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Jon Bruford interviews IGT Europe’s main man, James Boje, about the present and future for the gaming behemoth.
James Boje has been with IGT since 1999, when he joined IGT Africa as Sales and Marketing Manager. His rise through the ranks was rapid, as he took the Managing Directors hot seat in 2001.
James has been with IGT Europe for nearly two years now. Prior to IGT, James worked on the operator side with Sun International for 10 years before leaving to run lottery companies and then dabble in distribution, so he knows both sides of the business equally well.
Casino International: James, how has IGT Europe grown since you came on board and what role do you play in the company's growth and structure?
James Boje: I came on board and had to try and fill the shoes of Kurt Quartier whos now Vice-President of International Casino Markets. Those are big shoes to fill and Kurt and his predecessor, Paulus Karskens did a great job of laying the foundation for the challenges we face today and hopefully for the future.
My key role is basically to adjust the organization in order to improve efficiency. Then to use the new efficiencies to deliver what our customers expect in the marketplace. We’ve had great successes and, yes, the subsidiary has grown, but so has our competition. The market is constantly changing and opportunities are coming along all the time. Just look at Eastern Europe. Russia’s shrinking a little bit now and thats made it necessary for us to have a look at streamlining and creating efficiencies. We’ve grown in floor space in the building and weve structured ourselves a little bit more toward those key areas where we foresee growth.
CI: What makes you the right person for the job? What skills and strengths do you bring to IGT?
JB: Besides the operational knowledge, I like to think that I am a people person, a very approachable person and Im a good listener. I’m a team player and a team builder. I dont necessarily have to be the big shot of the crowd. I like to surround myself with good people that bring good qualities to the business, and help fulfill the visions that I lay down for the subsidiary moving forward.
CI: How do you see your growth continuing over the next five or 10 years?
JB: We were very excited after ICE. I think we chose a theme that really gave our customers insight into the future – The Big Picture. That’s where our growth is coming from and were trying to share that vision with our customers moving forward. We have a lot of customers that want to be associated with IGT, were very proud of the product range that we have and the reputation we have in the market place. Were known to deliver what we say well deliver.
We really showed The Big Picture in terms of the multi-level progressives (MLPs) in the marketplace and the variety of MLPs to choose from. The performance of these products is very well received by the operator and that’s because the customers enjoy playing them. We have a full range of premium plus products – our Star Wars is doing very well out in the marketplace. It's an exceptional game that’s been well received. Our first Star Wars launch was in Monaco and its performance has only reinforced their faith in the product line. They truly appreciate the unique variety of premium plus products and what they bring to an operation.
Were busy looking at opportunities for our Advantage Casino System in the European market. Our EZ Pay system has continued to be successful for us and why not. It’s easy. It’s proven. It’s EZ Pay.
Not to be forgotten is server-based gaming. Server-based gaming for IGT is more than just downloading a game; it’s the added value our sb product will offer to an operator. We’re looking at The Big Picture. Were really focusing on development and working very closely with key operators back in the US. We’re the only manufacturer that’s already out there trialing sb within regulated environments. So, we’re really excited about the future of our server-based product and where it’s going to take IGT.
CI: You create systems, as well as manufacturing slots, which is obviously what the company is famous for. What's the ratio for the business of slots to systems?
JB: Obviously, machine sales is the majority part of our business. But, yes, we are a systems vendor, too.
Look at EZ Pay. It can run parallel to many systems and can run on its own. We’ve done IVS interfaces with PGIC and Atronic. What does that mean to an operator? Our EZ Pay customers can have an Atronic or PGI system running on the floor and we can interface that system to run with our ticket solution for the customer. It’s a good solid product that fills a need in the marketplace.
CI: What's the difference between your R&D budgets for slots and for systems?
JB: As a company, IGT is very much in a transition phase. We’ve brought additional resources on board with great expertise and we’re restructuring ourselves domestically. Were gearing up and refocusing the company to move forward on server-based (sb). Our ratio in terms of what is spent where on R&D is probably going to change as we move forward, with our increased focus on sb and as the demand increases. We’re going to be very proactive, as well as reactive, to the needs of the sb market.
