Looking after your players means understanding them. Comtrade Gaming has the tools to make this simpler and more effective, enabling greater customer retention for both land-based and online operators. Igor Rus, Director of Systems, Comtrade Gaming, spoke to Casino International.
1. Comtrade is in a good place, business-wise – is being in Slovenia a part of that? Is there something about the country that is advantageous to tech firms?
Slovenia is a good country for a company like ours. Many tech firms are doing well here, partly because of the stimulus that companies get from economic growth in target markets.
2. It has been mentioned to us that for a medium-sized company to thrive in Slovenia, you have to look outwards because Slovenia itself is so small, there is really not much in the way of a domestic market.
Yes; if you want to build expertise within the company, you have to look outside of here. We have perhaps 2 million people, so larger companies have to be aware of what is going on outside the country and to compete with other companies. It puts companies from Slovenia in a position and a mindset to evolve quickly, and they have to in order to survive and compete in a global market.
3. It’s amazing that you can keep finding the talent you need in a country this size; is there significant investment in education that makes finding the kind of talent you employ easier?
We have a high-performing education system and we produce a lot of IT-focused students that are relevant to our business. In terms of IT-based education, Comtrade Group organises summer programs to prepare potential and future employees. With experience-based training, it’s about applying an individual’s particular talent to develop the technical skills for one’s particular career goals. The opportunity allows students to gain real work experience, meet like-minded individuals, explore the latest technology in the IT sector and kick-start professional development.
It used to be that everyone wanted to be a pilot – not any more. Now people want to be in IT with the intent to make the world better. This generation is trying to solve problems, not just work for a company that doesn’t engage with the world around them. It is quite inspiring.
4. You spoke of the need for companies like Comtrade to export services – how many countries do you operate in?
I’m not sure I can count them all! We are expanding into Asia, Australia, next will probably be the US. Later, we will look at South America and Africa. Africa has witnessed significant growth in gaming and there is certainly a need for technology services. I will add that we are a technology company that came into gaming, we are not a gaming company trying to do technology. That sets us apart.
5. What are the core Comtrade Gaming products?
Comtrade Gaming has three lines of product. One is the systems side of the business, sCore. We have embraced the GSA G2S standards, which allows machines to operate with a uniform protocol allowing for frequent system upgrades. Today in technology, we are trying to get the best technology for gaming and what it can offer: real-time data from machines to systems, so you can react immediately to your customer and venue needs; responsible gaming because it bridges the gap between the older land-based casinos and online and machine optimisation through consistent maintenance. The technology is there, we just have to embrace it. Many people are not aware of this because they have legacy systems or slots and they think this is the only way to go.
We also have games – aka gCore – with a remote gaming server and the technology to develop HTML5 games for online; this can also be used for server-based games, i.e. land-based gaming with server-side logic. iCore is the third part of Comtrade Gaming’s product portfolio and includes our online gaming platform for enterprise-level operators who need to manage the gaming operations across multiple channels and products. The platform itself specialises in business intelligence, advanced and automated bonusing and a high-degree of customisation.
6. Are you also content developers and providers then?
We are mainly technology providers to companies that want to develop games. When Comtrade Gaming supplies a remote gaming server and games, it means that we provide a game development framework that allows you to create games very quickly. That is the core technology behind every vendor that wants to take their games online or have a server-based VLT solution. It’s not that people give us assets to create the games for them, we make it possible for them to do what they do on their own.
Land-based is a little different, but online everything is just a click away and you have to set yourself apart from the others. Marketing, bonusing, loyalty all have to be working at a high level to stand out and you need strong technology to be able to do that.
7. Bonusing is a great thing but it’s extremely complex and I think there is a danger that it can be too narrowly executed. For example, say on a previous visit to an IR I bought Celine Dion tickets, does that mean I always want to see her? Or does it mean I like live music and would like a reasonable choice? The view of a player can be funnelled too narrow sometimes, I think.
iCore can be used by a land-based casino; the problem they have now is that they look at the player in solitude, for example – if they play a slot, they’re a slot player; if they’re in a shop, then they are categorized as a shop player; their habits are partitioned. But that information is for a single player. We’re not talking about a 360-degree view, because it’s impossible to know them as a person, but we try to identify player preferences. That’s not just looking at what you do or buy or eat, but to also look at inputting what you want to tell us – what teams do you support, for example. Mix that with the other data and then you have something interesting when that player’s bonusing comes up.
Combining real data – what they are playing on slots or tables – with what they are doing in the hotel, in F&B, and their own input can be combined to great effect. We are not predicting how the customer will behave in the future because for example, how can a technology company give predictions without knowing where people are from and their habits? We have to work with the operator. One solution does not fit all, that’s why I don’t believe in an off-the-shelf predictive analytics tool – it’s work that has to be performed by a technology company with an operator, to boost their brand loyalty.