Successful ServiceNow Implementation for Allwyn

Allwyn is a multinational lottery company operating in Europe and the United States. As part of the KKCG group, it owns several lottery companies, including the Czech Sazka, Greece’s OPAP, and others. In 2019, Allwyn entered the competition for a license to operate the National Lottery in the United Kingdom, marking a significant challenge in their ambitious plan to expand globally.

When Allwyn entered the bidding process for the UK National Lottery, they required a stable and efficient IT service management system. Operating in the regulated lottery sector demands precision, security, and rapid responsiveness. At the beginning of their journey, Allwyn needed a reliable system for managing IT services and requests (tickets). The ServiceNow platform was chosen as the ideal solution due to its ability to meet stringent regulatory and compliance standards in the lottery industry.

The acquisition of Camelot Group, the previous UK National Lottery operator, added complexity to the project, as it required collaboration between two distinct organizations during the transition. Additionally, the UK lottery oversight authority imposed restrictions, such as prohibiting direct data sharing or discussions on security topics with Allwyn. While formally an Allwyn project, the reality involved navigating between two companies.

Key challenges included the requirement for a UK-based IT solutions provider. Initially, collaboration with Devoteam’s UK branch was planned, but later, the requirement proved more flexible, allowing Allwyn to select their implementation partner.

Delivering licenses from a Czech partner to a UK customer posed another hurdle. Thanks to close collaboration with ServiceNow and their licensing terms, we managed to deliver the necessary licenses to Allwyn on time.

The project involved experts from South Africa, Greece, the Czech Republic, and the UK, with the primary goal of ensuring stable and efficient IT service management for the UK National Lottery’s operations. ServiceNow’s modular functionality provided a strong foundation for future expansion and innovation.

ServiceNow is a comprehensive IT service management platform that offers tools for effective management and automation of IT processes. The ITSM (IT Service Management) module is a key component of this platform, encompassing incident management, request handling, change management, problem resolution, and other service activities. ITSM helps organizations improve the quality of IT services provided, minimize downtime, and accelerate problem resolution. For Allwyn, it was crucial to have a robust and flexible solution to ensure stable and efficient IT service management. The choice of the ServiceNow platform, particularly its ITSM module, allowed Allwyn to centralize and automate IT process management.

The project was carried out in several phases. The first phase involved preparation and analysis, during which a team led by Vladimír Váňa thoroughly examined Allwyn’s requirements and needs. This was followed by the design phase, which included creating specific plans and system architecture. Development began in spring 2023 based on detailed technical specifications. Throughout development, the team closely collaborated with key users from Camelot, while Allwyn provided oversight and guided the project’s future direction.

During the project, the team had to overcome numerous challenges, including issues with access to information, communication with external partners, and technical difficulties related to integrations and development. One of the technical challenges was the need to adapt to the systems of major partners and suppliers. Camelot used systems from Vodafone UK and Scientific Games, requiring ServiceNow to facilitate automated incident reporting to both systems. As part of the implementation, new interfaces were designed and developed to enable automated data sharing between these systems.

While the project was demanding, it was ultimately very successful, and it was completed within the planned timeframe. Although the live version of the system has not yet been launched, everything is fully prepared and tested. A robust and flexible solution has been created that meets all of Allwyn’s requirements. Furthermore, the customer plans to extend the use of ServiceNow to additional areas, demonstrating their satisfaction with the solution. They have already purchased CSM (Customer Service Management) licenses to support their customer service center and are planning to implement the SSO (Security Operations) module to address security requirements for IT system operations.