(BEIJING, Jan.25) -- The Integration Test Lab for Beijing 2008 Olympic Games
launched recently marks a remarkable shift from the IT systems' planning,
preparation and design to getting ready for the Games, said Jeremy Hore, Atos
Origin chief integrator during an interview with the official website of the
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
As an experienced integrator with years of service for the previous Games in
Athens and Turin, Mr. Hore takes the lead on information, planning, management,
system development and integration, service security, disaster recovery and
training for the upcoming Games in Beijing, with the collaborative efforts from
BOCOG Technology Department and other Olympic partners and sponsors.
The importance of the IT integration facility
Mr. Hore said from 2003 to 2005 they did a lot on the lab test systems'
planning, design, architecture and development. In 2006 Atos Origin moved into
building the systems and integration test lines.
The integration test lines for those IT systems like Games Management System
(GMS), Information Diffusion System (IDS), On-Venue Results System (OVR) and
other supporting services on security, software distribution and monitoring will
be really put into test phase until the Olympic Games starts in 2008.
Provider of reliable technologies for the Games
The technology used by Olympic Games does not only have to be quick but also
mature and stable, said Hore.
The test systems will deal with applications in BOCOG's many functional
areas, such as transportation, accommodation and accreditation, which may have
similar requirements as in the previous Olympic Games, but what should be done
is to see where differences are in Beijing, like language and other areas.
"When evolutions in technology came to our mind, we always have the latest
servers and versions of softwares, or maybe a new type of switch or network
technology, but before these new technologies are being used, they should be
tested carefully or evaluated to know their maturity."
IT service should be guaranteed by a complex system of
security
According to Mr. Hore, in terms of security, Atos Origin adheres to three
principles: confidentiality, availability and integrity, Mr Hore noted.
In the design phase, all measures were considered to limit access and any
interaction with the critical Games system. Then roles and responsibilities were
classified by different policies and procedures to prevent people from getting
access to the system.
Currently Atos Origin works closely with BOCOG to prepare monitoring network
traffic, the access of the systems and pick up small things which may happen
rather than a security incident.
"It might be something simple as somebody unplug the computer or somebody
plug their own laptop into the network, but things really happened when some
people were trying to enter users and passwords," he said, recalling the
security issues the monitor system had encountered in Athens and Turin.
After detecting these different things, some processes in correlation to try
to find which is important or not are needed, he said.
Atos Origin will work closely with BOCOG and other
partners
As the Olympic worldwide IT partner, Atos Origin will supply Internet Data
Feed (IDF) to SOHU.com Inc, the official Internet Content Service Sponsor for
the Beijing Olympic Games.
"Yes, it is true, we have to work extremely closely with SOHU, because we
provide the Internet Data Feed and then SOHU is taking that feed, and will
generate the only official website, and all the results picked from all around
the world," Mr. Hore said, adding "Now we are working together to define the
interfaces, the ways of working and the quality control. The most important
point is to work as much as possible as one team, between Atos Origin, the BOCOG
and SOHU to make sure that everything is working well."
"Atos Origin's role is to act as an integrator, and we have other partners
extremely critical to the Olympic Games: Lenovo, Omega, SOHU, China Netcom,
China Mobile, Panasonic and Samsung. The role we play is an important
component," Mr. Hore said.
When it comes down to work, everybody is aware of the overall master plan and
who is responsible for what to deliver. "The next thing we have is we work on
what is called the matrix of responsibilities, and the matrix of communications.
The person responsible for this from Atos Origin is this person, and the person
responsible for SOHU is this person, and who has responsibilities for what and
who should talk to."
"We get a lot of practice at working as part of the team, and with BOCOG
Technology (Department) it is one task and one team. This is the way for the
future to strive to achieve success. We put in place the processes as in the
plan, then we just need to practice, and work as one team."
Getting prepared for the challenges in 2008
The major work for Atos as an IT service partner is to integrate, manage and
maintain the security in the system which delivers information regarding the
results of the competitions, the athletes and several other aspects of the
Games, to the spectators and media around the world. In comparison with the
previous Olympics, there will be even more athletes, journalists, volunteers and
other workers.
Based on the Athens experience, Atos Origin will gather all the new
requirements in Beijing and build them into the architecture, then find the
solutions to deal with them.
"That architecture might not be the right one to finish, but it's the one to
cover for potential situations, like increasing number of users, potential
failure of the primary data centre. So it's also important to have backup
systems and a plan B," he said..
In addition, Atos Origin is expected to face a challenge caused by the
distance between six co-host cities and the host city of Beijing. Many systems
shall work simultaneously in different venues.
"It's important to have a very solid network between the central location and
the other remote cities. Then next thing is to work the same way, using the same
processes, monitoring tools, devices and softwares. So communication is
essential," he emphasized.
To date, the preparatory works in Qingdao and Hong Kong are well on track,
according to him.
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