CI: Now, the whole Big Picture concept, what’s the core of that idea for the customer?
JB: The Big Picture is not just showing what’s available today but showing a bit of the future as well. It’s sharing our vision of the future with the customer. For example, we had server-based gaming on our stand at ICE. We didnt just show normal server-based downloadables. Everybody can do that today. We showed in private sessions a little bit more of the special sauce, that added value we can offer operators. We just didnt show it on an IGT product either. We had a WMS machine on our stand and a Novomatic machine.
The core of sb moving forward is using open protocol, being a member of GSA, which we are and were working all together. At the end of the day, it's to the benefit of everyone – developers, casinos and ultimately the player.
CI: IGT were behind the birth of TITO (Ticket In, Ticket Out) but do you think that in certain countries smart cards have the edge? For example, in the UK Chip and Pin cards are everywhere, so smart cards may have that added recognition and trust over ticket-based solutions.
JB: With any new technology, you’ve got to find countries that pick up technology quicker than others and with time, those customers will start grasping that technology. Without going into a lot of detail, therere good arguments both ways. At the end of the day, EZ Pay’s easy – it’s proven – it’s successful – it’s in the market place. The smart card in Europe? It’s out there but it seems to continuously under perform, from what I’ve seen.
I come from a market in South Africa where Sun International developed a smart card technology which took that market by storm. However, to IGT Africa’s credit, one of the biggest casinos in Africa with 1700 machines has decided to go TITO.
In a market where smart card has been predominantly king, there is a place for TITO. It is easy. It is very simple. It has marketing potential. It is not a complicated concept and people love it. Also TITO is innocuous and its in no way associated with player tracking.
CI: In terms of growth and development of IGT in Europe, what do you see as potential obstacles?
JB: Our obstacles for future growth mainly come from Eastern Europe. Where technology has not always been readily available, they sometimes hesitate to step out there.
We have some key operators out in the market place that love to work with IGT and we love to work with them. They have the infrastructure. We respect their operational skills and they appreciate the quality of the IGT product, so we have very good working relationships. We have the Olympic group. We have the HIT group. We have the Portuguese casinos and we have SBM in Monaco. These are customers that drive us to find new technology and push us into directions we haven’t been before. These are the kind of customers that really help us overcome territories where people are not open-armed and welcoming technology rapidly. That takes a little bit longer. When technology-driven companies like Olympic go into a new market, they expect to go in with products like EZ Pay and MLPs. Their needs help us drive technology into the market. Obviously, we also have an aggressive sales force but its more challenging for them when a market is not technology-driven.
CI: Are there any plans for IGT to spread into any more diverse technology or are you going to stick with what youre known for, i.e. slots and systems?
JB: IGT’s been very focused on our core product range. We are in the systems business and we plough a lot of time and development into that. And, we produce slot machines and we’re proud of our product. We’re pleased with our product range. We have the largest variety of cabinets also out in the market place and we pride ourselves on our game content. So that is very important; those are the three pillars of IGT, in a way.
As far as diversity of product ranges goes, we are continually looking for ways to diversify without jeopardizing our core business. For example, IGT has a table games system as a result of an alliance with PGCI and Shuffle Master on Table iD. These are products that add value to our existing product range. If our customers need it, we’ve got it.
Another good example of our diversification would be the multi-player station or M-P Series product. The result of which has been an exciting addition to our product range.
We are always focused on our core product lines, but where we feel something will add value or complement our product range, we’ll obviously look into it for the benefit of the customer.
CI: So what do you see as being growth areas in Europe for IGT?
