Singapore Pools, established in 1968, has played an important role in changing the turbulent and risky gambling scene of the past to one that is now socially responsible. Its mission is to provide those who bet with a trusted and safe environment while ensuring that surplus revenue is channelled back into supporting the community through charities. The company is also committed to upholding strict regulatory standards and self-regulatory guidelines.
It has a roster of popular lottery products, including Toto, 4D, Singapore Sweep and sports betting. It also runs an energy-efficient data centre and is a BCA Green Mark Gold Plus award winner. It has also achieved international accreditation for its high standards of information security management and integrity controls.
As Singapore’s nonprofit sector struggled during the COVID-19 crisis, Singapore Pools stepped in to help keep them going. iShine Cloud, a solution provided by the company, allows charities to focus on delivering their services to benefieciaries with the digital aspect taken care of. iShine Cloud has since onboarded 24 new charities with over 400 users.
In the 2019/2020 financial year, Singapore Pools collected close to S$9 billion from lottery ticket sales and gaming tables. Of this, 70% was returned to winning players in prizes and taxes, while 22% went towards government-assigned funds that support the arts, charity, community development, education, health and sports sectors. Another 5% was given to the Tote Board for distribution to community organisations.
The company has also invested in a number of innovative initiatives to boost its customer base and promote responsible gaming. For instance, it launched a digital campaign that encourages customers to play responsibly with self-regulatory tips and warning messages. It also uses PADS4, a digital signage software, to display event messages, lottery and betting updates at all its outlets.
It is also using Oracle Cloud Observability and Management to help reduce the time it takes to identify and resolve IT issues. The platform enables Singapore Pools to gain visibility into the entire IT environment and troubleshoot problems quickly. This helps them improve uptime and deliver reliable betting services to their customers.
The cloud also enables the company to unlock additional capacity when needed. This was especially crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic when the company saw an unprecedented spike in demand for its data centres. This is why the company chose Oracle, which offers a flexible infrastructure that allows it to scale up or down based on requirements. It also provides a consolidated view of the IT environment to minimize risk, ensure proper governance and ease management across all layers of the technology stack. It has also improved the overall IT service level and helped to lower operating costs.