for creating the Dickey's barbecue franchise that grew the business from 20 to 500 stores in less than a decade. Dickey is passionate about barbecue and about business leadership, and tours the country talking at major events about how to create a vision for success and follow through.

For more information please visit: http://www.rolanddickeyjr.com/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Nation’s Restaurant News attended the recent NRA Show, and interviewed Roland Dickey Jr., CEO of Dickey’s BBQ, on the lessons he shared in the Presidents Panel.

Dallas, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/20/2015 -- The National Restaurant Association (NRA) Show is the biggest event of its kind in the calendar year, and is a must-attend event for anyone in the industry who is serious about innovation, growth and prosperity in the restaurant business. The event attracts speakers from some of the biggest, fastest growing and most successful chains in their Franchise section, and invited a number of franchise leaders to speak on their president's panel about the unique opportunities and challenges of running a franchise. Some of the most insightful points were made by Roland Dickey Jr., who was interviewed by Jonathan Maze for Nation's Restaurant News.

In the interview, Dickey Jr. expands on some of the points he made, including failed experiments for off-brand menu items designed to broaden appeal, such as a tofu-meatball salad. The point was quickly parroted by a major Burger King franchisee who noted the extinction of limited time offers.

Equally, Dickey promoted being bold in entering new markets, with California's healthy lifestyle obsessed citizens unusually welcoming Dickey's BBQ as a source of rich proteins for the fitness set, while the ill-fated salad sat on the side lines. Dickey reported growth in customer traffic year on year without adding menu items.

A spokesperson for Roland Dickey Jr. explained, "Roland Dickey Jr. is always happy to share his insights, it's why he attended the panel in the first place. So he was more than happy to sit down with Jonathan and expand on some of the points he made, so those seeking greater insight could find it in the Nation's Restaurant News. The panel itself was a great success, and Roland enjoyed sharing stories with other business leaders, creating a consensus between them that consistency and simplicity works best for franchise menus."

About Roland Dickey Jr.
Roland Dickey Jr. is the CEO of Dickey's Barbecue, and is responsible for creating the Dickey's barbecue franchise that grew the business from 20 to 500 stores in less than ten years. Dickey is passionate about barbecue and about business leadership, and tours the country talking at major events about how to create a vision for success and follow through.

For more information please visit: http://www.rolanddickeyjr.com/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Roland Dickey Jr. gave one of the Franchise Times’ Finance Growth Conference’s most essential speeches, where he revealed some of the secrets to Dickey’s Barbecue Pit’s rampant success.

Dallas, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/14/2015 -- Franchising is a brilliant way for people to run their own business with all the benefits of a pre-established brand and the buoyant support network of an already successful business. This 'best of both worlds' approach enables people to share in the good fortune of business leaders like Roland Dickey Jr., who has created the next big thing in barbecue chains by transforming his family business into a franchise. Speaking at Franchise Times' Finance Growth Conference, he revealed some of the secrets to his success for both business leaders and potential franchisees.

The conference is the best opportunity available for potential franchisees to meet with franchise lenders and investors, as well as getting expert advice and insights from more than forty of the fastest growing franchise companies in the world. Lenders, investors and potential franchisees learn and network, attend workshops and presentations at this key franchise dealmaker's event.

Roland Dickey Jr. was in attendance, and talked about how he took Dickey's Barbecue Franchise to a nationwide juggernaut with more than five hundred stores in less than ten years, thanks to canny franchise investment opportunities, a strong brand and menu, and peerless franchisee training.

A spokesperson for Roland Dickey Jr. explained, "Roland was on form at the Finance Growth Conference, and shared invaluable insights for both franchisees and business leaders. He is in a unique position, having started as a small business owner like the franchisees themselves just ten years ago, enabling him to offer invaluable guidance to people on both sides of the line. At an event like this, that is a rare opportunity for all, and his advice was invaluable in helping business leaders and franchisees alike to understand just how mutually beneficial the relationship could be with the right attitude and management."

About Roland Dickey Jr.
Roland Dickey Jr. is Chief Executive Officer of Dallas-based Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. He is the grandson of company founder Travis Dickey, Sr. Since becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of the third generation family run company in 2006, Dickey has expanded the restaurant's reach from 20 to over 500 stores nationwide. He now shares his business expertise and strategic insights at talks around the country.

For more information please visit: http://www.rolanddickeyjr.com/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Roland Dickey Jr. will speak in a few days’ time on the presidents panel at the NRA Franchise conference, as part of the NRA Show 2015, on the highs and lows of leading a franchise chain.

Dallas, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/13/2015 -- The National Restaurant Association Show 2015 is the industry's biggest networking event, and all the biggest names and brands will be in attendance. The NRA Show is equally a great opportunity for those with aspirations of one day being a business leader in the industry to get amazing insight from the current generation of leaders. Roland Dickey Jr. of Dickey's Barbecue Franchise, will sit on the Presidents Panel in the Franchise section to share such insights.

The Franchise part of the NRA Show 2015 will enable people to discover the unique advantages and opportunities of franchising. The president's panel will help people discover how premier restaurant chains are growing their companies, overcoming everything from daily challenges to business-wide disasters, and how presidents seize opportunities to build their unique visions.

