Tech
Standardizing on Windows enables intranet apps
Upgrading a fleet of DOS-based desktops to Windows became the order of the day when Burger King franchisee AmeriKing decided to build an intranet portal.
One of Hernando Manrique's first orders of business when he stepped in three years ago as CIO at AmeriKing was to modernize the Burger King franchisee's information systems. At that time, most users were still running DOS; Web-based technologies were nowhere to be seen.
Most of that has changed now. At corporate headquarters and in the field, all desktops now run either Windows 98, Windows 2000, or Windows NT 4.0. All of these clients can access AmeriKing's new corporate Web portal.
The battle to beat back DOS isn't entirely over, however. Of the company's 374 stores, only 140 are running Windows NT. The remainder are still running DOS, which means no portal access for now. However, Manrique says upgrades at the other stores will be a top priority in the coming 12 to 18 months. "We have already selected six stores to pilot-test the portal; some of those have Windows running, some do not," he says. "For the ones that don't, an upgrade is part of the pilot."