Playing with the right players: the importance of data centres in eGambling

Playing with the right players: the importance of data centres in eGambling

Author:
James Inder
Data Centre Manager, JT Enterprise

eGambling is a highly lucrative sector. With 32 million active user accounts in the UK, online casinos, betting, and bingo produced a combined gross revenue of £6.9 billion between April 2020 to March 2021 — an 18.4% increase compared to the year before.

For eGambling propositions to be successful and profitable though, the digital experience has to be smooth. Players will not put up with lagging or buffering disrupting their game, especially when the stakes are high. So as the eGambling space becomes more competitive, and new gambling platforms enter the scene, delivering a quality digital experience becomes all the more essential.

Why data centres are important for eGambling

Online gambling experiences have made it possible for players all over the world to play thousands of interactive and content-rich games, in real-time, and win real money — sometimes very large sums.

For all of this to work well, we need a massive amount of data to travel back and forth between players, operators, and suppliers. Underpinning this vast sector is a complex digital ecosystem comprising of data centres, networks, and occasionally peer-to-peer connections. Developers and eGambling companies need to enhance their software and hardware to keep up with demand.

Data centres help deliver low latency and tight security

Latency can make or break the eGambling experience

Latency is one of the biggest issues developers have to battle against once a game is live.

Online gambling experiences require latency to be as low as possible to optimise gameplay, so players can interact and make decisions in as close to real time as possible, so as not to feel disadvantaged when betting. Latency can damage the user experience, particularly during eGambling sessions that use the passing of time as part of the suspense — roulette, slot machines and virtual horse racing, for example — or for live dealer events.

Low latency is also essential for creating an authentic and seamless experience when reacting within the game environment. A minor network delay or lag could result in a player missing out on placing a bet. Having to wait for winnings to appear immediately in their online wallet could lower the player's drive to keep playing.

Developers can help reduce latency by co-locating with localised data centres. This is because ISP managed data centres have their core network infrastructure located on site, which minimises latency, and ensures you can offer gamers the best possible experience, no matter where they themselves are located.

With VR and AI gambling — which will require much more data with minimal latency — becoming more popular, it’s crucial that eGambling platforms find winning solutions for low-latency gameplay.

 

Security is a top priority for gamers and eGambling providers

As for any digital platform facilitating payments, the smooth running of the service requires tight security measures to protect customers’ information.

DDoS attacks can harm an eGambling company’s reputation and cost a great deal of money in damages and fines. A data centre’s DDoS protection must be robust enough to secure sensitive customer data, and safeguard the company’s reputation.

New technologies offer exciting opportunities for eGambling

With the rollout of 5G, mobile data speeds can finally support the demand cloud-based eGambling puts on ISP bandwidth. Players can now pull up their games on mobile anytime, anywhere, and place bets ‘on the go’. This will put a heavy strain on developers and gambling platforms, who will need to look to edge data centres to support this new style of play.

Our data centres are designed to help you meet regulations worldwide. Located in the Channel Islands, they operate 24/7, include dedicated and experienced support, and offer excellent security benefits. By moving away from the usual, centralised data centres based in major cities, gambling companies can eliminate data congestion and connectivity problems to offer a far better experience.

 

How JT can help with eGambling

The obvious solution to all your server woes is to build your own dedicated data centre. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done unless you’re Google or Amazon. This is where partnering with JT can help businesses get a foot in the door.

Your eGambling business can access the best enterprise cloud platform with JT’s Cloud services. Our data centres are the Channel Islands’ all SOC 2, ISO 27001 and PCI-DSS certified, ensuring you can offer fast, secure, and stable connections to all your players.

Our dedicated team of of onsite Data Centre Technicians provide IT “Remote Hands” support software and applications support, and 24/7 technical support and maintenance year-round. We can recommend, design and deploy Data Centre solutions to meet your physical security and power usage requirements. In addition, our team of specialists can help your business relocate your existing solution from its current location to one of our purpose built hosting facilities.

This means you’re never far from a solution if you run into any issues, ensuring a seamless and reliable eGambling experience with maximum availability and uptime.

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