The IOC reinforces its trust in Atos to transition IT services for the Olympic Games to the Cloud

Atos, an international IT services company and Worldwide IT Partner to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), today further explained its IT roadmap for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and beyond.

Atos, which has been a key technology provider for the Olympic Movement since 1989, confirms that cloud has definitely made it into the squad for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. For the first time in a Summer Games, the core planning systems will be delivered over the cloud including the systems for accreditation, sport entries & qualification and workforce management as well as the volunteer portal, which was launched in August this year. The Rio 2016 cloud computing solution is delivered in partnership with Atos, Embratel, Cisco and EMC.

Following the new contract signed in 2013 between Atos and the IOC, the two organisations are working together to transition all IT services for the Olympic Games by 2018 to Canopy, the Atos Cloud, in time for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games. This builds on the experience of the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, when the results were delivered to the Games website over the Cloud.

IT preparation for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games started in 2012 with the design of the systems and infrastructure. This year the focus is on building the systems and testing facilities ready for integration, acceptance and systems testing to begin in 2015 and the test events which start in August. Then in 2016, the operations begin with the deployment of IT equipment to the venues, technical rehearsals and of course the Games themselves.

Patrick Adiba, Executive Vice President, Sales, Olympics and Major Events at Atos said: “As an event that happens only once every two years, each time in a different location, and which needs a huge computing infrastructure and generates huge amounts of data, the Olympic Games is a perfect fit for cloud computing. We are delighted to be working with the International Olympic Committee and the Rio 2016 and future Organizing Committees on this important transition which will transform how we deliver future Games and help us to further improve the experience of media, athletes and spectators at each Olympic Games in the future.”

Jean-Benoît Gauthier at the IOC added: “Atos is our long-term Worldwide IT Partner who has played a critical role in helping us deliver seven successful Olympic Games. We are now trusting it to transfer the delivery of the IT for the Games to the Cloud, so we can continue to innovate and ensure an excellent Games experience for all.”

Jacques Pommeraud, CEO, Canopy commented: “As the largest sporting event in the world, the Olympics require a highly secure, resilient and reliable IT infrastructure. Atos through Canopy will provide a private cloud solution to give the IOC a more cost efficient IT service that will ultimately improve the Games experience for spectators, media and athletes.”

New delivery model for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games
The IT infrastructure of such a massive project as the Olympic Games will have to link together more than 80 competition and non-competition venues, consisting of hundreds of servers, thousands of laptops and PCs. And here we see a paradigm shift: from a ‘build each time’ to a ‘build once’ model and delivering services over the cloud. Rio 2016 is a key milestone in this transformational shift. Where we used to have all the major IT facilities in the host city, we will transition functions to a central location. During Rio 2016 we will still have key facilities in the city of Rio including the Integration Lab and the Technology Operations Center, but we also will have a smaller technology control center in one central location outside of Rio. This center will also serve as the technology control center for the Games in Pyeongchang and Tokyo, delivering secure services over the cloud to provide more efficiency, agility and productivity, using Canopy, the Atos cloud company and EMC as its delivery partner.

As Worldwide IT Partner for the Olympic Games, Atos is responsible for designing, building and running the IT systems that make the Games happen including delivering the Olympic results to the world; helping recruit up to 70,000 volunteers and processing 200,000 accreditations that serve as a visa for athletes, workforce, volunteers, media, sponsors, officials and other members of the Olympic Family to enter Brazil as well as accessing the Olympic venues.
It will provide integration and systems management services as well as core hosting services and the key Games applications for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games; the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.