Antoine Bonello, COO and managing director at Aspire Global, discusses how a modern, innovative managed services solution could lighten the load for operators.   

The past is a different country, as they say. It is certainly true were an operator from as little as five years ago to be transported through time to the current day, they would barely recognise the current lay of the land.

There are many forces that have accelerated the change within online gaming markets across the world. The most notable of late is of course the pandemic, the consequent rush of land-based operators towards digital solutions and of course the ongoing regulatory changes in a number of key markets.

Naturally, constant changes in regulatory regimes have seen the industry forced to evolve. In some scenarios to thrive such as the case of the US market, in others to survive, case in point Germany. 

There is also the issue of changing consumer behaviour to consider, particularly when it comes to the use of mobile devices and the need for instant gratification.

Particularly pertinent in the modern-day realm, as we see it, is the provision of a set of managed services which use modern advances in technology to map out solutions tailored towards these trends – and well beyond.

Firstly, consider the cost of operators running multiple teams including their recruitment, training and management. On top of this mounting expense, scaling such teams with multiple language support is now a must in order to stay competitive. 

“Operators generally do not have the time or money to spend all day putting out fires”

Meanwhile, ensuring they are always compliant to protect their licence is a necessary but exhausting endeavour. Even if a business boasts MGA, UKGC or DGA licences, there are constant amendments and updates that need to be kept on top of. 

Even though many operators we partner with fully understand that the regulatory hoops they need to jump through are ultimately there to protect the player, it often complicates what they do best – which is deliver entertainment.  

The change in landscape over the past year also means that land-based operators are searching for additional ways to grow their businesses. However, migrating to an online business is no mean feat, often entailing the costly and time-consuming endeavour of third-party integrations. This all makes the job a tricky juggling act for the majority of operators.

At Aspire Global, we asked ourselves, how do we help operators get back to basics? Having started off as a B2C operator 15 years ago, we are well aware of the pressures that modern operators have to deal with on a daily basis. Our managed services continue to evolve as we stay on top of the ever-changing industry landscape and are a great route to making life easier for operators.

This is a portfolio of solutions and third-party integrations that complements our AspireCore PAM service and makes sure all bases in the player experience are covered. Effectively, we invest in these areas so that the operator does not need to. 

Flexibility is key here. No two operations are the same, so a service like this needs to be as dynamic as possible. Our bespoke packages and modular approach mean that operators who want to implement different aspects of a managed services offering can do so. It allows operators to build their own solution, calling upon our services including fraud management, AML & RG, compliance, customer support, payments, CRM and VIP management. 

“There are many forces that have accelerated the change within online gaming markets across the world”

It is also important to stress the significant value we add for operators through the leveraging of data and automation via our CRM platform AspireEngage. This includes the creation of customer micro-segments to improve retention and monetisation by delivering more personalisation. This is extended beyond the digital customer journey with customer segments also driving dynamic routing in customer services and prioritised processing for transactions such as cash-outs and KYC.

Conversion rates can be improved through A/B testing with a modular onboarding flow and the personalised game lobby optimises the positioning of games according to a particular player’s profile.

Improving the player experience also encompasses responsible gambling, and to that end our innovative managed services incorporate the functionality of modelling risk and interactions, while we are also able to assign scores to customers in terms of their potential RG and AML vulnerability. 

To further enhance the player journey and increase lifetime value, we also provide a world-class customer support team who can communicate effectively in an array of different languages.

Our human resources department is on top of changing demands, wherever they are in the industry. They consistently ensure our customer service department has the capacity to handle any need for expansion in a particular area. That allows us to easily handle new market entries and the introduction of new languages. 

Operators generally do not have the time or money to spend all day putting out fires; a gaming business should be about just that – gaming. But their world has become a far more complicated one. Managed services make it simpler through the leveraging of technologies and data to drive a shorter ROI on the acquisition cost, whilst providing an entertaining experience.