The task of developing and implementing the IT
infrastructure for the 2004 Olympic Summer Games in Athens is
solidly on track, according to SchlumbergerSema, the games' lead
ITaggregator.
Schlumberger already broke a record when it and the
International Olympic Committee announced in September that for the
first time in Olympic Games history, all critical IT functions were
ready for testing during live events a year before the start of the
games.
"We're using these months we have left to continue to rehearse
and test, try out what-if scenarios, test again. We're basically in
full-testing mode," said Claude Philipps, SchlumbergerSema's chief
technology integrator of the 2004 Olympic Games. Testing and
integration is being done at a computer lab which has been
operational in Athens since November 2002.
SchlumbergerSema, under contract with the International Olympic
Committee as lead IT aggregator for four Olympic Games - the winter
games in Salt Lake City (2002) and in Turin, Italy (2006), and the
summer games in Athens (2004) and in Beijing (2008) - is in charge
of IT planning, project management, systems integration, software
development and IT security.
SchlumbergerSema is co-ordinating the work with about 10 other
secondary IT companies, such as Eastman Kodak, Xerox, Swatch, Dell
and Sun Microsystems. During the games, SchlumbergerSema will
oversee an IT staff of almost 4,000 people.
SchlumbergerSema, which by all accounts developed a solid IT
infrastructure and ran a very effective IT operation at the Salt
Lake City winter games, faces the challenge of duplicating that
success on a much larger scale.
The IT and telecom infrastructure will include a secure network
connecting 60 competition and non-competition venues with key IT
support sites, and two redundant data centres, a primary and a back
up one. This network is not linked to the public internet to
protect it from any possible external attacks. Access to the public
internet will be provided through a secondary network used for
non-critical administrative tasks.
Hardware will include about 10,000 PCs, 400 Unix servers, 450
Intel-based servers, 13,000 mobile phones, 23,000 landline phones,
2,500 intranet terminals, 2,000 printers, 2,000 fax machines and
printers and 9,000 two-way radios.
Two key sets of applications are involved: the Games Management
Systems (GMS) applications, which are ready and in use, and which
are designed to automate logistics tasks, such as accreditation,
transportation, arrivals and departures and accommodations; and the
Info Diffusion Systems applications, which will be completed this
month and which will be used during the games to deliver real-time
event results, scores and other information to journalists,
officials, coaches and other accredited staff.
A key part of the GMS application set is the Accreditation
system (ACR) for controlling access to venues. ACR combines
physical ID badges, a scanning system and back-office database
applications linked to the games' IT network. It will be used to
manage registration and establish which areas each accredited
person can access.
"We have been very impressed with Schlumberger consistently
meeting all deadlines," said Philippe Verveer, director of
technology for the International Olympic Committee.
SchlumbergerSema is also dealing with is its sale to a new
parent company. New York-based Schlumberger announced in September
that French computer services company Atos Origin had agreed to buy
its the core IT services activities, a deal expected to
be finalised in January. However, SchlumbergerSema does not expect
the deal to have any adverse effect on the Olympic Games IT
work.
Juan Carlos Perez writes for IDG News Service