Paddy Power Betfair in final stages of year-long platform migration
Operator expects 1,000-strong tech team to return focus to new product development
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) is nearing completion of a year-long technology project to unite its two main brands onto a single platform, EGR Intel can reveal.
Paddy Power customers have been migrated to the new platform in recent weeks, with a major tranche moving over on Friday (26th January), leaving about 5% of customers still to be moved.
It means the Paddy Power site will be faster and more reactive, with the firm also set to launch a marketing campaign centring on speed in the coming weeks. The firm recently appointed a new creative agency.
The end of the tech project will also see the combined group increasingly turning its focus to product after suffering a slowdown for much of 2017, with a subsequent impact on the bottom line.
The project has been a significant drag on the firm’s technology teams, and hindered new product development so much that former CEO Breon Corcoran said last year: “If we’d known how difficult this was going to be, we’d have put it off even longer”.
However, there is a sense of optimism with the project complete, with one PPB employee telling EGR this week: “Nothing new has gone on Betfair for the last twelve months, but now we’ve got 1,000 tech guys who have time on their hands again.
He added: “There are still technical bits to tie up, the resource won’t all flip straight away, but it’s an exciting time.”
Analyst Simon French from Cenkos Securities also noted recently: “With the integration of the Paddy Power and Betfair technology platforms nearly complete, 2018 should see more new product delivery across both brands with the potential to reinvigorate top-line growth.”