The purpose of this study was to examine the utilization of Front of House and Back of House technology applications by U.S. restaurants across different types of restaurants along with their level of IT management style, and the importance of these technology applications to the restaurants' operations. This study used secondary data. The survey data collected from 500 randomly selected restaurant technology managers who are current subscribers of Hospitality Technology Magazine as of January 2013. Response rate was 27.2% and these sample groups represented 67,299 restaurant units. The data analysis was organized into 3 parts (descriptive, factor analysis and independent samples t-test). In the descriptive part of the data analysis, the information about respondents' job functions, company characteristics and companies' IT perspectives are evaluated. In the second part, factor analysis was used. Since the factor analysis is a data reduction technique, factor analysis is used to create correlated variable composites and to reduce variables for better interpretation. The third and final stage of the data analysis included testing hypotheses based on factor analysis outcomes by using an independent samples t-test. The main purpose of using an independent samples t-test is to determine whether position (IT versus Non-IT), types of restaurant (Chain versus Independent), business leadership and technology leadership (Innovator versus Follower) differ on the factor attributes.

Regulatory compliance is an important and growing topic that requires companies to adapt to rules and regulations. All organizations that want to be active in the business market must follow and adapt to these rules regardless of company size and capital. The consequences of not following the regulations are to a large extent fines or increased transaction costs. This study focuses on the usefulness of agile approaches in compliance and specifically PCI DSS regulations. PCI DSS is a framework that regulates the credit card payment system used by an organization. All security involving customer data during a card payment is also included in this ruleset. To execute the research on how agile methods function within compliance, a qualitative research strategy has been implemented. Empirical material has been collected through interviews with the company CGI. The respondents in this inquiry work in the compliance sector and have great knowledge of the subject. The result of the study show that respondents view agile methods within compliance projects in a positive light. That the obstacles experienced in these projects can be alleviated with the help of agile tools such as morning meetings and structured responsibilities. / Regulatorisk efterlevnad är ett växande och viktigt ämne i den moderna affärsvärlden. Eftersom företag behöver anpassa sig efter regler och ramverk i sitt dagliga arbete. Alla organisationer som vill samverka på arbetsmarknaden måste följa och anpassa sig efter regler oberoende på företagsstorlek och kapital. Konsekvenserna av att inte följa de uppsatta ramverken är till stor del böter eller förhöjda kostnader. Denna studie fokuserar på användbarheten av agila tankesätt inom compliance och specifikt compliance inom regelverket PCI DSS. PCI DSS är ett ramverk som reglerar kortbetalning system som används av en organisation. All säkerhet som involverar kunders data under en kortbetalning inkluderas också under detta verk. För att utföra denna studie över hur agila metoder fungerar inom compliance har en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi genomförts. Empiriskt material har samlats in genom intervjuer med företaget CGI. Respondenterna i studien arbetar inom compliance sektorn och besitter stor kunskap om ämnet. Resultatet av studien visar att respondenterna ser ljust på agila metoder inom compliance projekt. Att de hinder som upplevs i dessa projekt kan lindras med hjälp av agila verktyg som morgonmöten och strukturerade ansvarsområden.

One of the most important attribute a cloud service provider (CSP) offers their customers through their cloud services is scalability. Scalability gives customers the ability to vary the amount of capacity when required. A cloud service can be divided in three service layers, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as- a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Scalability of a certain service depends  on  software licenses on these layers. When a customer wants to increase the capacity it will be determined by the CSP's licenses bought from its suppliers in advance. If a CSP scales up more than what was agreed on, then there is a risk that the CSP needs to pay a penalty fee to the supplier. If the CSP invests in too many licenses that does not get utilized, then it will be an investment loss. A second challenge with software licensing is when a customer outsources their applications to the CSP’s platform. As each application comes with a set of licenses, there is a certain level of scalability that cannot be exceeded. If a customer wants the CSP scale up more than usual for an application then the customer need to inform the vendors. However, a common misunderstanding is that the customer expects the CSP to notify the vendor. Then there is a risk that the vendor never gets notified and the customer is in danger of paying a penalty fee. This in turn hurts the CSP’s  relationship with the customer. The recommendation to the CSP under study is to create a successful customer relationship management (CRM) and a supplier relationship management (SRM). By creating a CRM with the customer will minimize the occurring misunderstandings and highlight the responsibilities when a customer outsources an application to the CSP. By creating a SRM with the supplier will help the CSP to maintain a flexible paying method that they have with a certain supplier. Furthermore, it will set  an example to the remaining suppliers to change their inflexible paying method. By achieving a flexible payment method with the suppliers will make it easier for the CSP to find equilibrium between scalability and licenses.

