Australian casinos hit jackpot with ServiceNow integrator

Integrator Cloud Sherpas has announced a service automation overhaul for the company that owns the Sydney, Brisbane and Gold Coast casinos.

Echo Entertainment Group – which owns and operates The Star in Sydney, Treasury Brisbane and Jupiters Gold Coast – has engaged Cloud Sherpas to rollout ServiceNow service management software across a range of back-office operations.

Cloud Sherpas declined to reveal the value of the project.

"Before implementing ServiceNow, Echo manually tracked requests via spreadsheets and emails," said Echo service manager Eric Lewis.

"By applying ServiceNow to 13 different service areas, we are able to give our employees visibility into requests and streamline service both internally and externally to our customers." 

Echo had already been using ServiceNow to manage IT incidents since 2012, but the benefit of that experience prompted the gaming and hospitality giant to expand its use for other support departments such as human relations, payroll and accounts payable.

Cloud Sherpas, a cloud integrator with its Asia-Pacific and Japan head office in Sydney, was then commissioned by Echo on the back of its experience with ServiceNow products.

The expansion project has proved a hit with Echo staff.

"ServiceNow drives out inefficiencies and saves [Echo employees] time. For example, we've calculated that requests handled by the HR and payroll teams are now completed in 30 percent less time prior to ServiceNow," said Lewis.

Echo's chief information officer Kel Telford said that Cloud Sherpas played an important role in helping the company use ServiceNow to its full capacity. "Cloud Sherpas provided a support model that enabled us to be more agile with changes and has the experience to effectively guide us through the full capability of the ServiceNow solution."

Google and ServiceNow specialist Cloud Sherpas has built an international reputation among software-as-a-service integrators. According to the company, it has now won Google's Global Partner of the Year four consecutive times from 2011 to 2014.

The integrator is headquartered in Atlanta, USA, with more than 120 of its 1000-strong global workforce located in the Asia-Pacific and Japan region.

In 2011, it bought Brisbane-based Google apps developer Devnet. At the time co-founder Eran Gil described the company's Sydney office as a "launchpad to all of Asia".

ASX-listed Echo Entertainment racked up $1.14 billion of revenue in the half-year ending 31 December through its gambling, hospitality and catering activities. Former Australian Rugby Union and Football Australia boss John O'Neill is the chairman of the Brisbane-registered company.