Lalaine P. Vidal joins award-winning infrastructure provider as Business Development Manager and Christopher Caturay as Technical Solutions Architect
Continent 8, the award-winning global managed hosting, connectivity and security provider, continues to build out its presence in Asia with two key hires.
Vidal has more than a decade of experience in sales and marketing across a range of sectors including banking, BPO, real estate, telco and IT cyber security. Caturay is a cyber security professional with experience in the end-to-end process of deploying solutions and applying best practices for various businesses and in a range of sectors.
The hires form part of a wider push in Asia, where Continent 8 already offers infrastructure, connectivity and security solutions to a range of customers in iGaming and beyond.
The company’s cyber security offering has seen exceptional growth in recent years, keeping up with the evolving cyber security landscape, and with cyber-attacks at an all-time high in Asia, Continent 8 can defend a customers’ infrastructure against the growing number of threats.
Lalaine P. Vidal, Business Development Manager at Continent 8 Technologies, said: “The opportunity to join Continent 8 was one I simply couldn’t turn down. It is the leading infrastructure provider in the industry, and I am looking forward to using my experience in sales and marketing to drive the business forward and further establish its presence and customer base across Asia.”
Christopher Caturay, Technical Solutions Architect at Continent 8 Technologies, said: “Asia presents unique challenges when it comes to infrastructure and cyber security. I’m excited to be working for a business that has a comprehensive and unique solution for businesses targeting the Asian market.”
Peter Williams, Managing Director – Asia Pacific at Continent 8 Technologies, added: “Lalaine and Christopher are great talents and are a brilliant addition to the Continent 8 team in Asia. This is an important market for us and one where we have ambitious growth plans that we are actively deploying.
“Lalaine will play a vital role in introducing more businesses to Continent 8 and the award-winning solutions that we provide, while Christopher will ensure that customers are deploying the right products and services for their organisation. This localised approach, along with having feet on the ground, is what makes Continent 8 the go-to infrastructure and security provider for companies targeting Asia and other markets around the world.”
Via network points of presence in Hong Kong, Japan (Tokyo), Philippines (Manila), Singapore and Taiwan (Taipei), Continent 8 connects Asia to the rest of the world over a high-capacity, fully redundant private network comprising 90+ locations.
Meet the Continent 8 team at ASEAN Gaming Summit, 21-23 March 2023 at the Manila Marriott Hotel.
Global managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security provider adds secondary sites in Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Louisiana as well as the US territory of Puerto Rico
Continent 8 Technologies is continuing its aggressive growth strategy to best serve its customers in North America, by launching additional site service capabilities in the states of Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, and Louisiana and the US territory of Puerto Rico.
The company launched its initial services in Iowa in 2019, Illinois in 2020, and Kansas and Louisiana in 2021, providing its managed service offerings to these markets along with in-state connectivity and infrastructure. It opened its first site in Puerto Rico in 2022.
Each of these five markets now has an additional Continent 8 site, offering secondary and disaster recovery solutions. This adds to Continent 8’s existing multi-site in-state infrastructure capability in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Michigan, New Jersey (Atlantic City), and Pennsylvania.
All the company’s sites connect to its unique global private network that spans more than 90 locations globally across four continents, including 25 US states.
Justin Cosnett, Chief Product Officer at Continent 8, said: “Data center resilience is an important consideration for infrastructure planning. We also know that regulators across various states want to see licensed operators deliver resilient and reliable services to customers and partners.
“We have built our offering so that operators and suppliers to the industry can use our diverse MPLS-connected backbone to create disaster recovery, backup or even active-active capabilities to guarantee availability.
“Multi-site in-state infrastructure also allows Continent 8 to offer its own inclusive off-site backup service via our regulated Public iGaming Cloud solution. Ultimately, we’re providing the very best infrastructure solutions so that customers can concentrate on what they do best – focus on the success of their business.”
Continent 8 works closely with regulators across the fast-growing North American market to ensure its full suite of solutions is fully compliant ahead of when a state opens, allowing its customers to leverage the first-mover advantage in each state. Its award-winning solutions power the biggest names in US sports betting and iGaming.
Learn more about Continent 8’s global managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and cybersecurity solutions at continent8.com
Managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security provider expands its solutions in North America with the first iGaming community Public Cloud offering in the state of Ohio
Continent 8 Technologies continues to deploy its first-to-market approach in North America after launching its iGaming Cloud in Ohio, making it available to licensed operators and suppliers in the state.
