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Dominic Le Garsmeur (CPO) at Fincore, says integrations without a clear interoperability strategy add technical and operational debt, hampering future growth.

System integrations are hugely important for any online sportsbook or casino, adding capabilities and features to drive growth.  But integrating without considering and optimising interoperability can do more harm than good by adding technical and operational debt to the business and ultimately hitting growth.

Integrating without interoperability pushes information from one system to another, but the connection itself has no intelligence. It’s a mechanical link, and the systems remain fundamentally separate, each operating with its own distinct rules. Any real understanding, like why that data was sent or what other processes it should trigger, is lost, creating data silos that are technically connected but strategically disconnected.

System interoperability provides the intelligence the connection lacks, establishing a shared operational model for the platform so all systems can act in concert. Most importantly, it creates a future-proof foundation, allowing new capabilities and features to be added with agility and confidence, turning the platform into an engine for innovation rather than a source of technical debt.

Before looking at why interoperability is more powerful than integration, and how companies can solve it, it’s important to understand how disconnects between platforms and systems occur in the first place.

Why does disconnection happen?

Operators acquire their tech stacks in different ways, but usually through a combination of building, inheriting legacy tech, acquisition and third-party providers. This often leads to platform and system silos with little to no compatibility between them.

Ultimately, disconnected systems drag down delivery and without interoperability, companies waste time reconciling platforms and tech rather than advancing forward.

Interoperability is more powerful than integration

Integration often means linking systems at a basic level, but interoperability ensures that data, logic and workflows are aligned and extensible.

It’s critical to have a strategic data layer and shared data structures that enables standardising of data representations, aligning systems at the logic level, not just the interface, and building an architecture designed to unify and extend across platforms.

In complex industries such as gaming, where tech plays such an important role in the user experience and the trust consumers have in brands, system interoperability is the only way to scale with control. In short, integration links, interoperability empowers.

Why interoperability is such a challenge in the gaming industry

Each integration is unique. Why? Because the combination of legacy systems, niche vendors and varying regulations in markets across the world means there is no blueprint for operators to follow.

Remember, most operator platforms are now decades old and were not built with modularity or openness in mind. And even those developing new platforms and systems from scratch often lack the in-house capability to design for interoperability from the get-go.

The risk of not achieving interoperability

When systems don’t interoperate, things start to fall apart. For example, delivery can grind to a halt, with every new feature launch or market entry becoming a grind. There are compliance risks, too, especially when it comes to fractured data and an increased risk of errors and audit gaps.

Then, of course, there is the poor player experience that will be provided. This could be anything from glitchy games to failed deposits and even the wrong marketing communications being sent to the wrong player cohorts.

It also impacts an operator’s ability to develop and innovate, as IT and tech become reactive rather than proactive. And in such a competitive market, this can see a brand quickly fall behind the curve.

How to solve the interoperability conundrum

Ensuring interoperability is a complex and comprehensive undertaking, but there are some high-level things operators can do.

This starts with standardising critical data flows and logic, not just the interface. Remember, a single view of data is what ensures all the platforms, systems and networks communicate with each other in the same language.

Operators should also design for change, as architecture must support long-term growth and plug-and-play modularity. In most cases, it’s best to invest in strategic partners, not just tools.

How strategic partners can help

Partners such as Fincore can provide the strategic clarity operators need, defining what interoperability looks like for them and based on their business goals. We also bring execution muscle – we don’t just design it, we build it.

The right partner also brings compliance confidence. Companies such as Fincore are highly experienced when it comes to interoperability, and everything we do stands up to regulatory scrutiny.

This can be seen in our proven track record for delivering interoperability for everything from complex migrations to global-scale game roll-outs.

A real-world example of interoperability

Fincore worked with a US-based gaming services provider whose legacy systems across its land-based venues had created silos in payments, loyalty and in-resort experiences.

The solution we proposed saw us design and deliver a digital wallet that became the unified digital layer across the physical properties. We also integrated deeply with multiple rigid legacy systems to provide secure and compliant interoperability at scale.

The result? We delivered on time, unlocked a new digital product line and created a long-term tech foundation for the company to continue to build on.

When it comes to integrations, you can always wire systems together, but if you don’t do it in the right way, you get chaos. Interoperability is about creating order within platforms and systems, which in turn allows for unlimited scaling and growth.

And that’s why interoperability is the real game-changer.