A McKinsey and Company study that was published at the end of 2020 analyzed the speed of digital transformation created by the pandemic. The study found that in the six months between December 2019 and July 2020 the average share of customer interactions that were digital increased from 36% to 58%. That calculation represented an acceleration of three years in those six months. Similarly, the global share of fully digitized products or services increased from 35% to 55% in that six-month period, representing an acceleration of seven years of progress. While the casino industry dealt with different challenges during that time period, once business was back up, a similar rate of change was managed by IT Leaders in the second half of 2020. With the expansion of digital gaming and other products and the extension of landbased casino technology with everything from cashless transactions to virtual concierge, we can certainly understand that acceleration of digital capabilities because we have lived through it.
The need for touchless capabilities, technology that provides additional safety, digital wallets, and enhancing the guest experiences created huge demand on IT teams. Similarly, new capabilities to fully support digital interaction with employees and partners had to be put in place.
At the same time, as business rebounded and new digital technology is implemented, the amount of data collected, stored, processed, managed, and analyzed continues to grow.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY JOHN WONDOLOWSKI IN THE 2022 SUMMER EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.