U.K. National Lottery going on 36-hour break for huge technology upgrade
Massive technology refresh brings National Lottery into modern era
As the U.K. National Lottery gets ready to undergo its most massive technology upgrade in three decades, ticket sales, ticket checkers, and prize claims will all experience a 36-hour blackout.
The U.K. National Lottery is going on a 36-hour break starting this weekend, and officials are strongly recommending that players plan ahead.
In a huge undertaking to modernize the technology that powers the National Lottery, which "hasn't had a significant upgrade since 2009," the Lottery said in a notice, some services will not be available to players through the weekend. It's the "biggest tech upgrade to the National Lottery since it first launched in 1994," Lottery operator Allwyn said in a press release.
It's an upgrade that the Lottery says will improve player experiences "over the coming months and years" and one that Lottery operator Allwyn says will "speed up transactions for in-store players and retailers alike." The current legacy systems and in-store terminals date back to 2009 "before iPads, Uber, and Instagram," and they are in dire need of modernization.
The outage is scheduled to start following Saturday's Lotto and Thunderball draws at 11:00 p.m. and is expected to run until late Monday morning. During that time, the National Lottery website, mobile app, and in-store terminals will be offline.
"With no National Lottery draw taking place, Sundays typically tend to be a much quieter day," Allwyn explained on Wednesday.
It means that players will also not be able to buy draw game tickets both online and in-store. However, scratch-off tickets will still be available for purchase.
Players also cannot claim any prizes during the outage either online or in-store, and online accounts will not be accessible until the Lottery's systems are "back up and running on Monday and normal prize claim services are available," the Lottery advised.
The technological upgrades include updating the core gaming and retail systems to a brand-new platform, back-end improvements, and complex data migrations that involve the transfer of "tens of thousands of retailer records and millions of transactions from the old to the new systems," Allwyn clarified. According to the operator, Allwyn has already invested more than £350 million (US$462.5 million) in this "vital overhaul."
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver The National Lottery that the UK deserves," Allwyn CEO Andria Vidler said in a statement. "We're making unprecedented and much-needed changes, which will move us closer to achieving our vision for The National Lottery, restoring its magic and significantly increasing its positive impact on lives across the UK. These major upgrades will mean short-term disruption for players and our retail partners, but they will allow us to deliver on our promise to bring new, exciting games; a better player experience; and our commitment to double returns to Good Causes from £30m to £60m every week by the end of the 10-year license."
The Lottery assured players that player account information and personal data will be protected during the technology upgrade.
"We take the security of your account details and personal data incredibly seriously," the Lottery's website reads. "All player data is stored securely and is protected by industry-standard encryption and security to ensure your data is protected."
Allwyn warned that they expect a small proportion of in-store terminals to experience possible delays depending on the individual retailer's circumstances.
The Lottery's Contact Center will still be open, but immediate resolutions to certain inquiries could be limited since the team may rely on the Lottery's technology and systems to resolve some problems.
Saturday's drawings will still be viewable on the National Lottery's official YouTube channel, and results will be posted on Lottery Post's U.K. Lottery Results page right after each drawing.
https://www.lotterypost.com/news/355502