Continent 8’s iGaming Cloud is a Public or Community Cloud, and is already available to customers in a number of other regulated North American locations. This includes New Jersey (Atlantic City), Pennsylvania and most recently Michigan, with Continent 8 having worked closely with regulators across the fast-growing North American market to ensure that its full suite of solutions is fully compliant.
The iGaming Public Cloud offers a scalable and resilient infrastructure platform that allows customers to host virtual servers, compute, containers, storage and network edge services.
It is suitable for all Ohio Casino Control Commission (OCCC) licensed operators and suppliers to use, allowing them to provide all iGaming-related services within the state. This solution adds to Continent 8’s existing services in Ohio, which comprise data center, network connectivity and cyber security solutions.
Regulated online and mobile sports betting launched 1 January 2023 in Ohio and, according to reports, the state recorded 11.3 million transactions over the course of the New Year’s weekend.
David Brace, Innovation Director at Continent 8 Technologies, commented: “We are proud to be the first service provider to offer an iGaming Public Cloud solution in the state of Ohio.
“In terms of market entry, cloud offers businesses the quickest and simplest route into a new state. This is true both for new entrants, as well as licensees who utilise the Continent 8 iGaming Cloud in other jurisdictions. The flexibility and scalability of the iGaming Cloud provides a range of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery options for those already live in the state and looking to protect their platforms.”
Continent 8 is live in 25 US states with additional sites set to launch in the coming months such as Nevada, Minnesota and Georgia. The global IT business has established itself as the go-to iGaming hosting and connectivity provider in North America, currently supporting over 80% of the 2022 EGR Power US Ranking operators.
Justin Cosnett, Chief Product Officer at Continent 8 Technologies, added: “Expanding our iGaming Public Cloud capability and enabling fast market entry for our customers is an important part of our overall cloud, security and connectivity growth strategy.
“We understand the power of the first-mover, pay-as-you-grow advantage in such highly competitive states and markets, and strive to offer this to our customers.”
Leading provider has been supporting customers’ operations and global growth since 1998 through cutting-edge technology
2023 is a huge year for Continent 8 Technologies, with the leading provider of managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security solutions to the global online gambling industry celebrating 25 years of being the trusted technology solutions partner to the sector.
Its award-winning solutions cover connectivity services, infrastructure hosting including public and private cloud, as well as a growing portfolio of cyber security solutions to defend customers’ critical infrastructure against a rising number of threats.
Starting with its first data centre in Montreal, today Continent 8’s private, connected network of data centres and points of presence span over 90 locations across four continents. It is expected to hit 100 locations in 2023, servicing newly regulated markets and providing connectivity to customers in strategic locations to support their global growth plans.
In the US alone, Continent 8 has adopted an aggressive first-to-market strategy to enable customers to capitalise on the competitive regulated market. It is live in 25 US states and counting, with launches in Nevada, Minnesota and Georgia in the pipeline.
The company has a strong presence in European markets with state-of-the-art data centres in key iGaming hubs such as the Isle of Man, Malta and Gibraltar, where in the latter it has a unique data centre located 500m deep within The Rock inside a former Ministry of Defence facility.
Its offering in LatAm continues to grow and is currently live with solutions via Colombia, Peru and Puerto Rico, with launches in Argentina and Brazil to follow.
Meanwhile in Asia, Continent 8 will be bolstering its presence, which currently comprises sites in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, with a dedicated team on the ground to best serve the APAC region. The company is also reviewing opportunities in Africa and Australia.
Continent 8 has earned a reputation for delivering unrivalled customer service to the biggest brands, some of which have been powered by Continent 8 from the very start. This includes supporting more than 80% of operators on the EGR US Power Rankings 2022 list.
Michael Tobin, Founder and CEO of Continent 8 Technologies, said: “We’ve come a very long way in the 25 years since Continent 8 launched in 1998. From our first data centre in Montreal, Canada, we now have a private, connected network across the globe that continues to grow on an almost monthly basis.
“Our suite of solutions is as comprehensive as it is cutting-edge, and our incredible team deliver the absolute best service in the business. This is key to the incredible customer retention we have achieved over the past two and a half decades; so too is our first-to-market approach in emerging jurisdictions such as the Americas.
