I've been heads-down creating messaging about our new product, Maitre'D Online Scheduling. It's fun, getting everything ready to go, and of course to do it I've been talking a lot with our engineers, designers, testers: with all the technical people behind the scenes.

I've learned a lot about how Maitre'D Online Scheduling was developed. To make a parallel, let's compare it to the way a restaurant is launched.

First you start with a theme: French or Phoenician? For us it’s a goal: "Profitable Customer Service." If that sounds like "MexicAsian Fusion," let me explain. Profitability is not just about portion control; it's also about having the right number of the right people to keep customers happy. There's only one way to do that, and that's by matching staffing to forecasted sales by time of day ("when sales reach $346/half hour, we need a second cashier"). So (to really oversimplify) that's what we did. We combined basic scheduling with some incredibly sophisticated programming logic so that you can clearly see the impact of forecasted revenue on optimal staffing as you're scheduling.

Next you create the menu. Our team has a fancier name for it: Functional Specification. But it answers the same question: what are we going to serve? We wanted features that went way beyond the basic sort of scheduling that you can't find anywhere. And that's what we put into Online Scheduling to make it a precision tool for scheduling employees to optimize both customer service and your profitability.

Now, the ingredients: the recipes. We call it a Design Specification. Same thing though. You plan and source your ingredients so that you can create your menu at prices your customers can afford. We find ways to design the functionality that are smart, effective and modern. Our products take less time to develop and test. That keeps our pricing down. While we use lots of secret herbs and spices, our main ingredients are simple: combine equal amounts of available staff, baseline hourly sales figures, and clear-as-crystal reporting and schedules.

Then of course you have to test those recipes. That generally tastes better with food than with software. And we did, under the most grueling of circumstances and with the toughest of tests (our testers are just like food critics: they love to find fault). The result: delicioso! The response has been over the top.

So the menu's ready to go; now you have to find the right location for the restaurant. Here, we've got an option that you don't. We can do it in the cloud . . . and that's just what we did. Seamlessly integrated with Maitre'D POS, our online scheduling software is a web based tool. There's nothing to install, maintain or update. You and your authorized staff can review and make changes anytime from anywhere. It's in the perfect location: everywhere.

And then, finally, you get the store ready to open. Signage, lights and linen all perfect. And that's what I'm doing now—or was doing until I took this quick break to blog. Getting all the materials and designs and content ready to launch Maitre'D Online Scheduling. We haven't picked the date yet—but it's the only thing left to do.

And when we do you'll be the first to know.