White Papers
Check out these authoritative reports that address myriad problems and the ways to solve them as they relate to our industry.
Freedom of Choice
June 15, 2009
Click here to download a free PDF of the complete WMS Freedom of Choice white paper.
Executive Summary and Key Takeaways
►Vendors may attempt to “lock-in” casino operators into proprietary systems and products through deliberate incompatibility with the games, networks, servers and software from other vendors.
►“Lock-in” means less competition, higher prices, lower quality and ultimately fewer choices and alternatives.
►A true Open Standards approach will enable operators to build a unique, highly-competitive floor using hardware, software and applications from multiple vendors, without worrying about compatibility.
Operators can eliminate lock-in by supporting broad based industry standards and by demanding vendors adhere to an Open Standards approach—not just in marketing speak, but in the actual solutions they deliver.
►True interoperability means industry growth. Vendors and operators can innovate more if we stop allowing proprietary and closed systems to proliferate and embrace the real essence of what interoperable architecture can enable.
►Interoperability occurs at three levels: the protocol level, the software and application level and the hardware level. product may very well be interoperable at one or two of these levels, but if it is not interoperable at all three levels, the product is not truly interoperable.
►Good News: The computer industry and the Internet fought many of these same battles and Open Standards won out over proprietary systems. Best practices already exist and casino operators can learn from that experience.
The Tower of Babel
Imagine a crowded room in which nobody speaks the same language. Or a world in which you could only e-mail people who used the same brand of computer or operating system as you. What would it be like if your phone couldn’t dial everybody’s number, just those with your same carrier? That’s how the computer world used to be!
In the old days, you could communicate with Prodigy, Genie, or CompuServe, but those systems were islands to themselves. The Internet today is very different: no one company owns it and the Internet works as an integrated whole. Why? Because industry-backed Open Standards let different companies communicate as if they are all speaking the same language. You can email anybody, you can play any MP3 music file on any player or device and you can access any Web page, all because of Open Standards.
In this age of fast pervasive Internet access, with the vast sum of human knowledge made easily searchable, millions of songs and movies available for instant download on iTunes and YouTube, it is utterly absurd to contemplate that world as the first system operators built it - fenced and guarded from outsiders with deliberate incompatibility. The Internet has transformed how we work and live because open and interoperable systems unleashed the power of the network that allows billions to find, use, share and buy information and content in entirely new ways. There’s no going back and who would want to? ... Click here to read more.