Roland Dickey Jr. will be a member of the panel together with some of the franchise industry's biggest names, in order to take questions and discuss with other business leaders the key issues facing franchising today, to provide invaluable insight for business leaders and franchisees alike.

A spokesperson for Roland Dickey Jr. explained, "Roland Dickey Jr. will be on the presidents panel to help people better understand the challenges and rewards of leading a nationwide franchise. He plans to share his successes and innovations and speak frankly about the limitations and obstacles, mistakes and shortcomings so that people can get on the fast-track, getting it right first time with the benefit of considerable experience. He is honored to sit on such a distinguished panel, and looks forward to hearing the insights his peers will share from their own experiences. The event is not to be missed."

About Roland Dickey Jr.
Roland Dickey Jr. is the CEO of Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. The grandson of company founder Travis Dickey, Sr., he has taken the company from 20 to over 500 stores nationwide in less than ten years. He has been recognized as one of the most powerful men in the restaurant business as well as one of its most inspirational leaders. He now shares his business expertise and strategic insights at talks around the country. For more information please visit: http://www.rolanddickeyjr.com/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Roland Dickey Jr. will attend the Franchise Operators President's Panel and the Interactive Customer Experience Summit in May and June respectively to share his expertise with business leaders.

Dallas, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 05/04/2015 -- 21st century business is a tricky beast to master. One must be at once authentic and forward-thinking, innovative and traditional, diverse and on-brand. These seeming opposites are nevertheless essential to success, like the roots and the leaves of a tree. Roland Dickey Jr. of the Dickey's Barbecue Franchise took an acorn and turned it into a mighty oak mastering this balance, and he has just announced a series of speaking engagements in which he will help business leader's master key aspects of successful practice.

Roland Dickey Jr. will attend the Franchise Operators President's Panel on Saturday May 16th, and the Interactive Customer Experience Summit in on Sunday 28th and Tuesday 30th of June, both in Chicago, Illinois. At the events, he will talk about the strategies and approaches that have made Dickey's Barbecue Franchise one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the fast casual industry.

The talks are part of Roland's surprisingly non-competitive attitude to business. He hopes all companies grow more competitive, more efficient and provide a better service for their customers while strengthening their core mission and values, believing there is prosperity enough for everyone willing to build the foundation necessary to reach for it.

A spokesperson for Roland Dickey Jr. explained, "Roland is excited about the opportunity to share knowledge, strategy, experience and insight with business leaders from a diverse array of industries. The core principles at work in Dickey's Barbecue are principles that will have a positive effect on any business, and with his extensive experience and qualifications, Roland is ideally placed to answer questions from both a theoretical and practical position. These dates are just the first in planned series of nationwide events, so interested parties who can't make it to Chicago should visit the website regularly for updates."

About Roland Dickey Jr.
Roland Dickey Jr. is the CEO of the Dallas-based, nationwide Dickey's Barbecue chain of restaurants. Grandson of company founder Travis Dickey, Sr., his innovative and aggressive business strategies came into play in 2006, when he transformed the business. In less than ten years he has taken the company from 20 to over 500 stores nationwide. For more information please visit: http://www.rolanddickeyjr.com/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm

Roland Dickey, Jr. has taken a family business and increased its size twenty-five fold in less than ten years, and is sharing his secrets to pro-active business leadership in new blog posts.

Dallas, TX -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/30/2015 -- Roland Dickey, Jr. is a business leader who has a foot in both the past and the future. Heir to a small, regional chain of barbecue fast-casual restaurants, Roland went to business school and cut his teeth in other, larger scale businesses before returning to his inheritance with a mission. In nine years, he has taken the Dickey's Barbecue Franchise from 20 to 500 stores. His personal website has one foot in the past and one in the future, too, and his blog combines case studies of past successes with guidance for pursuing future ambitions.

Roland Dickey, Jr. has created a series of editorials sharing some of the most influential principles that have defined his own management and leadership style. One such article explores legendary coach Vince Lombardi's emphasis on the importance of time -- the irreplaceable resource, the use of which reflected discipline, momentum and ultimately greater success.

A similar article explores the limiting nature of a safety net, and the dangerous ways in which subconscious seeking for this comfort can leave people complacent, lacking accountability and momentum. He cites key thinkers on the importance of a constant sense of urgency.

"Roland's blog has been designed to give people a guided tour through the overwhelming amount of business literature and takes a cue from the 80/20 principle, picking out the most crucial insights that will have the greatest impact on readers," a spokesperson for Roland Dickey, Jr. explained. "The blog is designed as a resource for up and coming and current business leaders who want to stay hungry, keep learning and discover the secrets behind one of Technomic's fastest growing chains. The latest article describes how getting people to spend their birthdays and graduations with Dickey's helps the brand build memories with guests, and keeps them coming back for more."

About Roland Dickey, Jr
Roland Dickey, Jr. is Chief Executive Officer of Dallas-based Dickey's Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. He is the grandson of company founder Travis Dickey, Sr. Since becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of the third generation family run company in 2006, Dickey has expanded the restaurant's reach from 20 to over 500 stores nationwide.

For more information please visit: http://www.rolanddickeyjr.com/

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/release-3.htm