The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has secured one of its most important partnerships until 2016. The agreement between the IOC and Atos Origin, which have worked together since 2002, will see the information technology company provide technological support worth US$100 million to the IOC over the course of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games and the 2016 Summer Games - a four-year extension to the existing contract, which takes in Vancouver 2010 and London 2012.

Atos are responsible for all Olympic IT data. In 2008 the company provided, among other things, 1,000 servers and 5,000 computer terminals, and was responsible for 200,000 accreditation badges. Atos chief executive Bernard Bourigeaud has been keen to stress the mutually beneficial nature of the relationship, saying that, "each Olympic Games serves as a research centre and training ground," for the company's 46,000 employees. Rob Price, Atos account manager for London 2012, added: "It's a great experience to take away and bring back to their roles — the experience and understanding of what goes on in the Olympic Games environment."

An important part of Atos' role is security based, with the company responsible for preventing hackers from accessing or damaging Olympic data. The company uses multiple servers to better detect unexpected incidents on the system and spot both fast and staggered attempts to hack the network. "We were capable of detecting both the aggressive and slower attacks and prioritising them accordingly. As you know, we managed it, so there was no effect on the running of the Games," said Vladan Todorovic, information security manager for the Beijing Games.