CASE STUDY : Athens Olympics

Case summary: ATOS origin was hired as the lead contractor for the Athens Olympic Games.

Given the scale and criticality of the event, there were numerous challenges in the project. ATOS

was able to successfully implement a solution that not only met the technical requirements but

also ensured reliability.

Analysis:

IT Challenges:

● Strict non negotiable deadlines on deliverables

● Build sufficient redundancy to avoid failures

● High security to restrict access and prevent virus intrusion

● Rigorous testing to ensure readiness in dealing with various scenarios

IT Infrastructure implemented by ATOS:

● Team of 3400 IT professionals from ATOS origin.

● Major components ATOS Games management system and Information diffusion system

● Doubled use of every IT component to introduce redundancy and reliability

● Three different LAN configurations designed for different sized venues

● Extensive use of VLANS to simplify troubleshooting and limiting damage

● Separate VLANS for IDS and GMS and other monitoring systems

● Primary objective was to segment traffic for monitoring and management

● Events results and data stored at two data centers located in different earthquake zones

Q1 : Could the 2004 Athens Olympics have been a success without all of the networks and

backup technologies?
Ideally, yes; in the sense that as useful as these technologies are the games are about competition,

sports and athletes, rather than technology. Realistically, no. The information availability

provided by the network and redundant hardware (and people and processes too) were critical in

the success of the event, and are likely to be so also in the future. Without the networks and all

the other technologies we would not have been able to have access to all the plethora of past and

current results, statistics and profiles that were available.

Q2: The 2004 Olympics is a global business. Can a business today succeed without

information technology? Why or why not?

While everything is possible, it is highly unlikely that any business of a significant size is able to

conduct its operations without relying in some form of information technology infrastructure.

The complexity of operations, transactions and customer management, while possible to conduct

by hand, it would be very difficult to stay competitive when doing so. Information technology

has become, today and in the future, either a source of temporary competitive advantage, or a

competitive necessity, in that it is not possible to compete without a certain basic level of

systems in place.

Q3: Claude Phillips said dealing with “crazy scenarios of what might happen in every area:

a network problem, staff stopped in a traffic jam, a security attack…everything that might

happen,” was the reason for so much testing. Can you think of other businesses that would

require “crazy scenario” testing? Explain.

Business that would require this kind of testing scenario would be those where one hundred

percent availability at all times is of the essence, even when faced by unlikely and improbable

events. Possible examples could include:

a. Emergency services, especially those that become activated in major catastrophes – the

kind of moments where systems are not likely to work but when are most needed

b. Transaction processing services, such as credit cards.

c. Care centers (hospitals, clinics) that need to have both life-support and medical systems

online at all times, and also medical histories available and accessible.