Enterprise Information Technology leaders in all industries have been dealing with an unparalleled pace of change over the past 10 years. IT Leaders in Gaming and Leisure have probably been on the steeper part of that change curve.
We had cloud computing, digital transformation, IT spend models, a shift to more operating expense, and cybersecurity change forces at full speed heading into this decade. Then a pandemic that (among other things) accelerated the need for gaming and leisure IT leaders to adopt the changing technologies that were needed to support new work-fromhome models, touchless services for guests and players, and the various other dramatic changes required to enable business over the past two years and into the future.
Industry shifts and guest preferences fueled by shifting demographics combined with social changes in sports betting and technical enablement of online gaming have made the past couple of years challenging, if not dizzying, to IT leaders.
Implementing new technologies is not easy, but it can be done with high degrees of success if care is paid to planning and execution. Having the organization successfully metabolize these new technologies and changes to fuel new and continued business success is very difficult.
George Westerman, MIT Sloan Initiative on the Digital Economy, has a quote that applies: “When digital transformation is done right, it is like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. But when done wrong, all you have is a really fast caterpillar.”
Our industry needs more butterflies and fewer really fast caterpillars. In this edition, I will review some of the areas in our current state of IT that, as a result of the adoption of new technologies, may be crawling fast rather than flying beautifully. Then will try to provide a framework for change that will help move from the current state to the desired future state.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY JOHN WONDOLOWSKI IN THE 2022 SPRING EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.