“It’s been an incredible journey so far and I’m proud to have led the organisation from the front. A huge thank you to our people, customers, partners, suppliers, and everyone in-between for supporting our ambitious plans. Here’s to another 25 years of success for Continent 8 and its customers!”
Learn more about Continent 8’s award-winning products at ICE London, 7-9 February, ExCeL London – Stand N3-110.
Global managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security provider to the global gambling industry names Randy J. Alessio and Nigel Renouf as Regional Sales Directors
Continent 8 Technologies, the leading global managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security provider to the gambling industry, has started the year as it means to go on with two big hires to its commercial team.
Randy J. Alessio and Nigel Renouf both join as Regional Sales Directors and will be responsible for managing existing customer relationships and helping to drive Continent 8’s ambitious international customer expansion plans in core markets including Europe and the Americas.
Alessio, located in New Jersey, brings more than 25 years of professional sales and leadership experience in the enterprise IT space to Continent 8, covering hosting, cloud, AWS, managed hosting, ERP and other professional and software services.
For the past decade, he has worked within managed hosting for mission-critical applications, delivered via private and/or public clouds such as AWS, Azure, Oracle OCI and Google.
Based in Jersey (Channel Islands), Renouf is an IT and security veteran having spent more than 15 years working with customers across the globe, providing multi-jurisdictional hosting, cloud and security solutions within the iGaming and Fintech industries.
This has seen him assist companies in accelerating the online experience they offer to their customers, as well as growing revenues and conducting their businesses globally and securely.
Both join Continent 8 at an exciting time for the business as it continues to expand its network of connected locations across the world, which now stands at 90+ locations across four continents.
Brian B. Koh, Chief Commercial Officer at Continent 8 Technologies, said: “Randy and Nigel are extremely experienced, knowledgeable specialists. Our new hires augment our commercial team which comprises the highest calibre of talent.
“While we are focused on expanding the business, we go to great lengths to ensure that our customers continue to receive the unrivalled service and support that we have built our name on. Randy and Nigel will help us to achieve both of these goals.”
Randy J. Alessio, Regional Sales Director at Continent 8 Technologies, said: “Continent 8 has enjoyed incredible success serving the biggest names in the iGaming industry, but we have only just scratched the service with what we can achieve.
“It’s exciting to me to have the opportunity to bring my experience and technical capabilities from outside of the industry to the business and to help push Continent 8 forwards and towards hitting its goals.”
Nigel Renouf, Regional Sales Director at Continent 8 Technologies, added: “I’ve been really impressed by Continent 8’s growth and development as a top-tier infrastructure provider, trusted by the world’s biggest online gambling companies.
“Having worked in the industry for over 15 years, I am proud to be working for such a well-respected brand, and I look forward to using my expertise and knowledge to build on the success the business has already had over the past 25 years.”
Both Randy and Nigel will be attending ICE London, 7-9 February alongside the global Continent 8 team located at Stand N3-110. Set up a meeting with the team here
Global technology veteran has been tasked with driving the company’s growth in key international markets
Continent 8 Technologies, the leading provider of managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security solutions to the iGaming industry, has strengthened its senior management team with the appointment of Brian B. Koh as Chief Commercial Officer.
Brian brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role having held senior positions at global technology firms over a distinguished 20+ year career. He joins Continent 8 from Syntax, where he was Executive Vice President, and has also worked for the likes of IT Convergence and Core Services.
Brian has been involved in both executive roles and several corporate and non-profit boards across the US, Asia and Latin America. He has also been instrumental in building several large multinational companies to successful exits.
Based in New York and reporting directly to the company’s CEO, Michael Tobin, Brian has been tasked with continuing to build on the company’s ambitious growth plans and its go-to-market expansion. This includes developing and implementing its commercial strategy, where he will have crucial input into sales, account management, marketing and customer service.
He joins at a time when Continent 8 is expanding at pace, making strides in the fast-growing Latin American region where it has a presence in several regulated markets including Colombia and Puerto Rico, as well as North America where it is now live in 24 regulated US states and counting. Continent 8 operates globally, with a connected network of 85+ locations across four continents.
