Tom Walton, Director at technology consultancy, Burendo, shares how operators can achieve sustainable profitability with learnings from other sectors

Operators who are merging and acquiring other businesses, launching new products or even integrating third-party technologies, can find themselves navigating complex internal processes. It is a complex large-scale challenge. Where M&As are commonplace, brand consolidation can be critical when securing sustainable profitability while planning for higher returns in the future. Within the emerging LatAm and US markets, acquisition remains a key focus. A common issue, regardless of geography, is the challenges presented by outdated or fragmented platforms and systems, a major obstacle in the growth trajectory.

In many cases, fundamental changes in how the organisation functions: its people, processes and technology holds the key to better value, higher profits, operational efficiency and reduced risk. By addressing these complexities with proven experience, technology consultants can support operators to be successful in their strategic initiatives.

Agility in competitive markets

To remain competitive in an ever-changing market, operators must move fast and with agility to refine their offering. A constant eye on retention, acquisition and regulatory changes is paramount to avoid financial impact. Despite this risk, research conducted by Accenture in 2022 found that 95% of B2B and B2C C-level executives believe their customers are changing faster than they can change their business, indicating most operators risk falling behind. This poses the question of how this can be supported.

The value of technology consultancies is in enabling businesses to extract greater value from existing resources through a confident understanding of what good looks like. Bringing external ideas gathered through experience, exemplary resources from process to people, can demonstrate what good looks like. More importantly, it shortens the timeline to achieving real goals in the organisation. Being under resourced or lacking the skills needed across these challenges makes it difficult to gain an overarching perspective particularly within a siloed approach.

At Burendo, we leverage more than 40 years of cross-sector experience. We are not only working with some of the biggest operators in betting and gaming, but partner with other highly regulated industries including finance and healthcare. We have helped operators across many initiatives which includes accelerating project delivery by 97% on average. We pride ourselves in ensuring we leave a lasting positive impact on the culture, enabling our partners to be empowered to carry on our work.

The retention battle

Many operators are too busy with day-to-day tasks or overwhelmed with where to start when it comes to transformation and building a cutting-edge user experience. An example of the gap between capacity and demand is the rising popularity of in-play betting. During live sports, the speed in which players can find and place their bet is critical. Here, streamlined processes that allow for quick innovation will correlate with customer satisfaction, resulting in higher retention rates.

A fresh perspective for lasting change

A successful approach to optimisation requires taking the challenge and viewing it from an experienced and innovative angle. Our partners truly benefit from best practice and valuable lessons derived from other sectors. Through experience we have found that these challenges are not exclusive to betting & gaming and so the ability to apply these learnings drive success.

Managing complex systems and large volumes of data is a common obstacle. By applying these cross-sector principles through working with technology consultants, operators can gain valuable insight into re-engineering platforms and the skills needed, to meet both current and future demands.

Building exceptional, scalable and adaptable architectures ensures that businesses can continue to grow and evolve as the industry changes. This forward-thinking approach positions operators ahead of the curve, meaning they are poised for success in the years to come and have the agility to address any challenges or opportunities that arise.

Creating lasting change requires more than just solving immediate problems. Our goal for our clients is to maintain high levels of efficiency long after an initial transformation is complete. By empowering teams to implement and sustain improvements, operators can maintain continuous growth and unlock growth worth tens of millions of pounds, far outweighing their cost of delivery.

The focus must now shift to building stronger, more Agile organisations that can adapt to changing market conditions. Sustainable efficiency enables operators to optimise time-to-market, improve platform performance, and manage resources more effectively, creating a foundation for long-term growth.

About Burendo   

Founded in 2018 and with offices in Leeds and London, Burendo is an award-winning, consultancy delivering stand-out products and services through technology. We partner with organisations to accelerate organisational value delivery and transform customer experiences.

We are pragmatic thinkers and doers who understand the operational world of organisations and customer demands. We work as a partner to give our clients the latest ideas, tools and techniques to deliver effective results that build long-term value.

For more information, you can visit the Burendo website: www.burendo.com

If you have any questions, please contact Kate Smith, Senior Digital Marketing Executive by email: [email protected]

GAMSTOP, the national self-exclusion scheme for online gambling, has announced record registration numbers for the start of the year.

In the biggest daily figures since its inception in 2018, GAMSTOP saw 415 people signing up on January 1^st, followed by 413 new registrants on January 2^nd and 396 on the 6^th – the 3 highest daily registration figures since May 2023.

In a continued effort to support vulnerable consumers, GAMSTOP has introduced a new ‘5 years with auto-renewal’ option, for vulnerable consumers looking to extend their exclusion from gambling websites and apps. The new 5 -year auto-renewal exclusion was developed in direct response to feedback from users.

More than half a million people have signed up for GAMSTOP’s services in the years following its launch, with many expressing a desire for longer-term exclusion options. Independent evaluation of the service by Ipsos found that some users are nervous about what happens when they come to the end of their exclusion period and others would have opted for a “lifetime” ban if it had been available.

Currently, at the end of a consumer’s self-exclusion period, the exclusion remains active for up to a further seven years unless they contact GAMSTOP to ask for it to be removed.

Under the new option, consumers who select 5-years with auto-renewal will have their exclusion automatically renewed for an additional 5-year period once the initial term expires. This cycle will continue, providing an ongoing safeguard against gambling participation unless the consumer actively chooses to opt-out of the auto-renewal feature.

For consumers who have opted in to receive emails, GAMSTOP will also begin sending email reminders to those with 5-year exclusions (with or without auto-renewal) every 15 months, helping them stay informed about their upcoming expiration and renewal dates.

The 5-year auto-renewal exclusion option is now available alongside GAMSTOP’s existing 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year exclusion periods. Consumers with a current 5- year exclusion will be able to upgrade it by turning on auto-renewal within their account.

Gamstop Group CEO, Fiona Palmer said:

“We have come a very long way since our launch in April 2018, but our journey doesn’t stop there.

Our goal is to provide consumers with tools and options that empower them to take control of their gambling activity. As such, we’re consistently listening to feedback and evaluating the effectiveness of our service.

Consumers wanted longer exclusion periods and we listened. The introduction of the 5-year auto-renewal exclusion is an important step in ensuring consumers peace of mind when using our service and helping vulnerable consumers take a sustained break from their gambling.”