bwin

Gaming Site Cuts Application Certification in Half with Move to New Browser

The bwin Group, a leading provider of online sports betting, monitors which browsers its visitors use. Based on the adoption rate of the Windows® Internet Explorer® 7 Internet browser, the company projected that Internet Explorer 8 would gain a 10 percent market share within a month after its launch. To prepare, bwin joined the Microsoft® Rapid Deployment Program (RDP). The support for Web standards in the new browser saved the company about half the time it would have normally taken to test, certify for, and develop for a browser that does not support Web standards. RDP technical assistance and product road map information helped bwin test and certify its eight site applications, which have individual development teams and project management needs. RDP road map dates streamlined resource and budget planning for the project, and bwin was ready by the launch date in late March 2009.

 

Situation

The bwin Group has over 20 million registered customers in more than 25 core markets. The group offers platforms for online sports betting, poker, casino games, and other games through subsidiaries and associated companies. With the world’s widest selection of online sports betting supplemented by audio and video streaming of major sporting events, as well as one of Europe’s largest poker networks, bwin offers comprehensive online gaming entertainment. The parent company, bwin Interactive Entertainment AG (“bwin”), has been listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange since March 2000 and carries out central functions such as software development, marketing, human resources, finance, and corporate communications. The operational business of the bwin Group is carried out by subsidiaries and associated companies under various licenses in countries such as Germany, Italy, and Gibraltar.

… [W]e saved about 50 percent of the time we would have needed to develop, test, and certify our site for earlier versions of Internet Explorer—or any browser that does not adhere to Web standards. Thomas Kiessling Chief Technical Officer bwin Interactive Entertainment AG

bwin Group has 1,400 employees in three main locations known as competence centers. The online poker services are handled in Stockholm by bwin Games AB, which also does gaming product development for bwin Group. All other development is done in Vienna, which is also where the Web and product management teams are based. Sports betting and odds calculations are handled in Gibraltar. 

The Importance of “Level 1” Browsers

bwin strives to achieve a pixel-accurate Internet presence to provide its customers with the best possible look and feel for its Web applications. Bernhard Strilka, Portal Conception at bwin and leader of bwin’s Internet Explorer 8 implementation project , says, “Our business is online, so the browser is the tool that delivers our product to the customer. As more applications and services go online, browsers are increasingly important to all businesses, not just ours. These days, the browser is one of the most important pieces of software that a computer can have.”

From the site’s Web logs, bwin’s Portal Conception team knows that roughly 45 percent of site visitors use the Windows® Internet Explorer®7 Internet browser. Firefox 3 is next, used by about 25 percent. Internet Explorer 6 is used by just under 20 percent of visitors. Other browsers make up the remaining percentages. bwin considers Internet Explorer and Firefox to be Level 1 browsers, meaning that those are the browsers with the largest market shares, and for which the site optimizes its applications.

When Microsoft announced the upcoming beta version of Internet Explorer 8, bwin knew it had to prepare for the eventual launch of the finalized browser. Strilka explains, “When Microsoft launches a new browser version, it gets very well-adopted among our customers, and it won’t be long before it has a big market share. Based on the numbers we saw for the launch of Internet Explorer 7, I expect to see around 10 percent of our customers using Internet Explorer 8 within a month of its launch.” 

Project Management Requirements for Eight Site Applications

In August 2008, bwin supported four Level 1 browsers: Internet Explorer 6, Internet Explorer 7, Firefox 2, and Firefox 3. To support a Level 1 browser bwin must display Web pages to a pixel-accurate extent. In case of a Level 2 browser, however, just the main functionalities must be available.   “Our developers and testers are responsible for making sure that everything they create works with all Level 1 browsers” says Strilka. “When a new Level 1 browser comes out, it means a significant amount of work for us.” bwin has eight site applications, each with its own internal business owner, schedule, and set of testing and development tasks, which makes project management complex. “If I were to go to business owners and say, ‘There will be a new version of Internet Explorer coming out, but there is no official date set,’ that’s not a serious position for requesting resources from them,” comments Strilka.

bwin wanted to make sure its site was compatible with Internet Explorer 8 to ensure that visitors would experience pixel-accurate design and full functionality of all eight site applications. These applications include:

• A portal application that manages customers’ accounts and registration.
• A sportsbook application  for handling all betting services (including live betting).
• An online poker application.
• A casino games application for roulette, slots, card games, and more.
• A games application for different types of games that customers can play alone or with each other, such as FortuneGames, Skill Games, and MiniGames.
• b’inside, an application for bwin’s customer loyalty program.
• A payment application for managing customers’ funds.
• A help application for the site’s help section.

Effective compatibility testing and bug elimination would require a run-through time of a month or two—and careful scheduling of resources to ensure proper timing. Strilka says, “If we waited until the launch of Internet Explorer 8, it would be too late. We cannot afford to have serious bugs on our pages with Internet Explorer 8 after its final release. This would cost us credibility and money. We are the number one site in the online entertainment world and have to guarantee our users the best possible product experience, with whatever browser they choose.”

