KTO.com Reduces Costs, Improves Scaling for LATAM Betting Platform Using AWS.
Client and Industry Context
KTO.com is an online sports betting and casino games platform serving the Latin America market. Founded in 2018 by KTO Group, a software development company, it experienced rapid growth with active customers increasing by over 1,000% year-over-year in 2022.
Business and Technical Challenges
Before engaging AWS Advanced Partner 56Bit, KTO.com faced challenges scaling its compute services manually to meet rapidly increasing demand and traffic spikes, especially during major events like the 2022 soccer World Cup. Additionally, the platform required better infrastructure automation and personalised marketing capabilities via CRM integration.
Primary Objectives
The key objectives were to automate resource scaling according to predefined schedules to handle spikes in betting volume, enhance customer responsiveness and experience, and implement a real-time CRM for targeted marketing campaigns.
AWS Services and Solutions Proposed
KTO.com leveraged several AWS services:
- AWS Lambda for serverless event-driven compute execution.
- Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling to dynamically add or remove compute capacity.
- Amazon CloudFront for fast, secure content delivery with low latency.
- Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (MSK) to enable real-time streaming data processing for CRM functionality.
- Terraform was used for infrastructure as code automation.
56Bit’s Design and Implementation Approach
56Bit collaborated closely with KTO.com’s internal teams to plan and implement the automation of infrastructure scaling and CRM integration. Creating a system accessible to non-technical employees, enabling them to schedule scaling without needing IT intervention, was prioritised.
Project Steps and Milestones
Major steps included:
- Designing an automated scheduling system for compute scaling ahead of high-traffic events.
- Implementing AWS Lambda functions orchestrated with Terraform to manage infrastructure.
- Deploying the CRM solution with Amazon MSK to support real-time behavioral marketing triggers.
- Achieving key milestones such as operational automation, improved payout settlement speed, and personalised marketing campaign enhancements.
Challenges and Risk Management
Key risks included handling traffic spikes and maintaining high platform availability during scale-up events. These were mitigated through Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling and CloudFront, ensuring performance and latency remained optimal. Security was reinforced by following AWS best practices and implementing redundancy mechanisms.
Measurable Results and Benefits
Post-implementation, KTO.com realised:
- Over 1,000% growth in active customers
- Significantly reduced latency and near real-time payout settlements (down from up to an hour)
- Operational efficiency gains as non-technical staff can now schedule scaling within minutes
- Enhanced user responsiveness and overall platform reliability
Impact on Operations, Scalability, and Cost
The automated AWS solution enabled cost-effective resource management with dynamic scaling that meets demand fluctuations seamlessly. It greatly enhanced scalability, allowing the platform to handle massive betting traffic spikes without manual intervention, improving customer satisfaction and operational resilience.
Lessons Learned and Recommendations
Automation of scaling and real-time data processing were critical success factors. 56Bit recommends tight collaboration with client teams and empowering non-technical staff for scheduling and infrastructure management to reduce IT bottlenecks in projects of this kind.
From Bespoke Success to a Productised Solution
The key principles of automation, scalability, and operational efficiency proven in the KTO project have since been codified and enhanced within our flagship product, AWS Launchpad for iGaming. This allows new operators to achieve the same resilient, high-performance infrastructure in a fraction of the time, benefiting from a proven, repeatable solution from day one.
