Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/685221
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 29 MAY 2016 X Gaming in Malta How is data changing the way we do things in the gaming industry? MARION GAMEL ADVANCES in digital and data tech- nologies have been sweeping across numerous industries and disrupting traditional business models. Often quoted examples are licensed taxi operators or hotel franchises feeling the competition of data led networks and digital marketplaces such as Uber and Airbnb, which currently have multi- billion dollar valuations. Uber, for example, began as a smart- phone app enabling people to book a nearby cab and has since added 'sharing economy' service such as carpooling features. Airbnb is one of the largest providers of accommoda- tion in the world. Airbnb customers can search their online site or mobile apps for somewhere to stay while travelling, yet Airbnb do not own any real estate. All of the accommodation is provided by 'hosts' who advertise their spare rooms and private houses or even boats, tents or castles for rent, by sign- ing up to Airbnb's online service. The transformations began many years before the launch of these two companies though (both were founded in 2008). For example Google was in- corporated in 1998 and has both taken advantage of and fuelled many of the advances in Internet related products and services. A Google competitor in the internet search market, Yahoo, is the birth place of one of the main technologies underpinning the more recent advances in data technologies: Hadoop. Hadoop began in early 2000s as a better search engine and is now a web technology based framework that al- lows for distributed processing of huge amounts of data, and it has become synonymous with the term "Big Data". Those close to any aspect of data management or analytics will under- stand that Big Data can mean different things to different people. In reality, Big Data is a range of complimentary tools and technologies that empowers busi- nesses to store, process, analyse and display in human interpretable format all of the information (Aka: 'Data') that is generated from web, mobile or inter- nal systems and applications within a businesses technology ecosystem and beyond. The "Data Lake" is where all this information is stored. The 'Big' in Big Data comes from the fact that the amount of data being generated in business ecosystems has, over the past decade, effectively exploded in volume, velocity, variety and achievable value. It is through analytics that value is unlocked from data. The iGaming industry is perfectly placed to take advantage of the ad- vances in Big Data and analytics to un- lock business value. Like many digital industries, iGaming generates massive amounts of data each and every day. Millions of web and mobile device traffic, visits and users, thousands of sports events, customer interactions, financial transactions and that's all without even mentioning the billions of in-game actions and rounds. Add to this recipe the rapidly perishable nature of a digital sportsbook's stock of real events or e-sports and you've got a cocktail of data volume and complex- ity that is the stuff of dreams for the Godfathers of computing and analytics. Benefitting from analytics for im- proved customer experience, opera- tional efficiencies, higher revenues and more rapid product development is not new. According to Accenture, higher than average performing companies are those that win at analytics (Win- ning with Analytics, Accenture & MIT, 2014). In the iGaming industry this translates to improved games or offers, streamlining operations and creating more relevant, real-time marketing campaigns. With all these improve- ments the beneficiaries are clear, it's not only iGaming operators but also iGaming players. The entire iGaming customer experi- ence is getting an upgrade. Based on the insights that come with more advanced analytics, iGaming opera- tors are better equipped to recommend games, offers, sports or odds that fit customers requirements. Recognising and rewarding customer loyalty in a relevant personalised way is another strategy that can lead to great improve- ments in the iGaming customer experi- ence. For example, StarCasino.it use advanced analytics to make personal online Casino game recommendations to help customers discover new games that they are likely to enjoy, based on their current favourite games. The ap- proach is similar to Amazon's product recommendations algorithms. To fully benefit from analytics, the iGaming industry needs to focus on hir- ing, training, developing and retaining a workforce that is digitally savvy and knows how to drive value from data. A strategy to achieve this includes hiring experts from other tech industries or data driven businesses. Such pro- fessionals can bring experience and innovations into the iGaming industry. But all experienced analytics profes- sionals know that, to gain real insight from data, solid domain knowledge is extremely beneficial, meaning that knowing the industry and knowing how to use data is the real sweet spot. Businesses need to focus on facilitat- ing the commercial instinct of industry veterans with the analytical knowhow of technical experts. Finally, having a solid commitment to hiring graduates with the latest skillsets from academia and other courses will complete the trifecta. For example, Malta based Betsson Group, runs a graduate programme called Betsson Academy. This program targets graduates from specific third level courses such as Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Sci- ence and Software Engineering. Big Data is here to stay! It is creeping into all areas of our business, sharpen- ing decision-making, supporting strate- gies, opening our eyes on significant trends early and empowering us to continuously enhance the user experi- ence. For iGaming operators, making investments in data technologies as well as attracting and growing employ- ees skillsets, is a sure bet. Marion Gamel is Chief Marketing Of- ficer and Nadine Keane, Head of Data Science at Betsson Group