Meet Claude Philipps
Program Director & Client Partner for British Energy
Claude Philipps had been with Atos Origin for 20 years, working in the Energy Group with EDF, before he got involved with the Olympic Games Project. Claude was a very senior manager and therefore a good choice to lead this project. He spent 1 year in Salt Lake City (home of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games) working alongside IBM absorbing every detail of the colossal job involved in delivering the complex IT networks which support the organization and delivery of the Olympic Games. From there, Claude was directly off to Athens where he would lead Atos Origin as they took over the delivery of all the IT systems and networks underlying the management, production, and delivery to the world of the spectacle which was the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games.
“Although I was a senior manager, who had directed many complex technical projects prior to my involvement with the Olympic Games Project, I learned an awful lot working on a project as varied, large and complex as this.”, Claude impresses on me, “There is nothing quite like it. Just working in such a multicultural team brings its own challenges; we had approximately 200 people on the Athens team and this involved 42 different nationalities! Of course you expect the language difficulties, but there are also different attitudes towards decision making, different processes for communication, and different ideas about the importance of meetings and how to run them. It was a real education!”
Claude went on to explain how each Olympic Games Project is different also. He participated in three games; Salt Lake City in 2002, Athens in 2004, and Torino Winter Games in 2006. “The Olympic Games Projects are classic Design, Build, Run projects.”, he explains, “We spend about 6 months consulting with the Organizing Committee for the location to learn what their expectations are, and to educate them in what we can do, and what is possible. It is really important that the Atos Origin lead team get to know who the lead players on the local Olympic Committee are; who’s in charge, who holds the purse strings and who makes the decisions. From there we move into the specification round where we capture every one of the Olympic Committee’s requirements for their games. We explore all the localization issues at this time, and any social issues there may be. Once the specification is agreed with the Olympic Committee, we design the systems we will need to meet this specification, build them and then test, test, test!” During the actual games the project becomes a managed operation. The size of the project team will at least double. This involves hiring locally and training these people for their role in the project team.
I ask Claude now about the role he plays in Atos Origin since he left the Olympic Project lead role. Has he gained benefits or insights which help him in this new role?
“My new role in Atos Origin is very different to the role I played in the Olympic Games teams, but I have definitely been able to make use of the experiences I got.”, Claude replies, “ I adopt a Risk Aware Culture on the projects I manage much more than I did in the past, and I stress this with the clients we have. For the Olympic Games Projects there is so much in-depth analysis done in the design stage to examine the risks that may be involved with every decision. This approach avoids surprises, and unnecessary delays which so often occur when it comes to implementation of projects.”
Claude believes that one of the main areas of expertise we have developed, as a result of our participation in supplying the technology and communications support for the Olympic Games, is that of Security. “A very complete and detailed analysis of the design and the operational processes is done with security in mind at all times. Where ever a security issue is possible the following questions must be answered ; How can I monitor the issue? What can I do to adjust? How do my processes need to change to deal with it?” Claude explains the approach taken by the Atos Origin Olympic Project Team, “Every possible scenario must be anticipated and addressed. We have developed a very thorough approach to achieving this, which can be replicated for other clients who need to operate in highly secure circumstances”
During his time on the Olympic Project Team Claude talked with many, many Atos Origin clients and potential clients, about the security issues that arise during the games and how the team deal with these. Other members of the Olympic Games Project Team also had topics they would present to clients visiting during the operation of the games. In this way clients and potential clients got a good idea of Atos Origin’s complete involvement with the games and the support and services provided.
Claude feels that Atos Origin’s role in making the Olympic Games happen , and bringing the games to so many people world wide is definitely a selling point. “Once clients realize the enormity of the task, and the flawless record of delivery that we continue to build upon, they believe that we can do the same for them.”