We are living in unprecedented times. As I write this, the dogs are crashed on the sofa, baseball opening day came and went without a single game, and every casino across the country is closed. Think about it. There are jurisdictions where casinos close early morning to mid-morning, but to be able to type, “EVERY CASINO IS CLOSED.” Even though a casino operation may be closed, as technology professionals, we know there is work that still exists.
Gaming compliance has put many tasks upon the license holders, especially with the technology team. Sure, slots and cage operations have their compliance requirements, but when the doors are closed, neither department is in operation – not so with technology. There are servers and gaming systems still online requiring backup as well as daily or weekly monitoring in some states.
Backup systems are pretty robust these days, however, as we all know, capital expenditures on backup systems are hard to come by and can result in physical requirements by technology team members. For example, tape systems may require a tape rotation to be performed. For the non-techo, this means swapping out tapes so the backup performed last night is not overwritten with the next night’s backup. Another problem with tapes frequently encountered due to compliance rules is storage of daily tapes. Most jurisdictions require the backup tapes or even non-tape backups of gaming systems to be stored either off property or separate from the live environment. Either of these requirements may require physical assistance by the technology team.
Physical intercession by technology may also be required in the monitoring realm. Someone may be required to review server or application logs. Log reviews are commonly performed by the technology department because the log contents can be relatively cryptic. The technology team will know what are normal errors or alerts and what should be investigated.
READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY DR. MIKE ESSIG IN THE SUMMER 2020 EDITION OF GAMING & LEISURE MAGAZINE.