According to Ondrej Lapides, CEO of Tom Horn Gaming, the best thing that betting and gaming companies can do to overcome the effects of COVID-19 is to utilise technology to ensure that business carries on as usual.
Discussing his plans for the upcoming SBC Summit Digital – Barcelona, Ondrej Lapides gave SBC the run down on what they will be promoting at the event and how virtual sports and live dealer games will continue to grasp our attention in the coming months.
What are you looking forward to at the SBC Digital Summit Barcelona?
The event is packed with exciting sessions and first-class speakers. We look forward to attending workshops on Game Design and Slots Marketing.
The Innovation & Technology panels will for sure bring a host of important recommendations and will certainly provide food for thought, with valuable advice on how to improve and bring our business to the next level post-pandemic, whilst taking new demands and player demographics into account.
Discussions on emerging markets such as India or the CIS region with their gaming regulations being constantly ramped up are another interesting points on the agenda as weβre continuously expanding our geographic reach. We believe there is so much to look forward to that it might be difficult to attend all sessions weβre interested in π
What would be your biggest bit of advice for betting and gaming businesses trying to mitigate the impact of COVID-19?
COVID-19 has made many companies re-look at how they manage and operate their business including revisitation of their business plan and relationships with their clients. The past few months have become a challenging period for many companies.
The igaming industry, thanks to its agile and online nature, has managed to keep its business wheels turning during the lockdown. Still, due to many restrictions weβve seen many changes in our daily routines and the ways we were used to operating – the abrupt halt of global business travel and remote working are only some new normals.
To mitigate the impact of the pandemic on our operation, we must make sure we continue our work as if it was business as usual. By utilising technology, this is possible. We need to be more patient and ready to re-evaluate our business strategies for any possible scenario at any time. It is no longer a long-term planning but more of an ad hoc reassessing of our business plans based on how the pandemic evolves.
We need to strategise, communicate and act with compassion. Communication is the most important. We are all in this together, therefore a transparent approach and communication with our customers, contracted parties and employees is of utmost importance. Keeping your team engaged and informed results in healthy work relations and thatβs what really matters.
What are you promoting at SBC Digital Summit Barcelona?
We are proud to be sponsoring and attending the first ever SBC Digital Summit Barcelona. Weβre positive this event will attract many senior level igaming professionals and many insights into the industryβs latest trends and developments, networking and fun is guaranteed.
In these trying times, it is important to keep the igaming business community going and the SBC team are doing a fantastic job in this respect.
What industry innovation will capture the most attention in 2020?
Based on the developments of the past few months, we believe we will see much more of virtual sports and live dealers.
Thereβs been an unprecedented demand for the latter vertical in particular and this trend is expected to continue throughout 2020 and beyond as new, more engaging, and innovative solutions are being introduced in this online casino segment to satisfy playersβ growing demands.
What partnership has stood out in the past 12 months?
During the past 12 months, we have been continuously growing in regulated markets around the world.
Deals with the industry-leading content aggregation platforms SBTech and Microgaming, respectively were another important steps in our strategy to deepen our international presence and weβre looking forward to growing our business together.
Another stage of our European expansion strategy was Belarus where our content is in high demand ever since we went live.
Which parts of the conference agenda have caught your eye?
The agenda of the SBC Digital Summit Barcelona appears to be, as is always the case with events organised by SBC, very exciting. The division into four thematic zones makes the event very user-friendly and the agenda is easily navigated through.
As an online casino software supplier, weβre rather excited to see what the Casino and Gaming Zone have to offer and we will be closely following each session. We believe the event will not only be a great opportunity to network with our industry peers but it will provide a valuable educational aspect in many areas of our industry.