Public Gaming International Magazine March/April 2021

42 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • MARCH/APRIL 2021 WHAT HAS 2020 TAUGHT US? By Paul Lawson , Chief Technology Officer, Abacus Solutions International STRESS-TESTING ENVIRONMENTS. B eing a CTO means you are always focused on ensuring systems and processes are able to perform across all possible circumstances. e global pandemic has cer- tainly tested all of us over the past 12 months, creat- ing a new set of unique strains - not just on the business but on sta too, everyone has had to adapt. When I left school many years ago, I did not have a career in IT and technology in mind. I initially trained in mechanical engi- neering, working for a defence manufactur- ing company. Many of the initial engineer- ing basics I learned during this time have carried over into my career in designing and building technical systems and processes. One of these engineering principles is that any system needs to perform not only under nominal conditions but also when it is placed under extreme stress and strain. e global community has certainly been stress-tested over the past 12 months as the COVID-19 pandemic impacted large swathes of the economy in remarkable and generally not very positive ways. ere is not one company doing business today that has not been a ected in one way or another by the virus and pretty much every sec- tor is having to do things di erently, with sta working from home, those who are in the workplace practising social distancing, supply chains being disrupted and demand falling o a cli . But few areas of the economy are expe- riencing bigger levels of shock and upset than retail, and when the virus is nally banished from our shores and things return to a new normal, there are several ways in which retail will probably be changed ut- terly and forever. Retail was already moving towards o ering more convenience to their customer base through online shopping, click and collect (or BOPIS), self-scan and self-service. e global pandemic has only accelerated this rate of change, and when the crisis eventu- ally ends, how many customers will return to their old shopping habits of browsing and buying in-store, and what number will continue their new trend of buying via their phone, tablet or PC? Without question, the pace of change away from traditional shop- ping norms will be accelerated by the crisis and a reversal afterwards seems unlikely. is change in retail has wide-reaching implications for the supply chain and the products that are traditionally sold through a brick-and-mortar environment, and this includes lottery products. ALL YOUR EGGS IN ONE BASKET. Draw-based and instant games are tradi- tionally sold in a brick-and-mortar retail environment using a dedicated lottery terminal. Over the past twelve months, as retail modernisation programs move customers away from the traditional touch point, the rate of change has accelerated at a frightening pace due to the pandemic and lottery sales have seen a sharp decline in sales of traditional products. Although initiatives such as the NASPL API in the USA started a recognition that this reliance on a single channel puts sales at risk, uptake has been slow. Relying on a single touch point to move product in retail is akin to putting all your eggs in one basket. Under extreme market stress which closed many retail outlets, there was limited opportunity for the customer to purchase the standard lottery product.