Atos Origin’s contract with the International Olympic Committee is the world’s largest sports-related IT contract, covering the next three Olympic Games over four years:, Athens in 2004, Turin in 2006 and Beijing in 2008. In these Games, Atos Origin has primary responsibility for information technology consulting, systems integration, operations management, IT security and software applications development.

At Games time Atos Origin’s Information Diffusion Systems (IDS) relay results and athlete information to 10,500 athletes, 21,500 media representatives and 4 billion TV viewers. The Games Management Systems (GMS) provide accreditation, transportation and accommodation schedules, medical encounters reports, sports qualifications and protocol information. These two systems form the core of the IT infrastructure and are integral to the smooth running of the Olympic Games.

Hornbill’s Supportworks was installed in March 2003 to enable Atos Origin’s IT Service Management team to capture and manage any issues relating to the support of the IT infrastructure and Games systems.

During May 2004 the first technical rehearsals were successfully completed and Seventy-six different scenarios were tested over a one-week period by a team of almost 200 IT professionals operating in Games time conditions. The scenarios ranged from information security issues, such as uncontrolled access to the IT systems, through to power outages, staff unable to turn up for work and sports events being rescheduled. A non-operational team set these scenarios and then monitored and evaluated the behaviour and reaction of the operating team. Representatives from the media and sports participated in the trial, using the Commentator Information System and INFO2004, as they would during Games-time.

Atos Origin reported that the first technical rehearsal was a success: the IT systems functioned operationally; the team worked well together and their response to the scenarios was impressive. Hornbill’s Supportworks provided Atos Origin with the ability to record all IT issues and keep operational IT staff and management informed of the progress of all incidents.

The second technical rehearsal is now nearing completion, with more venues being used and IT volunteers participating. When the Games go live in Athens this summer, Atos Origin will have trained and will be managing a staff of 3400 IT professionals and volunteers, and overseeing all IT activities at the Technology Operations Centre (TOC), primary and secondary data centres, and 62 competition and non-competition venues.

During these events, Atos Origin has pushed the network to its limits to benchmark the systems' performance. Atos Origin also rehearsed the level of achievement of its people, processes and procedures. Ultimately, the extensive testing and preparation is undertaken to ensure that Atos Origin meets its unmoveable deadline of August 13, 2004, when the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games begin.

Commenting on the positive feedback from the technical rehearsals, Patrick Bolger, Hornbill’s Sales & Marketing Director said, “I am delighted that Supportworks has stood up to the rigorous testing it has received during pre-games rehearsals. With the world watching, Atos must ensure that all IT systems operate flawlessly and its IT staff are amongst the most competent we have worked with. Supportworks has been configured to ensure that it underpins the IT services provided during Games time. We are already providing support to the Onsite team for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games and the use of Supportworks has been further extended to deliver best practice IT Service Management to guarantee success in Turin.”