Michael Tobin, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Continent 8 Technologies, said: “We have a world-class team at Continent 8 and our headcount has grown significantly over the past few years to ensure we remain at the top of our game. Brian is a significant addition to our team and comes at an exciting time for the organisation.
“As more countries embrace regulation and new markets open for business, we see a huge opportunity for Continent 8 to expand its reach and deliver our award-winning managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security solutions to customers entering these jurisdictions.
“Brian has been tasked with overseeing our expansion, a job that he is undoubtedly the best person to take on. I look forward to working with him closely moving forwards.”
Brian B. Koh, Chief Commercial Officer at Continent 8 Technologies, added: “I am thrilled to join Continent 8 and its highly talented team as the business continues to grow and demand for its powerful suite of solutions increases.
“The opportunity to work with such a highly respected brand was one that I simply couldn’t turn down. Continent 8’s customer base and reputation in the industry is second to none, and I look forward to playing my part in the next chapter of Continent 8’s success story.”
Brian and the Continent 8 team will be at G2E Vegas at the Venetian Expo, 11-13 October, Booth #4410.
Managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security provider expands its solutions in North America with the first regulated Public Cloud offering in the state of Michigan
Continent 8 Technologies continues to deploy its first-to-market approach in North America after being accredited by the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB) to launch its regulated Gaming Cloud to operators and suppliers in the state.
Continent 8’s Gaming Cloud is a Public or Community Cloud already available to customers in a number of other regulated North American locations including New Jersey (Atlantic City) and most recently Pennsylvania.
It offers a multi-tenanted, scalable and resilient IaaS platform that allows customers to host infrastructure, containers, data and network edge services.
Continent 8 works closely with regulators across the fast-growing North American market to ensure that its full suite of solutions is fully compliant, allowing its customers to leverage the first-mover advantage in each state.
For Michigan, regulations state that tenants in the Gaming Cloud must be licensed by the MGCB and hardware comprising the Gaming Cloud must be located at the primary and backup locations Continent 8 provides in the state.
The approval of a regulated Public Cloud adds to Continent 8’s existing services in Michigan, one of the largest US markets in terms of revenue, which today comprises data center, network connectivity and cyber security services.
In January 2021, Michigan regulators authorised online gambling and sports betting. Since then, Continent 8 has expanded its solutions to serve customer demand, offering a fully regulated hosting environment.
The latest figures from the regulator show that in July 2022, combined total adjusted internet gaming and sports betting gross receipts were $131.2m. When compared to July 2021, there was an increase in internet gaming adjusted gross receipts by 41% while internet sports betting adjusted gross receipts rose 13%.
Justin Cosnett, Chief Product Officer at Continent 8 Technologies, said: “Achieving approval from the Michigan Gaming Control Board for our Gaming Community Cloud is an important strategic development for Continent 8, as demand for secure and compliant cloud solutions continues to rise.
“We understand the power of the first-mover, pay-as-you-grow advantage in such highly competitive states and markets, and strive to offer this to our customers.”
David Brace, Innovation Director at Continent 8 Technologies, added: “We are proud to be the first service provider to offer this regulated Community Cloud solution in the state.
“In terms of infrastructure, cloud offers fast market entry, especially for new licensees, as well as backup or migration capability for those already invested into the state looking to move away from costly hardware investment in a time of supply chain challenges.”
Continent 8 is already live in 24 US states with additional sites set to launch in the coming months as the company continues its mission of being the go-to hosting and connectivity provider in North America.
Learn more about Continent 8’s managed hosting, connectivity and cloud solutions at G2E Vegas, 11-13 October, Booth #4410.
Previous Vice-President in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group at leading Canadian private equity firm, joins Continent 8 at a time of ongoing expansion.
Continent 8 Technologies, the award-winning managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security provider to the global online gambling industry, is delighted to announce the appointment of Kristian Valenta to the role of Chief Financial Officer.
Valenta has previously held a number of senior level roles, most recently as Vice-President in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group at Novacap, a leading North American private equity firm.
During his time at Novacap, he led numerous fund related activities, including supporting various capital raises, headed several M&A and corporate finance efforts and has been an active Board member across numerous portfolio companies within the technology group.
Based in Montreal and reporting directly to the CEO, his role at Continent 8 will see Valenta continue to build on the company’s existing plans for expansion. He will be responsible for the company’s overall finances, whilst working alongside the executive team on policy, operations and Continent 8’s overarching strategy.
