Nevadan at Work: Executive makes sure gaming machines play to the rules

Martin Storm has his wife to thank for his success in growing BMM Compliance into one of the gaming industry's top laboratories for testing and certifying slot machines and casino management systems.

Back in 2001, she suggested to Storm that it might be "good for their relationship" if he found something to do outside of their home in Australia. Storm had already built and sold a couple of successful technology businesses and was enjoying a somewhat early retirement.

He figured a short-term consulting job would do the trick.

"After a month, she would beg me to come home," Storm recalled.

A consulting role with an Australian horse racing company led to another consulting position, this time with BMM, in 2002. A year later, he was overseeing BMM's day-to-day operations. By 2005, Storm had acquired majority ownership in the company.

"I really wasn't certain I wanted to work that hard and I wasn't certain I wanted to build a global business," Storm said. "I think those consulting jobs helped clear things up for me."

Storm, 50, is the driving force behind expanding BMM's global footprint across 12 offices in 11 countries. He moved the company's headquarters to Las Vegas in 2006 to be closer to the major gaming manufacturers.

BMM employs 170 people worldwide and 50 in Las Vegas, where engineers test and certify games for all major slot machine developers. The company is licensed in 270 jurisdictions worldwide, including countries, individual states and provinces, and with Indian tribes. BMM is working toward another 14 licenses.

"We're 95 percent of the way there," Storm said. "We know the manufacturers will give us 50 percent of the work once we have all our certifications."

Storm said the gaming certification market is a "$40 million-a-year business."

The company's largest competitor is Gaming Laboratories International.

A large piece of new business for BMM could come from the state of Nevada, where the Gaming Control Board will begin outsourcing equipment testing rather than having the agency's own lab handle the process. Storm said BMM is applying for a Nevada gaming license.

BMM hired 15 engineers and support staff in the first half of the year. Additional gaming licenses and gaming expansion in new jurisdictions such as Ohio and Massachusetts could enable BMM to employ another 120 engineers and managers, with many of the jobs landing in Las Vegas, he said.

"I guess if my wife hadn't kicked me out, I would be home cooking and watching television," Storm said. "This is more fun."

Question: How has gaming technology changed in the years?

Answer: Technology innovation can change only as fast as the regulators allow it to change. You think back to where the gaming industry was in terms of technology and where it is today. For years we just saw individual slot machines. The emergence of casino management systems to connect those slot machines for better management of accounting, reporting and marketing has only happened in the last 10 years. Technology is slower to come by in gaming.

Question: How does BMM help the gaming regulatory process?

Answer: Gaming regulators in Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan and Pennsylvania operate their own testing labs, but that's changing. There is really a reliance on companies like ours to come in and help the regulators understand the new technology. Most regulators don't have a technology background. They are there to stop the criminal element from coming into gaming and protect the player.

Question: What does BMM test?

Answer: In big-picture terms, we test all software and all hardware on a slot machine and a casino management system. We're testing the equipment to match to jurisdictional requirements. The best way to describe what we do is that we make sure the games play as in the way they are presented and to the rules of a particular jurisdiction.

Question: Are gaming jurisdictions different?

Answer: There are some 360 gaming jurisdictions worldwide with probably 130 to 140 different variations. We have to manage this portfolio globally. We have a technology compliance group whose job is to keep up with the changes in the market in every jurisdiction and keep our system updated. We make sure all our technical books and procedures are updated. It's on the BMM global network. Our lab in Australia can run the tests for a slot machine in Missouri. The tricky part of our job is managing that portfolio and matrix.

Question: Who does BMM work for?

Answer: We are licensed by a jurisdiction, such as a state, a tribal government or a country. So we are responsible to them. A license is something that can be taken away. At the same time, our client is the manufacturer whose product we are testing. What's critical to a test lab is the ability to manage those two cultures appropriately and walk a very straight line between them.

Question: Has the economy hurt your business?

Answer: It's affected us particularly in the U.S., which is 50 percent of the world gaming market. What hurt more is the global financial crisis because that stopped casinos from borrowing money for (capital expenditures). The outcome of that is the casinos didn't have money to buy new slot machines. That hurt the number of new games coming into market.

Question: How much work does BMM do with Internet gaming?

Answer: We do work offshore, but only for companies that do not interact with U.S. citizens. We dominated that market for many years but we gave up a lot of work in that space because we weren't comfortable doing business with companies that took wagers from Americans. Until online wagering is all sorted out, it's not going to be a mainstream strategy for us.

Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.