1. International Consulting,
Brings your company to the next level!
Alvalade XXI & Casa XXI
Yosef Hertz
Alexandre Mansour
Frederic Schwass
Olesya Vekshina
3. Portugal prepares for the Euro
2004
Renovating 5 stadiums and building 5 new ones.
Estimated project costs: € 500 million.
Creation of a joint venture: Government – Football Federation.
Project also includes:
Building motorways
Revamping airports
Adding new railways
Upgrading ports
4. The Alvalade XXI Stadium
Located in Lisbon, Portugal
52,000 seats
Larger complex includes:
Restaurants
Bars
Cinema Multiplex
Bowling alley
Medical and health center
5. Casa XXI
Group Casa Do Marquês S.A.
Founded in 1989.
Jose’ Eduardo Sampaio (CEO).
Fernanda Seijo (Production,
decoration and logistic of events).
Florbela Bem (Sales).
6. The Casa XXI Project
Prestige: 1000 m2 – 800 seats.
Corporate Club: 400 m2 – 126 seats.
Sport 21: 500 m2 divided in 2 floors – 400 seats.
Restaurant Casa XXI: 250 m2 – 150 seats.
Cafeteria: At the entrance of the Stadium.
Refeito’ Rio: Canteen for the employees of Sporting.
Camarotes: Loges for Sporting group companies and other partners.
Kiosks: 15 kiosks associated with brands.
Bars: 26 bars scattered all over the Stadium.
Venta ambulante: 50 walking sales persons.
7. Cartao 21
Innovative system based on pre-paid cards.
System designed by Casa 21 and subcontracted to
Meag.
Software standard application provided by Wintouch.
IBM fiber-optic network.
Decentralized system.
Sold at kiosks and by special staff around bars.
Cards have a validity of 2 years.
Cards are collectible items: Pictures of famous players.
9. Advantages of the system
VS
What really happened
•Advantages •What happened
•Huge positive cashflow => cards
sold before the selling of items
•Shorter time to execute payment
transactions
•Shorter queues at the bar
•More productivity
•Faster turnaround
•More sales a peak times
•Reduced need for controlling cash
•Reduced need for controlling
bartenders
•Customers not clear about the
method of payment
•Cards arrived late at the stadium
•Cards were not activated
•Large crowds creating chaos at the
bars
•Cash transactions could not be
entered without a certain password
•Bartenders had to accept cash
without entering transaction
•Huge loss due to theft
•Beverages had to be handed out for
free
10. Organizational vs. technical
failure
Organizational
•No prior testing
•Placing transmitters on the roof on a
hot day
•Necessity of cards activation
•Kiosks were too far from POSs
•Hiring a company with a limited
experience of IS implementation
•Absence of plan “B”
•45 seconds transaction time
Technical
•Printers without proper connection to
POSs
•Using of incorrect version of SQL
server (Desktop edition), which was
used to program and test systems
11. What Casa XXI didn’t do:
PLANNING
• Define the scope of the
project and its unique
peculiarities.
• Choose a vendor with proper
credentials.
• Make sure that IT
architecture aligns with
business operations and tasks
• Didn’t take into
consideration the size of the
stadium and short time lags
in between matches.
• The experience of Meag in
implementing large IS
systems was limited.
• The SQL version allowed
only 5 concurrent users,
whereas in reality about 70
were active simultaneously
12. What Casa XXI didn’t do:
TESTING
• Test the system
• Learn the lessons
• System was not tested
IMPLEMENTING
• Provide a proper IT
support while an
implementation
period
• Give instructions to
personal how to
behave in a case of
emergency
• Meag provided Casa 21 with
only 2 specialists to support 42
POSs
• The passwords for changing a
configuration of the system
were not provided to bar
managers
13. What happened after the inauguration?
• The revenue could have been 5 times more
• Casa XXI’s public reputation was damaged
• Some of organizational failures were fixed
and system was tested. The test failed.
• A match without cards, use of cash only.
• Casa XXI’s credibility and reputation had to
be restored.
15. Alternative 1: Keep Meag
Pros Cons
1) Innovative payment system;
efficient, and “will impress” (if
working correctly)
2) Considerable cost savings vs.
switching suppliers
3) Avoids a probable costly lawsuit
4) Avoids damage to their reputation,
ie: Casa XXI won’t look professional
if they terminate the contract now
5) Speed of fixing problems; existing
contractor will have strong
advantage
1) Possibility of serious embarrassment
to the Casa XXI brand
2) Meag lacks experience with the
current scale of operation
3) Meag failed twice; they seem sloppy
4) A lack of trust between Casa XXI
and Meag seems to exist
16. Alternative 2: Hire Processos Criativos
Pros Cons
1) Prepared to use existing installation
and software
2) “Substantial experience” with
Wintouch, the software provider
1) Unclear pricing, didn’t provide an
estimate
2) Cost to change database (in medium
term)
17. Alternative 3: Hire Restinfor
Pros Cons
1) The operating system (Open source
Linux) is gaining acceptance with
large companies
2) Aquapad terminals are battery
operated and therefore very
portable
3) Battery operated, no need for UIP or
uninterrupted power
4) Flash memory, highly reliable
5) Very fast transaction time (5
seconds)
6) Confidence with time frame, system
up before next match
1) More expensive; requires new
hardware (Point of sale, Linux-based
terminals)
18. Alternative 4: Hire SVDI
Pros Cons
1) Management seemed
experienced, competent
2) Previous involvement in
other payment systems in the
stadium, knowledge of
operating environment
3) Experience with the current
IBM fiber-optic network
1) Need to change hardware;
cost, training & hassle
2) Not ready in the short term
3) Didn’t provide any cost
estimate, can’t really compare
20. Why not hiring a new supplier?
Apparent “breach of contract”.
A new supplier might bring its own organizational
and technical problems.
Which supplier to choose from?
Restinfor’s technology is perhaps too new.
SVDI’s proposal might be very costly.
Processos criativos was not clear enough regarding prices.
21. Our recommendation…
1. Keep Meag.
2. Ask both Processos Criativos and SVDI to give a
more detailed proposal, in case Meag’s system fails
again.
22. Why?
The time-frame is now more flexible.
Meag has an innovative and efficient system.
We have a good overview of the reasons of the failure.
Hardware itself is reliable. Only the software and its
configuration needs to be updated.
However, Meag and Casa XXI need to work more closely
Teamwork is the key to success!
23. How?
Technical aspect Organization aspect
1. SQL server must be upgraded from
MSDE version to Standard Edition.
2. Wintouch software needs to be
reconfigured => The transaction
time (45 seconds) is unacceptable. It
should not take more than 10
seconds. 5 seconds would be perfect.
1. Post user guides all over the stadium
for Football fans.
2. Cards must be ready and
operational before the match =>
Install protection windows in the
kiosks to solve the security issue.
3. If system fails during an event, staff
must be able to authorize POSs to
accept cash within a minute.
4. Staff and Management training to
various kinds of situations.
5. Proper wireless terminals storage +
installation of antennas with built-
in cooling system.
24. What should be done next?
1. Test the system at full capacity untill it is 100%
operational
2. If fixing the problem takes more time than expected,
keep using cash untill the system works!
3. Finally, if still failing, other suppliers would have had
time to provide more precise proposals.