Michael Tobin, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, at Continent 8 Technologies, said: “Over the last few years, we have built an exceptional team at Continent 8, growing our head count year-on-year. Kristian’s appointment is a significant one for our business during a period of fast growth as new markets regulate and open for business. Kristian brings a wealth of experience and passion to Continent 8, making him an invaluable member of our leadership group. Welcome to the team, Kristian.”
Kristian Valenta, Chief Financial Officer at Continent 8 Technologies, added: “It is an honour to join Continent 8, a company that has established itself as a highly respected leader in its field. My role as CFO will provide me with an exciting opportunity to work alongside a committed executive team and I look forward to playing an integral role in the company’s continued growth globally.”
The Gaming Exchange allows customers to connect faster and more securely to an exclusive community network
Continent 8 Technologies, the leading managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security solutions provider to the global online gambling industry, has launched an innovative private internet named the Gaming Exchange.
The Continent 8 Gaming Exchange is an exclusive community for iGaming businesses, allowing them to connect faster and more securely than over the standard internet, with no need for additional configuration.
It means that Continent 8 customers can connect directly to other Continent 8 customers via a VPN across the company’s backbone network, rather than route over the public internet.
The Gaming Exchange offers the lowest latency and highest performance guaranteed, with both local and remote global reachability. It is a private and reliable internet solution with public IPv4 addressing and an uptime rate in excess of 99.9%.
It delivers unrivalled levels of security and unlike the standard internet it is not attackable externally and is fully protected by Continent 8. This mitigates the risk of members falling victim to a DDoS attack, the volume of which has been at an all-time high in recent months.
In addition, customers connected to the Gaming Exchange will gain access to a Premium Portal, an analytical dashboard that allows them to view and monitor traffic flows within and outside of Continent 8 to other gaming partners.
Justin Cosnett, Chief Product Officer at Continent 8, said:
“We know that iGaming companies are constantly talking to each other over the internet. The Gaming Exchange is a game-changer for the industry, an exclusive community for organisations to connect on a private, highly secure and ultra-fast network.
“As one of the most attacked industries, the level of security that we can provide via the Gaming Exchange offers a highly valuable solution for our customers. It is products such as the Gaming Exchange that help to further establish Continent 8 as the leading managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security solutions provider to the global gambling industry.”
Managed hosting, connectivity, cloud and security provider expands its solutions in North America with the first regulated public cloud offering in the state of Pennsylvania
Continent 8 Technologies continues to deploy its first-to-market approach in North America after being given the green light by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) to launch its regulated Gaming Cloud to operators and suppliers in the state.
Continent 8’s Gaming Cloud is a Public Cloud and is already available to customers in a number of other regulated North American locations including New Jersey (Atlantic City) and most recently Ontario.
It offers a multi-tenanted, scalable and resilient IaaS platform that allows customers to host infrastructure as Virtual Machines.
Continent 8 works closely with regulators across the fast-growing North American market to ensure that its full suite of solutions is fully compliant, allowing its customers to leverage the first-mover advantage in each state.
For Pennsylvania, regulations state that tenants in the Gaming Cloud must be licensed by the PGCB and hardware comprising the Gaming Cloud must be located at the primary and backup locations Continent 8 provides in the state.
The approval of a regulated Public Cloud adds to Continent 8’s existing services in Pennsylvania, which today comprises three data centers and points of presence.
Pennsylvania legalized online gambling in 2017. Since then, Continent 8 has expanded its solutions to serve customer demand, offering a fully regulated hosting environment under its PGCB interactive Gaming Service Provider authorization.
Nick Nally, Managing Director of Americas at Continent 8 Technologies, said:
“Receiving approval from the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board for our Gaming Cloud forms part of our aggressive strategy to deliver our regulated cloud to multiple new states in the US, as demand for our cloud solutions continues to rise.”
Justin Cosnett, Chief Product Officer at Continent 8 Technologies, added:
“We are proud to be the first service provider to offer this regulated community cloud solution in the state; we understand the power of the first-mover, pay-as-you-grow advantage in such highly competitive states and markets.”
Continent 8 is already live in 24 US states with additional sites set to launch in the coming months as the company continues its mission of being the go-to hosting and connectivity provider in North America.