Rob Grimes, CEO of the International Food and Beverage Technology Association (IFBTA) sat down with Rob Shecterle, Director of Marketing for Agilysys to discuss their involvement in the food and beverage industry and why they decided to become a global industry partner of the IFBTA.
(R) Hi, Rob Grimes with the IFBTA and I have the pleasure today to be here with Rob Shecterle who’s the Director of Marketing for Agilysys, so welcome Bob.
(B) Hi, thanks for having me.
(R) So Bob, you guys are one of the founding industry partners of the IFBTA so what made you decide to jump in, at the very start, of a start up association?
(B) Well, a couple key reasons one is that we felt there was a need for a technology focused association in food and beverage. We see some of that in existing organizations, but not with the kind of focus were talking about. Secondly we look at building lasting connections with all of our stakeholders including our customers as being critical. And, the folks you were lining up in the IFB TA in terms of, you know, the organizations they represent and our ability to learn more from them as well as introduce them to our solutions, was pretty compelling.
(R) Well, Agilysys has been around for a long time and obviously has brought together a number of great platforms and applications within the industry. But I’m not so sure that, as a common name, that a Julissa snows the depth of products and things and industries that you actually work end. So maybe you might give us some background on Agilysys itself?
(B) Yeah, you know, that’s a great point. Agilysys this has actually been around from its original beginnings for 50 years. So we’ve been in the industry, in one way or another, for a very long time. People who might not recognize the Agilysys brand, certainly recognize the infogenesis, four instance in point of sale – One of the industry leading solutions. On the hospitality side of our business and property management brands like LMS, visual one, these are brands that are all very well known in our industries. So, as I said, we’ve been around a long time. We grew through the acquisition of these well-known brands and we really bring to the table, bringing all of these brands together under one umbrella not just from an ownership perspective but from an integration and a delivery of value perspective.
(R) But e-tech, as well, was one of the original founders of back office systems and that’s also in the portfolio. (exactly) so I guess what I would get out of this and what we would want our fellow members to know about is, because you’ve mentioned a number of other brands also that people may not be aware of depending on what industries segment. But here’s what I heard. I heard lodging, I heard restaurants, on site, the casino market and cruise ship market, and of course restaurants. So I’ve heard a number of different industries of which those particular brands that you mentioned are well known staples within each of those industry segments. So you’re across the board.
(B) So by the way, expanding on restaurants we also have a large footprint in food service on both in corporate food service and in universities. Healthcare, corporate cafeterias and even stadiums.
(R) Well, you know, it really sounds like when you’re trying to put out the message in marketing, you must have a real challenge when you’re trying to do that across diverse segments, diverse products, applications. I mean that’s got to be a real challenge for you. I don’t know how you put them all together. Are you the master of everything or the master of nine? I’m not exactly sure how you pull that off.
(B) Well, I pull that off by having a great team that works with me. Certainly, no one person can do all that but understanding those markets and having people with years of experience in each of those industries, makes it very easy
(R) Great, well listen I want to thank you first of all for your support of being a founding member, a founding industry partner on a global basis for the IFBTA but also thank you today for taking the time today to share with us where Agilysys is and where you’re heading and we look forward to meeting up at many more meetings coming up.
(B) Absolutely, it’s been a pleasure and we enjoy all of the IFBTA meetings.
(R) Thank you very much.
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