Identity and Security Management

Are your systems resilient enough to withstand 12 million IT security events per day and still deliver sub second response times every time?

Risk to your business and information security is now more important than it ever has been before. Each day there are new ways for people to attack your system and our job to you is to keep you and your system secured.

How do we do it?

From our extensive work with providing IT security for the Olympic games every two years as well as the experiences we have each day working with our other IT projects across all industry sectors, Atos Origin has developed and perfected best practice solutions to handle any security risk.

We are able to provide a plan specific to your needs and come up with a solution that is best for you and your company.

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THE CHIEF INTEGRATOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Atos Origin’s Chief Technology Integrator for the 2010 Winter Games, Magnus Alvarsson, has been in Vancouver for four years—Vancouver has become a temporary home to Magnus.

Magnus has been a part of the Atos Origin Olympic team several times before—in Salt Lake City, Athens and Beijing—so he knows a thing or two about the Games.

We wanted to find out, from the Atos Origin team member who’s been in Vancouver the longest, what his impressions of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games were.


Q: How did Vancouver do as an Olympic Host City?
A: Vancouver did a great job hosting the Games. I have lived in Vancouver since June 2006 and I have never seen the city light-up like it did during the Games. So many people downtown enjoying themselves, spontaneously bursting out singing the national anthem at 1AM—it has been amazing.

On top of that all the fantastic venues, with great results and all of the joy when Canada finally won their first ever Olympic Gold medal on home soil. These Games will be truly memorable for many good reasons.

Q: What was the most technically challenging part, for you and your team, about the 2010 Games?
A: Contrary to popular belief technology is not the most challenging part of this project. I would say the most challenging part of this project is the integration of the people and process rather than the technology.

This Atos Origin Olympic team is comfortable with where we are regarding the technology and have really focused on becoming better at integrating the partners to deliver a flawless Games experience as one technology team.

Q: What IT & technology lessons will you take away from the 2010 Games?
A: Most importantly, my basic beliefs have been solidified. It is clear in my mind the most critical factor to our success is the 100,000 hours of testing we conduct. It does not matter if it is testing applications, hardware, the full system or the people, organization and process—without the testing, these Games and our efforts would not have been as successful.

Q: Do you have a favorite Atos Origin Vancouver team memory or most memorable moment?
A: This is difficult as I have lived in Vancouver for almost four years and have experienced so much. However I think my favorite and most sentimental memory has yet to come. The evening after the Closing Ceremony we have a big party with everyone in the Atos Origin team where we will celebrate our success. I expect this to be a very emotional moment and something I will carry with me for the rest of my life, I also expect that to be the case for my team members. Even if we already know that these Games have been a success for everyone involved, from the IOC to VANOC and Atos Origin, it is really not until this moment that it sinks in and it will be the first time in years I will feel truly relaxed.

Q: Do you have a must-have souvenir you’re taking away from Vancouver?I purchased a piece of traditional Aboriginal art from the Pacific Northwest. I have managed to pick-up an interesting piece of art in every country I have lived in so even though I am not an art collector, it is fun to have as memorabilia.

And how could I forget the must-have Vancouver souvenir: a Vancouver Canucks baseball cap.

IT & the Closing Ceremonies

The end is in sight. Time to celebrate the athletes, and our team behind the scenes.

By the end of the Closing Ceremonies, we will have finished with the majority of the Olympic IT. But “it’s not over until it’s over,” particularly when billions of viewers are counting on our Commentator Information System (CIS).

During the Closing Ceremonies, our CIS is used by thousands of international media who provide their viewers with live commentary and background information about the show and its performers. All that broadcaster knowledge comes from facts, data and surprising factoids we load into the CIS so viewers at home get to hear it.

Our CIS helps tell the athlete’s stories—fun childhood information and heart-warming stories become the anecdotes we remember of the Olympic Games. As an audience member, you may not remember how many gold medals your country won at these Games, but we are confident the stories of all the medallists athletes will stay with you for years to come.

It’s been a long 16 days of Games time IT activity and an even longer five years of preparation to get to this point. Our Olympic IT team has led a group of best-in-class technology partners and delivered a flawless Games experience to a world wide audience of three billion.

Our Information Diffusion Systems worked overtime, ensuring every new delivery channel received the same results at the same time. Our Games Management Systems held up to every challenge it faced and our team of Olympic IT experts made us proud, as usual.

But just because the Olympic Games are done doesn’t mean we are. Our team is busy prepping for the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

Read more about how the IT requirements differ here.

The Paralympic Transition

The Paralympic Games are front and centre in the minds of the Atos Origin team of experts. They are working to ensure the IT systems are ready to flawlessly deliver the Vancouver 2010 Winter Paralympic Games to the world on March 12, 2010.

In addition to its commitment to the Olympic Movement as Worldwide IT Partner, Atos Origin supports the Paralympic Movement and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) through its sponsorship of several Paralympic Games.

Just like for the Olympic Games, Atos Origin designed, integrated, managed and secured the IT infrastructure for the Paralympic Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, Athens in 2004, Torino in 2006, Beijing in 2008 and today for the Vancouver Paralympic Games in 2010.

