For a company as large and as technologically cutting-edge as Ladbrokes, it is inevitable that its IT department will be a vast, often multi-location operation, encompassing a variety of roles and particularly mediums across which the IT system is maintained, for example personal laptops and smartphones.  One could ask why this matters when assessing the safety of an individual product such as the Ladbrokes.com  Android App? The answer is simple: if the base systems and technology from which these products are maintained is unsafe or inherently flawed, then so too will the products themselves be.

Fortunately, Ladbrokes has taken great steps to streamline and secure their IT operations, according to Global Chief Information Officer Mittu Sridhara.  In an interview with Computer Weekly, Sridhara stated he wished to create individual-platform support; that is, that thier Android app users would have a dedicated support team to help them with any queries.

However, of most interest to those concerned with potential App security hazards, were Sridhara’s words on how they handled IT ‘consumerisation’: the use of personal devices such as smartphones by IT staff. Though this made their work easier and more efficient, Sridhara acknowledged the danger that IT technicians could potentially take devices with customers’ personal details out of the office and lose them, but that Ladbrokes had taken preventative steps to limit any such security leaks.  Sridhara stated ‘Employees can bring their own devices, but we can wipe them if they lose their devices if they contain any sensitive information.’  He also announced that the company had migrated to Google’s secure enterprise e-mail platform, confirming that the security of its customers’ information was a Ladbrokes priority.  This emphasis on security is one that Sridhara hopes will trickle down into the development and maintenance of all their products in the 21st century, in particular mobile apps.