JB: It’s a combination of not just new countries coming into the EU from Eastern Europe, but also the legislation. There are a lot of these countries that do not quite have legislation in place. They have some form of legislation, very restrictive, not geared for making it easy for a technology company like IGT to come into the market and serve a customer base. You have a group like Olympic going into a new territory and they want the latest and the greatest products available because they have it everywhere else, but the legislation prohibits us from placing that technology in the market. So, we have our own compliance department – product and regulatory – that meets with the regulators and attends regulatory conferences. We go to those regulators and say listen, you know, gaming here is not so different to gaming elsewhere in the world.
CI: What is going on for IGT in Russia?
JB: We’re busy restructuring. Russia never used to fall under me but it is going to now. One of the main reasons is just the way the business has slowed down dramatically. IGT’s got a history in Russia. We have some valued customers there, so we will maintain a strong presence. We want to maintain the contact and the relationships weve built there.
Who knows how the legislation’s going to change, whether it will stay like that or change. The four zones are out there and there’s business to be done. It may not be so big and great as everyone had hoped but it’s there.
CI: Surely there is an issue of trust there. If you’re a potential investor in the new gaming centres, which are supposed to be isolated, they need an entire infrastructure – roads, rail, possibly each an airport, water, electricity and much, much more. That's a colossal level of investment to put into a country which has just changed its gaming laws seemingly on a whim.
JB: Yes, but that isn’t a unique situation in the world. I can only refer back to South Africa in a way, where a lot of that happened one way or another. Casinos were invited to invest and apply for licenses but with empowerment companies, with investment to the community and implementing infrastructure e.g. roads, schools etc. So, there is a model there, but on a different scale, of course.
CI: What makes IGT special as a company?
JB: We are a proud company with good people who really enjoy the IGT way, and the IGT way is that IGT really looks after its people. It has a fabulous product and we take pride in the product. The company is committed and IGT’s only been moving from strength to strength. I think our successes can be attributed directly to the quality of people within the organization.
We have a very approachable CEO, TJ Matthews. Look at his career path and where he’s come from to take over from Tom Baker. He’s really taking IGT to the next level.
IGT is truly an international company. It is not IGT Domestic versus IGT International. Everything we do is focused on the needs of a world-wide marketplace. Thats what I think is really driving the successes of IGT globally right now.
CI: You mentioned trialing server-based gaming... What kind of feedback have you had and what kind of things have you had to deal with?
JB: Well, the goal of a trial within a regulated environment, you want to understand, is to give the operator the opportunity to get a feel and touch of what the products about. We share with them our vision and get some input from the operator to help us plan and strategize moving forward. At the end of the day, that product is going to be what the customer really wants, and what we’re developing, we know we’re developing in the right direction. It’s also giving the regulator the touch and feel of what server based is all about.
It's also important for the regulator of a jurisdiction to be able to go on the floor, do some audits, do some checking up and see that the controls that we say are in place actually do function. We have different trials running all over the country in different ways with different versions. This way, regulators can see different facets of the development and the end product we’re heading towards. We’ve found this approach builds trust in us and in the product.
Feedback from everyone concerned is important as long as IGT listens and develops in the right direction. Weve used that concept with our very successful server-based presentations. We’ve had very good feedback from all our customers, especially in terms of our strategy and the ‘secret sauce’ and the added value stuff. Were getting real input from both regulators and operators, were listening, and people are very excited.
CI: Is there a big gap for regulators to negotiate with server-based gaming?
JB: They are probably just watching it very closely. I don't know that it’s such a big leap or if they are in a position where they’re playing catch up. They’ve got their hawk eyes out and want to make sure that the customer’s protected. They want to make sure in the end that it’s done by the book and that things work the way they should work and correctly so.
CI: What made you decide, made IGT decide, that open architecture was the way forward for your server-based gaming solution?
JB: It just makes sense for everyone – us and our customers. We were part of GSA and we broke away because of differences over IP. We seriously thought we’d made the right decision, but decided later, it was to the common good of the industry for everyone to be part of GSA as adhering to GSA standards, allows us to interface with other manufacturers machines via our sb product and vice versa. GSA is the key to that success.
