Pulse
Fujitsu: navigating complex multi-vendor IT set-ups
By William - 26 April 2024
Nick McDonald, Global Account Director at Fujitsu, explains how and why iGaming operators should strive for maximum flexibility to build infrastructure.
Nick, how long has Fujitsu been working in the iGaming space?
We’ve been working in the iGaming space for roughly seven years with some of the leading providers in this space across multiple territories. Over the last 18 months to two years, we’ve actively started to promote ourselves in this space. As such, you’ll probably see us a lot more at events, doing more marketing activity and talking to people. But we’ve already got lots of experience in this vertical.
Why should iGaming stakeholders work with Fujitsu for IT related solutions over other providers out there? What is Fujitsu’s mission statement within iGaming?
At its heart, Fujitsu is a technology company and iGaming relies on a lot of technology in one format or another. We operate in over 180 countries globally. We hold more AI patents than any other company in the world. We’ve built the world’s fastest supercomputer. Some of our products hold many world records for performance on certain software platforms.
We’re currently using quantum inspired computing techniques to slash drug discovery times from 15 months down to just seven weeks. If we bring it down to a level of iGaming and the technology solutions that a lot of the providers are using today, our scale of technology gives customers the flexibility to help them build infrastructure and give them access to some of the best people and technology that’s available today.
What are the pitfalls to harnessing the power of your own data in today’s iGaming and technology landscape?
There are several pitfalls, but there’s also some benefits that you can get from harnessing the power of your own data. I suppose the big one now around harnessing data is the security of that data. Whether it’s regulatory compliance or cyber security threats, it’s how people are securing that data. The other pitfall I would say is around the quality and the accuracy of that data, and what you’re then doing with that data if that data is not accurate and it’s not of a good quality.
Then there’s the integration challenges, issues around trust, and the perception of what you’re doing with that data. These are just a few pitfalls that people can fall into when it comes to data and harnessing the power of it. I think the key thing here is to make sure that organisations are working with solution providers that can help in all these different areas around securing it, making sure it’s compliant.
Just as important is how you harness the benefits of the data that you’re collating today in a safe and secure environment and making sure that you benefit from the amount of data that you’re capturing. This is an area that Fujitsu can absolutely help in.
Why are complex multi-vendor IT setups so prominent across the iGaming industry? Are they necessary?
I wouldn’t say they’re exactly necessary. I think the challenge for a lot of organisations in the iGaming space has been to move away from those complexities. There’s so much acquisitive activity that goes on in the iGaming space and that’s what sometimes causes this whole multi-vendor environment where you’ll have a company using one type of technology and then another company using a different type of technology, and merging those two together, as well as growth.
A lot of the technology landscape moves so quickly that a lot of organisations are looking at new technology setups and vendors they want to talk to. The way we look at it is making sure that we embrace and work with vendors and partners who can help manage these complex setups. As an example for us as Fujitsu, although we are a large technology company and we have some great data centre solutions and products, we don’t sit here and say we can do everything for you.
It’s about how we work with an ecosystem of partners and technology providers that help us navigate the complexity of it. It’s not necessarily saying we can do everything but navigating and bringing together partners and other technology providers to help the industry as it is today.
To help the industry as it is, what are the difficulties of devising an effective data architecture? What are the key factors for consideration when you’re looking to select the right mix of infrastructure and cloud optimised services?
There’s a handful of different things that we would advise customers to look at. One of them is around growth. Do the demands of the business go up and down in terms of data access, the size, or the amount of that data? Are there bursts, periods of busy and quiet activity around large sporting events. Another is location of the data and the architecture. Does the data need to sit within certain locations or jurisdictions to meet regulatory requirements?
The second part to where that data sits is latency. How fast do users in the iGaming space or the customers in the iGaming space need to access that data? The other element to it is security. Are companies comfortable keeping that data on premise, doing a bit of both, and having some technology that you own that sits in your own data centre or maybe in a colocation data centre?