Solution

bwin was pleased to learn about the support for Web standards in Internet Explorer 8. Web standards aim to simplify Web site development by defining a set of rules that all browsers should follow to render Web pages. This consistent approach to rendering Web pages will save developers time in the long term, so they can focus on innovation rather than on producing a version of a page for each browser and its various versions. Internet Explorer 8 also includes the Internet Explorer 7 rendering engine to provide a Compatibility View for Web Pages designed for Internet Explorer 7.

As more applications and services go online, browsers are increasingly important to all businesses, not just ours. These days, the browser is one of the most important pieces of software. Bernhard Strilka  Portal Concepts, bwin Interactive Entertainment AG

To prepare for launch, bwin entered the Microsoft® Rapid Deployment Program (RDP) in August 2008, when it began testing the beta 2 version of Internet Explorer 8. The program provides participants with technical support and information from Microsoft, along with a road map to and timeline of the technology, features, and steps along the path to the release of the new browser.

As part of the road map, Microsoft provided a schedule of milestones that led to launch, such as when it would shift from the beta 2 version to the official release candidate of the new browser. bwin used this information to coordinate resources and communicate with site application business owners.

Bwin began testing the first beta 2 of the new browser starting in September 2008. From November 2008 through January 2009, bwin tested the first RDP-release candidate and the official version of the release candidate.

For each round of testing, bwin ran application compatibility checks with the eight site applications. By mid-February 2009, testing was complete and bwin began development to certify its site applications; it expected to finish this work by the time Internet Explorer 8 was launched in late March.

Most of the bugs that bwin found were style issues. But testers discovered that the navigation (the unfolding of submenus) in the help application did not work properly. Through the RDP, Microsoft offered the fix, which is to switch the page rendering from quirks mode to standards mode in Internet Explorer 8.

In addition to testing and development, bwin wanted to address user readiness. The company informs visitors which Internet browsers it supports in its help section and in the customized welcome messages to customers who log in to the site without using Level 1 browsers. All these channels were updated with information about Internet Explorer 8. 

Benefits

bwin expects the support for Web standards in Internet Explorer 8 to make future development easier, cheaper, and faster—because it saved about half the time it normally takes to certify and develop for a browser that does not support Web standards. Joining the Microsoft RDP provided valuable information and technical support to help ensure that the site was ready for the launch of Internet Explorer 8. As a result, project planning was more accurate and efficient. 

Easier Development

bwin was ready in time for the launch of Internet Explorer 8—a process that was made simpler by support for Web standards in the browser. Strilka explains, “Because we found almost no serious bugs in Internet Explorer 8, we needed almost no additional development effort thanks to its support for Web standards—this of course also saved us some testing effort.” Thomas Kiessling, Chief Technology Officer at bwin, adds, “We calculate that we saved about 50 percent of the time we would have needed to invest to develop, test, and certify our site for earlier versions of Internet Explorer—or any browser that does not adhere to Web standards.”

bwin expects that support for Web standards in Internet Explorer 8 will save time in the future when it comes to building new pages—developers should be able to build one set of pages that will be compatible with all Level 1 browsers. “With its support for Web standards, Internet Explorer 8 should require much less development effort going forward,” says Strilka. “The standard presentation of Web sites in Internet Explorer 8 will support bwin in its efforts to present its Web applications optimally, while at the same time reducing development outlay.”

Head Start with RDP

Through the RDP, bwin was able to identify and fix significant application compatibility issues before launch, such as the help-application navigation problem. Strilka says, “If Internet Explorer 8 had launched without us knowing about this application compatibility issue, it would have been quite an unpleasant situation. Users would not have been able to navigate our help section.”

bwin benefited from the release road map, too. “With inside information from Microsoft on the launch date and version updates, we could do more accurate planning on when to book resources, from testing to development,” adds Strilka. “The business owners were very pleased—when we can approach them with a road map, it’s much easier to get the necessary budget and resources.”
 
Of the program as a whole, Strilka says, “I would like to thank Microsoft for the opportunity to take part in the RDP. It’s really been a great help for us to have the guidance and support directly from Microsoft.”

Future Plans

bwin plans to add its own internal search service to the search box in Internet Explorer 8 to help site visitors find information more easily. For example, it will be faster for customers to find bets on a particular team or on games that are related to a special event, directly through their browsers. Users will no longer have to load the bwin site and open the sportsbook application, but will be able to type their desired team or event directly into their browser’s search field to immediately see a search results page.

Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer is the leading Web browser for the Windows platform, which provides the latest security protections, tabbed browsing, and Group Policy support to enable businesses to increase user productivity while still providing the security of a standard locked-down browser. Industry leading support for previous versions gives IT Managers confidence in their Internet Explorer platform investments.

For more information about Internet Explorer 8, go to:
www.microsoft.com/ie8/enterprise

 

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com

For more information about bwin International, call (00) (350) 200 777 61 or visit the Web site at:
www.bwin.com