Steven Marette leads the technology consortium as the IT Paralympic Manager for Atos Origin.

“A lot of time has been put in to ensure a smooth transition of IT systems from the Olympics to the Paralympics,” said Marette. “We plan on utilizing the systems already in place and adapting them for the Paralympics.”

Accurate transition plans for the four Paralympic competition venues, Whistler Village and International Broadcasting Centre are in place and ready to be rolled out in a very short time frame—just 12 days.

As a part of Atos Origin’s sustainability commitments, our plans are designed to minimize global resources and reuse as much equipment as possible, including the same cabling design and technology equipment used during the Winter Olympic Games.

There are fewer sports in the Paralympic Winter Games, but the IT infrastructure required is the same because each sport featured in the Paralympic Winter Games includes a series of classifications for the athletes, based on their disability.

“Much of the IT infrastructure is the same—the results must still be delivered to the world in 0.3 seconds and there is still no room for error,” adds Marette. 

Seamless Integration for Flawless Delivery

At the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, Atos Origin designs, manages and secures 16 complex IT systems that manage, inform and accredit thousands of athletes and support teams, staff, volunteers, officials, partners, sponsors, media, and commentators of the Games. Atos Origin must also integrate the differing technologies and the people of the entire Olympic technology consortium.

For us, the integration of the IT systems are easy—the real challenge is the integration of people. Our team must work smoothly with other Olympic IT sponsors, VANOC, government partners and various functional departments.

So how do we do it?

First-up: our Atos Origin team is made-up of 100s of team members, hailing from all across the world, from different cultures and speaking different languages.

According to Vancouver Chief Technology Integrator, Magnus Alvarsson, integrating the people is what poses the greatest challenge. “Our team came to Vancouver five years ago, from all over the world. We wanted to show the world that Atos Origin is not only an industry leader in terms of the work we do, but an industry leader in terms of our people.”

While the Atos Origin family dinner and barbecue help bring the team together, it is their work in smaller teams that unifies the group. The team really gels when they are tested—technical rehearsals, test events and disaster recovery rehearsals push the teams (and the systems) to rely on each other and share knowledge and experience to better the team’s performance.

The next challenge is pulling together a cohesive team from private industry, the Olympic and Paralympic family, all levels of government, and teams from health care, transportation and security sectors.


The technical rehearsals provide the chance to bring the entire technology consortium together and see if these disparate teams are able to communicate effectively and efficiently as one entity. The technical rehearsals ensure the partners Atos Origin is tasked with integrating can perform as one team.

Atos Origin is responsible for a workforce of approximately 3,000. The Atos Origin team works under the direction of VANOC, but come Games time we undertake the management of the IT systems with all partners and suppliers reporting to us.

According to Alvarsson, “Our experience, paired with the excellent individuals we have had in this project, has made it possible for us to lead this work, this team, and to ensure everyone pulls together.”

We plan, design and test our systems for five years prior to the Opening Ceremonies to ensure we find the perfect integration of people, technology and processes—the secret behind running a flawless Games.

Employee Knowledge Transfer

The Knowledge Transfer

Designing, integrating, managing and securing multiple information technology systems for the Olympic Games is no small task—it takes an international team of best in class IT specialists, with a wide range of experiences.

As the Worldwide IT Partner of the International Olympic Committee for almost a decade, we hold the largest and longest-running sports-related IT contract in the world. Atos Origin is responsible for delivering the Games time IT infrastructure on-time and on-budget. To do this we rely on an incredibly talented team of technology professionals to bring their previous major events experiences to each Atos Origin Olympic team they are a part of.

The Atos Origin team members are working together as a cohesive unit for the first time. They are committed to delivering a flawless Games so they must transfer knowledge between people, as well as between Games. (Think Beijing, Athens, Torino and previous Games).

It’s safe to say that more than the torch gets transferred in the Olympic Games. Atos Origin Olympic team members will see firsthand what happens during Games’ time. Several London 2012 IT team members came to Vancouver for the operations and many of the Vancouver 2010 team will move on to Russia in preparation for Sochi 2014. The future Sochi’s Chief Integrator, whose name has not been revealed yet might even be part of the Vancouver IT team.

Atos Origin puts a lot of emphasis on transferring employee knowledge, Chief Technology Integrator, Magnus Alvarrson has been a part of our Games time team in Salt Lake City, Athens, Torino and Beijing.

Our London 2012 team is led by Chief Technology Integrator Michèle Hyron, who has worked on Olympic IT in Salt Lake City, Athens and Beijing.

Who wants to join us for Rio 2016? If you’re interested in becoming a part of the international Atos Origin team? Check out our job openings.

Leveraging Global Change!

Do you need to start a business of 200,000 employees, 4 billion customers, operating 24/7, in a new territory, every 2 years?

You might not need that tall of an order, but if we can accomplish THAT, think about what we can do for you.

Change, change change, we hear it everywhere, everytime you turn around. But to survive in this economy, change is key.

Atos Origin has the skills expertise and experience you need to manage a large scale business and IT programs. Just look at our experience with the Olympic games every two years. Atos Origin has the ability to look at your situation, identify your needs, prepare a solution, get your people ready and manage a transition successfully.

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