James King: How Flows streamlines the data integration process for iGaming companies

Our CEO James King talks to SBC America’s about the importance of streamlining the data integration process and the benefits that Flows brings to the iGaming industry.

Collating, processing, and automating workflows is no small task. It takes a large amount of resources to streamline the processes – or does it?

According to James King, CEO of Flows, there is a growing opportunity for the igaming space to embrace new technologies and utilize automation platforms such as those offered by Flows.

In a nutshell, Flows prides itself on being able to integrate any data source, automate workflows, inform systems and staff, drive change and enable innovation. And if that’s not enough, King explained that the company also “accelerates time to market while enhancing economic efficiencies”.

One way in which Flows speeds up time to market is with quick-speed integration. By using an agnostic solution, the CEO shared that the Flows’ system has been built to “integrate any stream of data” regardless of its format.

He said: “The simplest way to think of it is that we’ve built a translator for data, so whatever format it comes at us in, we turn it into one that is universal in our system and then push back out in the manner it came in.

“There’s a bit more to the secret sauce, of course, but it means we’re doing some integrations with partners in mere minutes, which is so beneficial to our clients. In terms of benefits, for one, it means they can get operational with new integrations in an instance and not wait weeks or months for sprints (and the good news is that we do it for them, too, if not already pre-integrated in our marketplace).

“As we’ve translated everything to be unified within our system, it also means clients can extend the functionality of the 3rd parties with our Flows builder (make their use of it unique versus others using the same product) as well as then allowing our partners to orchestrate all their products in one interface, they can get any one of their systems talking and interacting with another.

“These are just a few but so many benefits of integrating quickly and then offering tons of opportunities outside of the norm with the integration.”

Connecting the myriad of data points that gambling companies hold within their repertoire, however, is no easy feat. Not only can it present a number of processing challenges, but it can also result in operational inefficiencies.

He said: “Having all your systems integrated and connected allows for seamless communication and collaboration between different departments, stakeholders and, most importantly, systems, enabling a more streamlined, symbiotic and effective workflow.

“Connecting all of your different tools and orchestrating their data in a single view enables greater real-time innovation and possibilities beyond their ‘out of the box’ uses and gives that ability to a wider group of people within your company to use.”

The data points collected by Flows, King told SBC, can be accessed individually as real-time, standalone events or as collective events happening simultaneously.

King believes that by doing this, Flows’ partners can streamline their existing processes but also innovate their current offering too.

“With multiple data points easily accessible either as stand-alone, real-time events or as collective events happening at the same time, the user can act on anything being triggered within their operation and, from these triggers, build solutions,” he continued.

“Being no code means that each department within an organization can act on their ideas and plans without having to wait for development time, which in turn fuels innovation as an idea can be turned into reality quickly and effectively, then tested and, if of value, put live.

“It also means you can innovate the third parties you use; for example, if a tool you have (say a CRM or payment gateway) has some limitations or doesn’t speak to another of your systems, then through Flows and its access to the wide array of data, you can mitigate these limitations and extend the functionality to your needs.”

As you might have worked out already, this ultimately gives users the ability to have more ownership and control over their product roadmaps. King noted that by reducing the reliance on third parties, operators can benefit greatly – this is where Flows comes in.

King added: “It takes away the complete reliance on your product and/or development teams that are often heavily weighed down by their own large projects as well. As in some cases where you are reliant on a third-party platform, your access to these is limited and expensive.

“The standard process is for any new features or system changes, you’d write a request that will fall into some sort of development sprint (if it gets signed off) that can be weeks, if not months.

“In contrast, with Flows, you can develop it yourself, test it within your team and then, if agreed to hold value, put it live, leaving the dev teams to continue their “heavy” projects. Flows vastly accelerate time to market while enhancing economic efficiencies.”

As well as enhancing operational efficiencies, Flows has big plans for the remainder of this year as it continues to build upon its successes from the last year. This will take a dual approach: commercial agreements and product developments.

King concluded: “On a commercial front, we have a lot of new partners to announce over the coming months, which is really exciting for us as we continue to gain traction throughout the market.

“From the product, we have new features coming through from next-generation AI language functionality through to our Flows B2C launch for the wider individual user. Keep an eye out; it’s going to be a great year.”

First published in SBC Americas