Making IT happen for Paris 2024
Lessons in IT project management from the Olympic and Paralympic GamesThe Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games is the biggest event ever organized in France. Nearly 15,000 elite athletes will compete in 50+ sports, with 13.5 million tickets sold and more than 350,000 hours of TV to keep billions of fans transfixed.
Too big to fail
From the opening through to the closing ceremonies, there will be no second chances — either for the competitors or for the technology teams working behind the scenes.
Yet while the Olympic Games are unique, the IT challenges they face mirror those faced by IT leaders in every sector. Namely, how to mobilize an agile, high-performing team and how to balance the drive to innovate with the need to tightly manage risk.
Atos has been the Worldwide Information Technology Partner of the International Olympic Committee since 2001 — responsible for integrating over 150 mission-critical applications. That means we must ensure that events run smoothly and on time, systems and data are secure, competition results are properly recorded and displayed, and that fans can follow all the action inside the venues and anywhere around the world.
So, what can business and technology leaders learn from our three decades of IT project management experience at the Olympic and Paralympic Games? Below, we will share a few of the most important lessons that we have learned, and how you can apply them to your own IT initiatives.
How to prepare for rapid ramp-ups and extensive integration
Every IT project for each Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games lasts around four years. During that time, project teams must grow quickly, flex to meet high-pressure demand, then immediately ramp down to be ready for the next mission.
For Paris 2024, we’ll deploy 500+ experts, orchestrating a blended team of 15 technology partners comprising over 2,000 talented people at peak, all working to make Paris 2024 a success.
Being ready for such major ramp-ups — with no room for overlap, error or delay — requires a strong focus on early preparation. We have learned to develop a comprehensive matrix of roles and responsibilities in consultation with all technology partners. These cover project and Games operations activities in detail, evolving only subject to tight governance. We also agree and share the application service catalog, supported by technology teams with appropriate SLAs.
There are no second chances at the Olympic Games — either for the athletes or the technology teams behind the scenes. The Games are unique, but their project management challenges mirror those faced by leaders in every sector.
How to maintain a sharp focus and fast reactions
In parallel, we develop detailed and robust policy and procedures. During Games operations, each competition moves extremely fast. To manage requests or incidents, there’s no space for creativity or improvisation. Just as airline pilots employ trusted checklists in emergency situations, IT teams must react quickly and effectively using established procedures.
We have built and refined a significant “plug and play” communication and collaboration space. Other investments include a suite of role-based e-learning tools that enable newly-joined resources to acclimatize very quickly. In just two days, for instance, a brand-new IT team must be fully operational to support all technology in a competition venue.
So, while fresh talent has been key to every edition of the Games, so too has a core of knowledge and experience that has been carefully transferred from Games to Games.
How to balance innovation with risk management
Having been closely involved with every Olympic Games and Winter Olympic Games since Barcelona 1992, we have seen a transformation in IT project management, development and delivery. But while keeping pace with change is essential, so too is rock-solid reliability and resilience.
In the early days, we set up all the IT for each Games from a local provider network. Our teams based themselves in the host city to build and test all the necessary IT infrastructure from the ground up, every two years. Gradually, that evolved. Fast forward to the Summer Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (held in 2021 because of the pandemic) and new cloud-based delivery models brought new levels of agility, efficiency and sustainability.
Paris 2024 will raise the bar again, introducing AI-powered solutions and the latest ways of working. An advanced AI-driven system has accelerated and streamlined a highly effective recruitment process for volunteers. We have deployed nearly 600 containerized microservices that have transformed application development for the Games, speeding up the process by a factor of three.
Underpinning all that innovation are strict DevSecOps practices that help us maintain tight security while enabling agility and scalability.
How to test IT for success
In many ways, our project management mantra at the Olympic Games is “Test, test… and test again.”
As the Opening Ceremony approaches, preparations intensify with an extensive schedule of 250,000 testing hours. An Integrated Test Lab enables multi-sport testing to meet SLAs across tech, processes and people. Crucially, we’ll dramatically increase data volumes to anticipate those expected for Paris 2024 — the most connected Olympic Games ever held.
We carry out two technical rehearsals on site to ensure all services and partners are working as one. We will test at all competition venues, including iconic locations like Place de la Concorde (which will host the Champions Park and several urban sports), the Champs de Mars, the Stade de France and others. Testing won’t stop until everything is set.
Legacy, mission and history
Finally, a word on sustainability and the legacy that each edition of the Olympic Games must leave for future generations. To help build climate resilience, sustainable working and development practices, together with low and zero-carbon IT services, all contribute to ever-greener Games. In fact, we plan how to most efficiently decommission and reuse all services and devices – even before any of it goes live.
Every team at Atos is conscious of the small role it plays in the mission and history of the Olympic movement. We’re looking forward to July 2024, and once again being part of the greatest sporting event on earth.
We know the whole world will be watching, and we’re ready to make IT happen.
Posted on: June 5, 2024
Christophe Thivet
Chief Integration Officer, Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
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