Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/608340
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2015 Gaming in Malta XIII Gaming software's rising star How is the Bit8 platform designed and what does it offer? Bit8 is a gaming platform software development company that offers an innovative intelligent gaming backend, catering for the current and future needs of modern gaming operators. The Bit8 platform is designed in a highly modular manner that can scale up to any number of concurrent players. The Bit8 platform offers an advanced bonus system that works across multiple game suppliers and cross-products, promo- tions and tournaments, and seamless wallet integration. The data mining and player segmentation coupled with an artificial intelligence rule engine and CRM add-ons give a cutting edge to operators while maximising retention and the overall player lifetime value. The Bit8 platform automates a wide variety of laborious manual work, from marketing campaign setup and target- ing, identification of revenue optimisation opportunities, automatic data drilldowns and adaptive user interface that shave off hours of work, while making operations less dependent on specialised skills and making the whole process more efficient. When was Bit8 established and how did you decide to move on to business and entrepreneurship? Bit8 has been established since 2010 and has solutions for both new and established operators including a few of the top 20 online casinos in the world. Bit8 supports both online and land-based operators and is rapidly expanding into 50 countries worldwide. Bit8 offers stan- dalone and hosted versions of our award- winning solutions that are compatible with a number of jurisdictions. These solutions are complemented by a range of profes- sional services, including consultancy, business analysis and custom develop- ment services. How is you company structured and what are your responsibilities as CEO? Our company is structured in a scale- able manner with a shallow hierarchy that is based on the concept of trust and empowerment of employees at all levels. We try to keep management overhead to the minimum possible and adopt a lean approach in all of our locations. As CEO, my main responsibility is to set the overall strategy and steer the company in the right direction in a relentless drive and focus on execution. Since we are gradually having projects that take us across multiple continents, delivery and service become more complex to handle. My current focus is to ensure that we complete this transition successfully from a European focused company to a global player. Bit8 is an award winning company, and recently it won the Software Rising Star Award at the EGR Awards in London. What do you think is the main reason for these wins and nominations? As a company, we always had a strong vision based on innovation. Our vision is to provide a source of competitive ad- vantage to operators using our intelligent backend functionality that maximises player lifetime value while increasing rev- enues and decreasing costs through the use of Artificial Intelligence technology. Our heavy investment in innovation, coupled with a focus on execution and a globally oriented strategy has led to us growing very fast and generally outpac- ing the competition, which has led to our various awards and nominations on a regional and also global level. How did you manage to achieve such outstanding success? I have always focused on continuous and incremental improvements while ensuring that there is a sound overall strategy behind our company and busi- ness. The main reason for success is our focus on providing real added value to our customers, ensuring that we invest in real innovation and research and devel- opment, while also personally taking an action oriented approach. We believe that actions speak louder than words – and prefer to have team members who are implementers and get whatever needs to be done executed in the fastest and most acceptable manner. Our company has been described aptly as providing a blue- print for the future – a future where agile teams achieve a lot in a lean fashion. Bit8 recently entered into a global alliance with the Intralot Group. What made you take this step? We have found a very good fit and strategic global partner with the Intralot Group. As a very well established global player, Intralot will be collaborating with Bit8 on a variety of products and services, including for both online and land-based operators who want to take their business online. A wide variety of products, such as advanced player account management, loyalty management systems, lottery and sportsbook verticals and other products are being enhanced and developed be- tween Bit8 and the Intralot Group. These will be rolled out worldwide in over 50 countries over the space of the next few years, giving Bit8 the global reach neces- sary to achieve our goals of becoming a global player. Our global alliance represents the chance for us to leverage Intralot's exper- tise in the global market and combine it with Bit8's expertise in the online gaming industry and our superior platform and innovative technology. What do you envision for your company in the next five years? We envisage that we will become a truly global player in the gaming industry, serv- icing both online and land-based quality operators while building up the world's most superior platform. In five years I envisage that our transition to a global company would be completed, which will see the transformation of the team, proc- esses and services to reflect this over the coming years as we grow onwards and upwards! Bit8, a software development company based in Malta, is the recipient of several international accolades and for good reason. CEO ANGELO DALLI explains why Bit8 is making waves in the local industry and where he hopes the future will take it