One of the most important attribute a cloud service provider (CSP) offers their customers through their cloud services is scalability. Scalability gives customers the ability to vary the amount of capacity when required. A cloud service can be divided in three service layers, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Scalability of a certain service depends on software licenses on these layers. When a customer wants to increase the capacity it will be determined by the CSP's licenses bought from its suppliers in advance. If a CSP scales up more than what was agreed on, then there is a risk that the CSP needs to pay a penalty fee to the supplier. If the CSP invests in too many licenses that does not get utilized, then it will be an investment loss. A second challenge with software licensing is when a customer outsources their applications to the CSP’s platform. As each application comes with a set of licenses, there is a certain level of scalability that cannot be exceeded. If a customer wants the CSP scale up more than usual for an application then the customer need to inform the vendors. However, a common misunderstanding is that the customer expects the CSP to notify the vendor. Then there is a risk that the vendor never gets notified and the customer is in danger of paying a penalty fee. This in turn hurts the CSP’s relationship with the customer. The recommendation to the CSP under study is to create a successful customer relationship management (CRM) and a supplier relationship management (SRM). By creating a CRM with the customer will minimize the occurring misunderstandings and highlight the responsibilities when a customer outsources an application to the CSP. By creating a SRM with the supplier will help the CSP to maintain a flexible paying method that they have with a certain supplier. Furthermore, it will set an example to the remaining suppliers to change their inflexible paying method. By achieving a flexible payment method with the suppliers will make it easier for the CSP to find equilibrium between scalability and licenses. / Ett av de viktigaste attributen en molnleverantör (CSP) erbjuder sina kunder genom sina molntjänster är skalbarhet. Skalbarheten ger kunden möjligheten att variera mängden kapacitet efter behov. En molntjänst kan delas in i tre serviceskikter, Infrastruktur-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) och Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Skalbarheten av en viss service beror på mjukvarulicenser på dessa skikt. När en kund vill öka kapaciteten bestäms detta av CSP:s förhandsköpta licenser från sina leverantörer. Om en CSP skalar upp mer än vad som avtalats, finns det en risk att CSP:n måste betala en straffavgift till leverantören. Investerar CSP i alltför många licenser som inte utnyttjas, blir det en investeringsförlust. En annan utmaning med mjukvarulicenser uppstår när en kund lägger ut sina applikationer på CSP:s plattform. Eftersom varje applikation levereras med en uppsättning av licenser, finns det en bestämd nivå av skalbarhet som inte kan överskridas. Om en kund vill att CSP:n ska skala upp mer än vanligt för en applikation, måste kunden informera applikationsförsäljaren själv. Dock sker det en missuppfattning då kunden förväntar sig att CSP:n ska meddela säljaren om detta. Det finns en risk att säljaren aldrig blir informerad och kunden hamnar i stor risk för att betala en straffavgift. Detta i sin tur skadar CSP:s relation med kunden. Rekommendationen till CSP:n är att skapa en framgångsrik kundrelationshantering (CRM) och leverantörrelationshantering (SRM). Genom att skapa en CRM med kunden kan förekommande missförstånd minimeras och belysa ansvarsområden som råder när en kund lägger ut sin applikation hos CSP:n. Genom att skapa en SRM med leverantörerna kommer det att hjälpa CSP:n att upprätthålla en flexibel betalmetod som de har med en viss leverantör. Dessutom kommer det att vara ett föredöme för de övriga leverantörerna att ändra sin icke flexibla betalningsmetod. Genom att uppnå en mer flexibel betalningsmetod med leverantörerna kommer det att bli enklare för en CSP att hitta en balans mellan skalbarhet och licenser.

When it comes to cloud services, security has many a times been the hot topic. This has been especially relevant within the payment card industry and the secure handling of payment card data. The Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council (the council) was formed in order to ensure a global enhancement of payment card data. The council has issued requirements that all companies that handle payment card data are obliged to follow. However, the council has become much more strict as of recently, creating an urgency to become compliant. Thus, cloud service providers (CSP) have constructed standardized, PCI DSS compliant products so as to relief such customers. Since this emerging market is somewhat new, this thesis has researched how CSPs should relate to products within that market and the potential customer base. The case study for this research was conducted at Tieto, an IT service company, and its standardized, PCI DSS compliant product TiCC. The study collected empirical data in the form of qualitative interviews as well as quantitative telephone interviews with companies within the payment card industry. The study came to the conclusion that there is a demand that is not being met within the payment card industry related to products that aid organizations to become PCI DSS compliant. Standardized products have been constructed so as to fit financial customers while overlooking the demand of another large customer base, retail. Additionally, the products are being tweaked and features are being added, thus providing customization. CSPs are striving for both standardization as well as customization, something that has been considered counterproductive. The existing demand is thus not met with the current supply in the market, which has both multiple competitors and heterogeneity in market demand. The above mentioned thus leaves room for market seizure, to create own rules and thus making all competitors irrelevant. A potential way of doing that is through mass customization by standardizing higher levels of cloud computing.

The goal of the thesis is to analyze chosen electronic payment systems. The thesis is divided into two parts -- theoretical and practical. Theoretical part is dedicated to cover types of electronic payment system. Also is devoted to the issues of certain legal aspects that are common to all payment systems; defines the necessary concepts and business entities commonly encountered in the payment processing environment. Practical part focuses on the evaluation of usability, safety and usefulness for merchants mainly working with credit cards and particularly with alternative payment system like PayPal, iDEAL, Sofortbanking and Webmoney. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of certain payment systems. Describes the practical applicability of PCI DSS and 3-D Secure protocol.