Push Technology is one of a growing number of commercial organisations that will be at Juegos Miami in order to establish a foothold in Latin America. CEO, Sean Bowen, explains the Push philosophy, the power of technology and how working alongside successful gaming companies such as 888 Holdings differs from working with IBM.
Push works with gaming companies such as 888Holdings and technology companies like IBM - how does working with these companies differ and what are the nuances of working in the gaming sector?
Push Technology is a leader in serving the eGaming market with data streaming technology. As such, we know that gaming companies require flexible infrastructure options. To be more specific, eGaming companies favour tax haven locations for their operational infrastructure. This presents difficulties for cloud-only solution vendors wishing to sell products to eGaming companies. Problematically, data centres are rarely located in tax haven countries, because these countries are low population geographies and not advantageous locations, from a revenue perspective, for data centre and cloud hosting vendors. Therefore, 
and despite some cloud-only providers’ ability to run across multiple data centre locations, cloud-only technology solutions cannot address the requisite business requirements of eGaming companies.
Often, the ideal solution for optimal operations is to implement either an on-premise solution in the tax haven location or a hybrid infrastructure configuration that combines both on-premise and cloud. With on-premise, eGaming companies solve the regulatory, location preference and security issues, while the cloud component provides efficiencies of scale and cost for end-user client applications. A hybrid solution can be the optimal solution to address the nuanced business requirements specific to eGaming companies.
You work for both IBM and 888 Holdings, how would you describe the differences?
IBM is, and has been, in the computer hardware and services business for decades. The company does not drive innovation but follows innovation after demand becomes firmly entrenched in markets. By contrast, 888 Holdings is breaking ground in the new and expanding eGaming markets where constant innovation must track with technology innovation, Internet access footprint expansion and end-user device adoption. This means it is advisable for eGaming companies to work with experienced technology vendors, who understand the market, if they are to continually deliver new customer engagement opportunities and consequently secure a competitive advantage.
Where do you see the big wins taking place in gaming, both in terms of technology and geography?
In-play and mobile betting are now standard practices for the industry. One of the next big trends could be maximizing machine learning – AI that provides computers with the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. Machine learning evolved from the study of pattern recognition and the construction of algorithms which enables us to learn from, and make predictions on, data. Think of the possibilities for eGaming. There’s a raft of data available which can provide insight into all betting scenarios – for example, when to promote and not to promote, or really detailed betting histories on specific events. Imagine all this done in real-time via applications designed for harvesting machine learning data! In terms of geography, gaming is a global business. To us, location doesn’t matter, we have solutions to fulfill any requirement, anywhere.
How would you summarise the major challenges that eGaming companies face?
Across all industries, a key challenge is to simultaneously address performance and scale. You can only force so much data down a pipe, which means, in terms of eGaming, companies can be limited in terms of the markets they offer. Or worse, eGaming companies can go off-line when they have spikes in traffic during large annual events and the result is lost revenue! The data capacity of the pipe has always been a limiting factor, which is why we developed our real-time delta-data streaming technology which reduces the amount and size of data that needs to be transmitted and transmits data faster than traditional messaging systems. In effect, we have flatlined latency and, by doing so, can guarantee consistency, which results in our customers being able to offer more markets.
Do you perceive Push as a technology company or a customer engagement/marketing company?
Both – successful technology product development requires a keen understanding of the nuances of the markets to be served. To serve a market well requires engagement with the market constituents to understand the details of their needs and challenges and growth opportunities. At Push Technology, we have developed our market expertise over the last 10 years via continual one-on-one engagement with the business and technical teams in the major eGaming companies. As such, our technology has evolved in lock step with the eGaming market requirements.
Juegos Miami features a powerful, strategic, and hands-on learning programme presented alongside a line-up of inspirational exhibitors and sponsors. Attendance is limited to senior decision makers from operating companies as well as government and regulators from the Latin American and Caribbean region. To apply for a place at the C-Level event, which in 2016 attracted exhibitors and representatives from a total of 42 countries, register at www.juegosmiami.com
Image Push Technology CEO, Sean Bowen
