Remember, haste makes waste. Don’t be so eager to find a VAR partner that you overlook or discount negative information rather than thinking twice about whether the company is the right fit for your retail store or restaurant. It’s better to be without technology for a short time, than to be stuck in a relationship with the wrong VAR.

Be a ruthless reference checker. It goes without saying that VARs without a proven track record of customer satisfaction should be avoided at all costs. However, “investigations” must go beyond this point. When checking references, don’t just ask contacts whether they liked the VAR in question and if it provided “good” customer service.

Remote log-in program. Once this type of program is installed, you can access your store, restaurant, or home computer from the software provider’s Web site by entering your user name and password. This type of software can be provided by pcAmerica.

Internet security solutions, including antivirus software, antispyware software, and firewall software. The antivirus piece ensures that your computer cannot be maliciously destroyed by outside hackers. With antispyware, unwanted ads will not pop up on your screen. Most importantly, firewalls prevent outsiders from stealing your data.

It’s no secret that the key to any successful communication is reaching the right audience, at the right time, with the right message. For some retailers and restaurateurs, this means not only deploying “freestanding” digital signage applications, but running digital signage software on kiosks.

When it comes to digital signage, the times, to quote an old Bob Dylan song, are “a-changing.” The scope of digital signage is no longer limited to “way-finding” (directions to a certain department in a store, for example) and the flashing of simple messages (such as the ticket number of a customer currently being served in a deli).

Bear in mind, also, that as opponents of the amendment point out, you’ll need to spend time training employees to explain “minimum/maximum” policies at the point of sale. Moreover, confusion at the point of sale leads to more costly transactions for merchants.

Federal legislation that would permit merchants to set minimum and maximum limits on the dollar value of credit/debit card transactions they are willing to accept has yet to progress past the “pending” stage.

“Support” and “maintenance” are nebulous terms, but when it comes to these two elements, retailers need to be very clear about what they’re getting from their POS systems vendor.

Unlike sources whose roster of services does not include support, ISVs and full-service VARs also employ teams of experts whose experience allows them to get to the heart of customers’ problems immediately.