| | In a world where the
words “major IT project”
are synonymous with
“disaster” in the public
mind, it’s easy to
forget that the
consultancy and systems
integration industry is
built on a foundation of
highly successful
projects and long-term
relationships.
An object lesson in
this is the role of Atos
Origin in providing IT
and systems integration
to the Olympic Games.
This is a contract that
dates back to the Salt
Lake City Winter
Olympics in 2002, when
it was won by what was
then Sema Group (prior
to its acquisition by
Schlumberger and
subsequent sale to
Atos). The roots of the
relationship go back
even further, as Sema
had been acting as a
subcontractor for
systems integration to
the then contract
holder, IBM, since the
Barcelona Olympics in
1992. On a personal
note, it was a visit to
Barcelona with Sema all
those years ago that
started me writing about
management consultancy.
Painstakingly
acquired, the Olympic
contract can be lost in
a second: “This is the
only project in the
technical environment
that cannot be postponed
and never has been
postponed,” says Patrick
Adiba, executive vice
president, Olympics and
Major Events. Atos’
initial contract with
the IOC went as far as
the 2008 Olympics in
Beijing, but after the
success of the Athens
Games this was extended | |
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| | operate under very tight
budgetary
constraints—the
challenges posed cannot
simply be solved by
throwing money at them.
“The Olympics grew in
a very uncontrolled
way,” says Adiba. “The
consequence was that
only a very few cities
could compete for them.
Now they limit the
sports and also limit
the amount that can be
spent on technology—the
winning city has to be
able to demonstrate how
it will finance and
control each of the
elements.”
Although Atos’
contract is with the
IOC, each Olympic Games
is controlled by local
committees.
“The main committees
are always built locally
by people who have never
done an Olympics
before,” says Claude
Philipps, programme
director for Turin and
also Athens. “It’s the
first chance in their
life and they have to
succeed.”
Planning the Olympics
is a very complex
project management
task—work is already
under way on the 2010
Winter Olympics, and a
team of 50 are now in
place in Beijing. It’s
also a major
consultative exercise,
with input not just from
the committee but the
press and the sports
people who depend on the
information output from
the Games. Atos also has
to work with a large
group of subcontractors
and suppliers, many of
whom—such as Panasonic,
Samsung and Lenovo—are
also sponsors, and with | |
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| | whom it has no
contractual
relationship.
“All these people
have to work together
whatever happens,” says
Philipps. “We have to
lead a consortium
without having any
hierarchical control
over them.”
Because so many
people involved—the
committee, suppliers,
volunteers—are new to
the Games, knowledge
management has become a
key part of Atos
efforts. “We do a lot of
sporting and
non-sporting events,”
says Philipps. “It’s a
very important business
for us and a very
profitable one. We make
all the information from
the Games available to
our teams all round the
world.”
This approach enabled
Atos to go to the Athens
Olympics with a team
that was only one and a
half times bigger than
the one it deployed in
Salt Lake City—even
though the Games
themselves were three
times bigger.
“We have saved
thousands of work hours,
not only for us but for
the Committee,” says
Philipps. “We’ve also
made a 15% to 20% saving
on equipment costs.”
The biggest headache
facing Atos is
information security.
With each Games the
demand from the media
for real-time data
increases, and in an
environment where
Service Level Agreements
are expressed in minutes
and seconds, maintaining
the integrity of that
data is vital. Although | |
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| | both the volumes of data
and number of
journalists are smaller
at Turin, the problems
are compounded by the
logistics of the
scattered venues, some
of which are in remote
mountain areas which can
conceivably become
snowbound.
With increased
connectivity comes the
possibility of hacking
and viral attacks—during
the Games the Olympics
website is one of the
most popular in the
world.
“The Olympics is a
nice target and this is
something we cannot
alter,” says Philipps.
“From the beginning of
the development phase we
integrate security—it’s
not something we add at
some later point.”
At the heart of Atos’
preparations is a
massive programme of
testing and rehearsal.
The technology is locked
down about a year before
the start—no
bleeding-edge innovation
here—and then subjected
to rigorous testing —
200,000 hours for the
Athens Games, about half
that for the smaller
set-up in Turin. People
and procedures are also
put to the test as “red
teams” enact various
worst case scenarios to
test the team’s crisis
management. After that,
it’s showtime: “There’s
no second chance,” says
Phillips. “We have to be
ready by February 10 at
8pm, not the day
after.”
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