BlueBet began as a startup 6 years ago and grew to become an ASX listed company in 2021. The company operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the web and through their smartphone apps.
Due to their rapid growth, the company needed to expand into new premises in central Sydney as well as quickly establishing a Darwin office and deploying a virtual host server solution in the Northern Territory to meet regulatory requirements (ISO 27001). That’s where Area9 came in.
Tailored technology to tick all the boxes
BlueBet needed an operational facility in the Northern Territory within 4 weeks and also had to gain rapid regulatory approval from the Territory’s licensing authority to accommodate their pending ASX listing. Their Group IT Director, Gary Harris, had worked with Area9 previously and saw our team as the best solution for the requirements.
Since BlueBet is a digital business, it was also important that our team minimised downtime during the projects
“In terms of establishing a presence in Darwin, Area9 was a no brainer for me. I’d worked with them before and knew they had the expertise and breadth of services to tick all our boxes.”
Gary Harris, Group IT Director – BlueBet
In addition to setting up BlueBet’s Darwin office and implementing a network security solution, we also helped the company deploy and optimise Jira (Atlassian) to improve their workflows. During our conversations with their IT team, Gary mentioned they were looking at project management tools and their senior project manager was interested in Jira. With our Jira partnership and expertise in workflow software, we were able to tailor a solution to improve their processes now and into the future.
“Uptime, reliability and speed are all really critical for us. That’s where our partners have a big role to play in terms of identifying capacity, planning issues and eliminating single points of failure.”
Hybrid teamwork
We worked closely with BlueBet’s IT team to scope their data communication requirements, end user device requirements across both the Sydney and Darwin offices, as well as delivering network security in collaboration with their managed security partner.
“Area9 worked as an extension of our team. office and relocation from Randwick to the Sydney CBD. If there’s a line between where our team ends and the external team starts, it’s only a dotted line—it’s hybrid teamwork that’s also very cohesive”
Once we’d gained a thorough understanding of BlueBet’s desired business outcomes, we developed a project plan that included product acquisition, an enterprise-grade internet service, Azure AD joined devices, firewall implementation, a local virtual server at our data centre and local data cabling sub-contracts.
“Working with an IT team who have applied a lot of different models, meant they didn’t just bring in a lot of ideas and build something—they contributed to the design process to really tailor the solutions to our needs. The team at Area9 knew where the pitfalls were, where not to overengineer the solutions and how to steer us in the right direction.”
A strong foundation for growth
Our data centre solution enabled BlueBet to gain rapid regulatory approval from the Northern Territory Licensing authority, supporting their plans for a July IPO on the ASX. We also delivered secure and fast onboarding for their Darwin office and relocation from Randwick to the Sydney CBD.
“Our license is highly regulated by the Northern Territory government and Area9 made sure our policies and procedures were compliant and tested. Ultimately, they helped us transition from where we were to where we’re going.”
Now that BlueBet has established a strong presence in Australia, they’re planning on expanding internationally with their sights set on the United States. By helping them set up a better network and smoother processes, BlueBet has a stronger foundation for future expansion.
“Since we’re in a rapid growth phase, it’s important that our environment and technology partners grow with us. The responsiveness of Area9 and their understanding, both from a technical perspective and a business perspective, makes me confident to work with their team in the future.”
Gary Harris, Group IT Director – BlueBet