Olympics diary: Ready, set... all systems go

Claude Philipps, chief technology integrator for Olympics IT partner Atos Origin, is keeping a diary of his Olympics experience here on silicon.com. As the Games get underway, Philipps spills the beans on the early mornings and late nights, hackers trying to break into the network and keeping the Games running smoothly.

Day one - Saturday 14 August

It's 7am at the Technology Operations Centre (TOC) - mission control for the Games - in Athens. The team, more than 100 strong, is in good spirits after last night's opening ceremony. It's a busy day. We are straight into main competition. No gentle warm up for the IT systems: 20 different sports and 322 competition events across 24 venues running from 8.30 in the morning to just after midnight.

First event scheduled for 8.30am is the women's single sculls (first heat won by Germany). That gives us time to get everything ready including chatting to the team, meeting with partners for update meeting, resolving any outstanding issues, taking calls from the IT venue managers, checking all the systems - and grabbing a quick cup of coffee or two.

The competitions begin and the team at the TOC monitors the IT infrastructure and systems, including the relaying of results and security monitoring, across all 61 competition and non-competition venues.

After three and half years designing, building and testing the systems, it is finally time to see how they stand up against real usage. Some systems are slower than we had expected while some are faster, so a little bit of fine-tuning is necessary to address the Games' time conditions. This really is our key focus on day one.

In the TOC, we have a TV feed from all the sport venues to large plasma screens. This helps us check all the result systems against what is actually happening at the venues and ensure that the results information we are disseminating to the world press agencies and Olympic family is correct. It also means we get to see some of the competitions on screen. Relaying accurate results in real time to the world's media is our primary task and the team at the TOC work closely with the IT teams at the venues to ensure this happens.

A dedicated team within the TOC is responsible for security monitoring - ensuring that nobody is trying to access the Athens 2004 Olympic IT network illegally. The monitoring systems we have set up show us immediately when an unauthorised person tries to access. For example, last night we saw that someone tried to access the computer of one of the venue managers at 3am with the wrong password and we were able to take immediate action to prevent unauthorised access.

My shift ends at 7pm while several sports are still going on. Basketball, beach volley, cycling, boxing, equestrian, fencing, hockey, softball and table tennis are underway as I leave, so the handover is important and includes an update on the events of the day, follow-up actions and any staffing issues.

I head home for some dinner and rest - but not that much. The Olympic Games isn't the time for me to rest.

Day two - Sunday 15 August

Back at 7am - the handover is most important part of the day. I find out how work scheduled during the night has gone, then check the schedule for the day and ensure everyone is assigned to their places and knows their priorities for the day.

No two Olympic days are the same - different events and different venues equal different queries for us to solve and you can never be quite sure what is in store, which keeps you on your toes. For example, today rowing had to be rescheduled due to high winds. This involves last-minute changes to team schedules, work plans and reports distribution.

Day three - Monday 16 August

I start at 7pm so I have time to rest and catch up sleep before taking over the night shift - not my favourite but we all have to do both day and night shifts.

Once the competitions end around midnight, it gives us a chance to catch up on our admin. Knowledge management and transfer is a key factor in making the Games a success and keeping IT costs down. As well as having members of the future teams for Torino and Beijing working in Athens, we also document processes, reported faults and daily usage patterns. Night shifts are good times to take a step back and think and report which improvements in technology, processes and organisation can be brought to the next Games.

7am comes sooner than I expect - around 4.30am is the toughest part of the night. I handover and return home for breakfast and sleep. I'll be back again at 7pm for one more shift before my day off.

Stay tuned for more of Claude Phillipps' Olympic diary - available exclusively on silicon.com - as the Games unfold.