Entain: Scheduling Software

Entain’s Media Broadcasting Division is the largest live television broadcaster in New Zealand, working with Smudge opened their eyes to how pragmatic a bespoke solution can be.

When we met Entain’s Logistics and Media Manager, Patrick Chappell in 2025, the broadcast team were struggling to manage their scheduling. Entain’s operational teams are based anywhere from Auckland to Dunedin and their schedule changes daily at times.

Running staff and equipment rosters on their existing tools gave them flexibility but communicating schedules to staff was challenging. Staff couldn’t access the master roster on their phones and managers spent a lot of time updating their teams.

Patrick shared that the broadcast team had been running on luck for a while. He says: “For years we'd seen changes in demand which made our rosters more and more complicated, and this increased our exposure to risk. We needed a better way to schedule our teams and equipment.”

This technical challenge was a legacy issue. When Entain took over operating the TAB in 2023, Patrick had been working for TAB for almost eight years. He was familiar with the “make-do” culture. Since Entain took over, there has been huge investment in the software space, but budget remained an issue.

Seeking a better scheduling system

Patrick and his team went to the market to look for a better scheduling solution. He recalls: “We looked at rostering software used by other broadcasters and became really disillusioned as suppliers came back with options that had six-figure price tags. Even if we just used one module, it was still going to cost us hundreds of thousands of dollars…and it wouldn’t even do everything we wanted.”

Entain began to consider bespoke software. But they had concerns. Patrick says: “We were looking at hundreds of thousands of dollars for managed software, so we thought we’d be talking even more for a custom software solution. And we couldn’t fund a project of that scale.”

Fortuitously Patrick was referred to Smudge. He says: “We came in thinking we needed a Rolls Royce – a large-scale bespoke system. Smudge said to us: ‘A solution like that is going to cost you a million dollars but we don't know if you need a Rolls Royce. ’ That was our fork in the road.”

The benefit of a fresh perspective to your problem

Entain had done a great job on research. They’d looked at a lot of rostering tools. However, at Smudge, we operate in the software industry day in, day out. We’re frequently exploring emerging technologies and evaluating tools, so we’ve a good feel for what’s out there. We also have specialist software expertise, including experience with rostering software. When we had our first conversation with Entain, we weren’t convinced a full custom solution was essential. Most of Entain’s requirements were standard, and many rostering systems could meet their needs.

The root problem stopping Entain using off-the-shelf scheduling software was connectivity and integration with their master schedule. Their master schedule changes frequently and solutions on the market wouldn’t connect to their unique data source. So, we thought, what if we could find a rostering tool that will do 90% of the job and do a bit of custom adaptation to connect it to Entain’s master schedule?

Looking outside your industry box can pay dividends

As part of our Advisory Service approach we undertook further market analysis looking at rostering tools used by in-field and operational teams and narrowed the list down to five options, then evaluated each on their pros and cons.

Entain hadn’t encountered these systems; Patrick explains: “We’d done a lot of research but we got boxed into thinking we needed broadcast software, whereas our needs were better served by a targeted rostering system. Smudge identified some new software products that would work and presented us with a range of options.”

Once Entain had selected a rostering system, we worked up a proof of concept, loading in real data to see if the tool met Entain’s needs. Key to this project’s success was Entain’s openness to ideas and willingness to engage in the process of testing the tool. If you’re considering off-the-shelf software, make people available and engaged in the process to test the tools. Our research and testing can only get you so far, it isn’t until your team trial a tool that you’ll know if it will work for you.

These tests worked well, but Entain still needed to sync this new software with their master schedule. Patrick recalls: “We agreed Smudge would build an API to create a bridge between our internal scheduling system and the rostering software platform. This was a significantly lower cost option than a full custom build.”

Committed to giving you what your organisation needs

Smudge is committed to doing the right thing. It would have been easy for us to say to Entain: ‘Sure, we’ll build you a custom tool.’ But that's not what Entain needed to solve their problem. An off the shelf solution would meet their needs and be a more cost effective option; not just for the initial build, but also when it comes to future maintenance. That’s a really rewarding solution for both Smudge and our clients. We don't want to build unnecessary tools or encourage investment in unnecessary functionality.

Patrick says: “If Smudge hadn’t suggested to us that we didn’t need bespoke software, we wouldn’t have landed on this solution. Our new scheduling software has only cost us a fraction of what we initially thought, and it will save us significantly more than the cost in terms of time spent on labour, so it will pay for itself very quickly.”

Patrick explains: “What we appreciate about Smudge is they could have recommended a half million-dollar piece of software, but they didn't. Instead, they recommended a lower-cost option and made it clear they could build a bespoke solution if that was what we wanted. It was such a pleasant surprise.”

Smudge is all about pragmatic solutions

Our software advisory service is designed to help you validate your software needs. In our experience, not every business problem needs a bespoke solution. We may look at off-the-shelf software or combine off-the-shelf solutions with custom software. We do several things at Smudge to keep software costs down.

First, we make sure we’re solving the right problem, digging down to make sure we’ve identified the root of the problem causing the pain. We also have a philosophy of starting with the toughest challenges, so we don’t miss issues that have the potential to derail the whole project.

Secondly, we often start with affordable prototypes to test assumptions and explore ideas.Then we like to tackle large software projects in phases. This helps manage costs. It also helps ensure every element you build is valuable to your team – we don’t build a complex tool all at once.

Finally, we only build what you need. We won’t encourage you to build bespoke software if that isn’t the best fit for your needs. We’re not here to sell you on a particular solution, we're here to understand your needs, and give you a solution that solves your problem.

Get in touch to talk about possibilities.

Email our Software Advisory Lead, Tim Pitcaithly

Learn more about our Software Advisory Service