Qld reseller partners hospitality industry in software initiative

Queensland reseller Byte Power has partnered Australian hospitality industry body Restaurant & Catering Australia to push POS and retail management software to the latter's members.

Byte Power Group, ASX-listed parent company of Byte Power, said it had forecast $10 million in potential revenue from the deal.

“The partnership agreement places Byte Power at the forefront of an industry push to expand the [hospitality] industry's firepower, which is currently behind national averages,” the company said in a statement to the ASX.

Byte Power would have to secure deals averaging $10,000 in value to about a third of the 50 percent of Restaurant & Catering Australia members without such technology, the company said.

Alvin Phua, chairman and CEO at Byte Power Group, said the reseller hoped to create “a new industry standard” for technology use in the hospitality industry. Also, the partnership would help Byte Power add software sales to its “extensive” hardware business, he said.

“Byte Power is expecting to see strong growth in demand for its software products this year as it targets various industry sectors by marketing IFCA's industry-leading software,” Phua said.

John Hart, CEO at Restaurant & Catering Australia, said its state associations had more than 5800 members. The industry body had adopted a roadmap with the aim of increasing use of the internet and an “attitude change” towards technology, he said.

“Technology is one of the keys to increased productivity for restaurateurs,” Hart said.

Byte Power would help Restaurant & Catering Australia adopt the 11-point action plan outlined in its roadmap, using focus groups around a range of enterprise software products from Malaysian vendor IFCA.

Byte Power Group -- which includes Byte Power, Power Tech Systems, Byte Power Technologies, Byte Power Technologies International, Byte Power Technologies (US) and Byte Power (Hong Kong) -- numbered Telstra, Boeing, Telekom Malaysia, PowerTel, Revlon, Kmart and Bovis Lend lease among its customers.