What we are seeing a lot of is using the service provider space is people might want to build their own private cloud experience for themselves, so they know where the data is. They own the technology, or the service provider owns the technology. There’s lots of different ways to architect it and it’s about talking to the right organisations – like us – where we design and walk through what the best setup is to suit your needs.
Could you tell us more about PRIMEFLEX, Fujitsu’s integrated system? How has it been designed to make migrating, integrating, and managing the hybrid cloud environment more efficient?
PRIMEFLEX is one part of our portfolio which we tend to lead on when it comes to the iGaming space. In simple terms, it’s basically a pre-designed, pre-tested and even in some cases pre-installed system that is built around server storage and sometimes some networking which gives customers the flexibility to work across different cloud environments.
It’s also running hypervisors that may be out there today that most customers would use, whether that be VMware, Nutanix or Microsoft. But these are pre-tested, pre-tried, pre-configured, ready to go systems that can be installed on site quickly. It also gives customers a single support package globally.
So, if they’ve got a problem with the storage element, the network element, or the software element, they’d have to go to lots of different people and different vendors. Fujitsu allows them to have a single point of contact to give them a single throat to choke as it were if something goes wrong. They can just come and talk to us, and we can help them out across the full technology stack.
What does having the right hybrid cloud infrastructure mean for expanding capabilities?
I think the biggest benefit that I see for it is around market expansion and growth. Demand and scalability are probably one of the biggest factors here. If a customer is a mix of on-premises infrastructure and off-premises infrastructure, having a hybrid cloud infrastructure allows them to scale up and down and into the cloud if needed for short-term capacity.
However, I guess the most important thing from our side of things and what we tend to talk to a lot of customers about and we’re starting to see a lot more growth in today is people wanting that on-premises infrastructure but utilising a commercial offering that allows them to consume that infrastructure they own in a ‘cloud-like’ way. So, they’re only paying for what they use and what they don’t.
When they’re not using it, they turn it off exactly how they work in a cloud environment today. That way you’re building your own hybrid cloud environment and consuming it in the same way as you would as if it was an off-premises cloud environment.
ESG is a key consideration for many companies and data centres aren’t exactly renowned for their sustainability. how is Fujitsu helping companies to grow as ethically as possible?
This is going to be a massive topic for everyone, I think, especially around AI and the amount of computing and storage and power that’s being consumed. I heard an interesting stat the other day that 14 per cent of all electricity spent in Ireland is on data centre power and there’s going to be some sort of regulation put in place to manage this.
In the UK and elsewhere there’s been a big drive to move away from plastic carrier bags, yet I saw something the other day that said that one email is about as impactful to the environment today as a single plastic carrier bag. We have a sustainability calculator which we can use to talk to customers about what their infrastructure and technology looks like today and what that would look like if they were to come and work with Fujitsu.
We can give them stats around how much carbon dioxide they would be using if they were to upgrade some of their infrastructure. I’ve talked a little bit about use scale, but also this does have a big ESG sustainability story because ultimately, you’re only buying hardware and using hardware that you’re using today. You’re not buying tonnes of hardware that’s just going to sit there chugging away as it were that you’re not actually utilising.
Fujitsu has a certification on our leading servers which tells you how sustainable these products are and the materials that we use in building these platforms. We’re only one of two companies that’s got that in the world today from a server perspective. ESG is a fundamental part of Fujitsu. I’ve been in the business for about 13 years, and I remember we were flagging the importance of green and efficient servers when I first joined.
Finally, could you tell us more about Fujitsu’s co-creation metaverse, CX lab?
CX Lab is a new type of environment. It’s a virtual engagement system that allows us to work with customers in a metaverse-type environment to help with digital transformation projects. It’s an engagement model around several key themes, whether that be hybrid cloud, SAP, or just a data-driven transformation conversation.
It’s a journey we take people on, and it helps them understand their requirements right from the outset, and then allow us to design and work with them to design something that’s suited to their business needs. It’s a more fun way of doing it than sitting on a Teams call, let’s put it that way.
