Sports betting exchange Betfair has deployed a new messaging system to aid its expansion into new markets.

The SonicMQ platform from Progress Software is part of a three-year £25 million technology investment programme at Betfair. The firm said the overall IT investment will deliver a “more cost-efficient, robust and flexible betting platform” and support future international growth, following its recent initial public offering (IPO).

With over three million customers in the UK and abroad, Betfair selected the SonicMQ platform to “support high volume message with low latency performance” over wide area networks.

Hugh Fahy, development director at Betfair, said: “With our ambitious company growth plans a need arose for a single, consolidated and highly reliable messaging solution.

There was also a need for Progress to stick to “very tight service level agreements”, he said.

In a proof of concept stage, the SonicMQ platform processed over 5,000 messages per second “under extreme packet-loss conditions over an unreliable network”, and did not lose a single message.

Betfair recently launched a customer commitment charter setting out 14 promises to customers about the quality of its services, including technology.

The promises cover five areas, from protection of customers and their data, and the reliability of Betfair’s products and technology, to customer service, clear communication, and integrity in sport.

In the area of products and technology, Betfair said that it will focus on the quality and reliability of its products and services by ensuring they deliver a “quick and responsive experience to customers”.