30 PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2023 that would be incurred if we tried to build it ourselves. A similar arrangement enables us to provide a world-class horse-racing offer. The French PMU (Pari Mutuel Urbain) is the biggest operator of horse racing in Europe. Like with FDJ, our collaboration with PMU enables us to deliver the best horse race betting to our players in Switzerland. Without these collaborations with FDJ and PMU, we could never offer these kinds of world-class playing experiences in sports and horse race betting as the cost would far exceed the profits we generate and therefore our ability to pay for it. Too, this SaaS (Software as a Service) type model provides us with the flexibility to migrate to the most advanced systems available quickly, easily, and inexpensively. So, we are optimizing the player experience and managing our costs in the short-term, and we are “futureproofing” our business by maximizing our flexibility to always be deploying the best-inclass products and services in the long-term. This approach is enabled by Application Program Interface (API) technology? JL Moner-Banet: Yes. API is what enables the inter-operability of multiple supplier ecosystems to communicate with each other. It is the interface that makes it possible to open our IT environment, our ecosystem to new suppliers. As new software solutions and applications are developed and made available in the future, API enables us to integrate them efficiently and cost-effectively. We have the flexibility to integrate native software applications, point-of-sale applications, and “front-end” customerfacing gaming platforms and other thirdparty solutions as they become available going forward. It is so important for smaller lotteries like Loterie Romande to have access to the best-in-class front-end applications and software that are being developed by the agile new companies of the future. For example, just think about how point-of-sale and transaction-processing technologies are changing. We need the flexibility to move to whatever platform the retailer requires in the future. IGT has been a great partner because they support our vision for a new IT architecture that enables multi-vendor strategies and creative collaborations like we have with FDJ and PMU. IGT understands what we are trying to accomplish, their advanced cloud-based infrastructure supports the multi-vendor and technology partner approach, and they are helping us to build out the architecture to accomplish it. In fact, I would say that it would not have been possible without the full agreement and cooperation of IGT. And IGT itself remains at the center, the heart of the central server system. We appreciate IGT for their many core competencies. And they respect our need to always seek out and integrate the best-in-class even when that comes from a third-party. We believe that lottery operations of the future will involve this much more diverse set of technology partners, vendor relationships, and creative collaborations. Does an effective API-enabled multi-vendor system require a cloud-based solution? JL Moner-Banet: I’m not sure if it “requires” it, but we consider it to be essential. There is a large fixed and ongoing maintenance cost to the traditional computer hardware infrastructure. That upfront cost ties you to a legacy technology that is very expensive to either upgrade if that is even possible, or replace altogether. The Microsoft Azure cloud-based platform provides far more costeffective flexibility to update as it is mostly about software-driven changes. IGT has managed the process of migrating us to this cloud-based IT platform and we appreciate their leadership. Lotteries need to think carefully about how their IT infrastructure can evolve with their needs, and the needs of the market-place, into the future. Large computer rooms that require costly maintenance and then replacement after three or four years are probably a thing of the past. Is there way to build into the RFP process terms that stipulate ways to determine pricing for products and services that don’t exist now? JL Moner-Banet: Not exactly. But you can, and we do, agree on principles about how to calculate the cost per hour for different kinds of engineering, software coding, licensing costs, and other things that can be measured and valued in the present time. Of course, there will certainly be many things that we can’t predict and can’t know now how they should be measured and valued. But we do stretch to identify ways to calculate the costs for new integrations and other kinds of activities that require additional costs to be borne by the IT central systems partner. I would add that the project organization and management required for this new kind of IT architecture is very complex, involving hundreds of people from 20+ different companies working together. We may be on a steep learning curve right now, but it is quite clear that the ROI will be compelling in so many ways, not least of which is the optimal game-playing experience we’re providing for our customers. Before we close, I hope we might digress slightly to a topic that occurred to me when we visited you last year at your offices in Lausanne. I observed that you seem to have achieved a stable equilibrium when it comes to the work schedules and work-styles of your Loterie Romande team. I assume that involves flexibility to allow more flexible work-at-home schedules? JL Moner-Banet: Yes. The changes required of us during the pandemic exposed us to the benefits of tools like video-conferencing and the feasibility of flexible work schedules. Today’s knowledge workers in IT, marketing and other specialties now expect to be given the flexibility to organize their work to accommodate at least two days a week working from their home office. Further to that, more young people are asking to structure their jobs to require fewer hours of work overall, to reduce their work-load by 20% so that they can work fewer hours. They may have family obligations or other priorities for a different work-life balance, one that allows the work to be done in fewer hours. And they are not unwilling to discuss reduction in pay to accommodate their priorities. The project organization and management required for this new kind of IT architecture is very complex, involving hundreds of people from 20+ different companies working together. Continued on page 48
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