Opinion: Cloudy times ahead for egaming

Let me describe a scenario. A relatively niche, but very successful, gaming operator exploits the rise of new markets in Asia. Before it really understands what’s happening, turnover has exploded, human resources have doubled and its IT infrastructure is struggling to handle the business-critical production gaming systems, leaving non-core ““ HR, finance, e-mail ““ to grind to a halt through neglect and lack of processing power.

Sound familiar? While growth is a nice problem to have, it’s a situation that can make or break a business. An inability to service growth can severely damage relationships with customers, and the success of any business ultimately depends on its reputation.

In the case of our scenario company, exponential growth and the volume of people needed to keep the business wheels in motion has caused rising panic at board-level. Internal systems ““ from payment processing to marketing, HR to web design ““ had been structured into silos, for a relatively small number of employees, with a high degree of manual input and complex sign-off processes. Fine for relatively low work volumes, but catastrophic for managing exponential growth. So what is the solution?

Cut out the deadwood

People and processes have to come before technology. An initial review will establish which processes would most benefit from upgrading, automation or complete removal. Growth can render old processes redundant and expose the business to risk, so cutting out the deadwood is essential.

While this may require a leap of faith, there is no room for sentimentality and a laser-like focus on business optimisation is needed. Management can’t wait for Dave to produce his Wednesday report on VIP escalation, or Lisa to create the special bonus plans. It is not a criticism of the individuals, but a business imperative for production and dissemination of these reports in real-time, to and from flexible location.

Perhaps the greatest challenge is ensuring an already over-worked IT department is not burdened with these process changes. Whatever planning or project management tool is used, flexibility is key; along with a clear end destination where processes are efficient, there is a balance between centralisation and outsourcing and enough internal resources are in place to support them.

A cloudy outlook

‘Cloud computing’ still engenders panic amongst many corporate boards, especially where large volumes of sensitive personal and financial data are involved. However, a move to The Cloud need not compromise this and, when it comes to reducing the impact of rapid business growth, the focus is on ancilliary processes rather than consumer-facing systems.

Cloud is the glue that joins existing systems together: the creation of a web-based portal linking different digital systems using their Application Programme Interfaces (APIs). The hassles of server maintenance, software and firmware development and system upgrades remain firmly with the third party supplier, but the portal itself and all the internal systems can be managed by your own IT service support desk safe in the knowledge that they can see the whole picture.

In fact, The Cloud can mean greater security, offering management more effective visibility of business activities. However, it would be naïve to think that a gaming organisation’s entire IT infrastructure could be cloud-based and this goes back to having a clear vision and understanding of which systems and processes should remain under in-house, site-secure control.

Prototyping or full in-house development

No matter how good the planning, first-time perfection is rare when combining technology, systems and processes. Whatever the scale, there is always a need for experimentation, versioning and regular staff input and training. Given that internal IT Departments are often running just to keep up with business-critical production systems, they are unlikely to have the resource or inclination to take on additional development work, particularly if it involves software engineering on an industrial scale.

The Cloud helps overcome this issue, providing rapid prototyping for systems and processes with little input required from the IT team. For example, creating automated workflows for mundane – but crucial – holiday-bookings or more commercial matter-workflows like affiliate payments, involves little IT development time because most of the work has already been put in with the tools and framework from the cloud provider.

‘Tweaking’ functionality to suit specific business needs, or integration with enterprise systems such as the behemoth Microsoft SharePoint, is then easier for the project team. While there is likely to be some cost, it will be significantly less expensive than commissioning ground-up development by in-house IT.

Most importantly, cloud gives managers oversight of system implementation and more rapid feedback of what is working, or which elements need further development. Once satisfied, some of these systems can be returned to in-house infrastructure when external pressures on the IT Department reduce.

The outcomes I have seen so far have convinced me, and our clients, that Cloud computing is a key element in helping either pure play or bricks-and-mortar-to-online gaming companies stay ahead of rapid business growth. As global egaming demand continues to rise, the need for joined-up IT infrastructures can only increase along with it.