Atos Origin Successfully Implements Crisis Plans for Houston-Area IT Systems During Hurricane...

HOUSTON -- Atos Origin, a leading international information technology services provider, today announced its instrumental role in providing emergency preparation for its clients and itself while in the path of Hurricane Rita, a hurricane that reached category 5 status as it crossed the Gulf Coast

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Atos Origin North America created and implemented a host of contingency plans in preparation for Hurricane Rita designed to assist its clients while preparing, adapting and adjusting IT systems so that they would be only minimally impacted by the impending disaster. Atos Origin employees worked around the clock during the days preceding the projected arrival date of the hurricane to design plans that would preserve the most critical IT systems and provide needed assistance to clients located near the Gulf Coast.

"The actions taken to respond to a threat of a disaster can be destructive, whether or not the disaster actually strikes," said Dr. Karen Sexton, vice president and chief executive officer for Hospitals and Clinics at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston, located on the Texas Gulf Coast. "Atos Origin was prepared and provided us with a seamless backup plan."

Atos Origin employees worked on-site at the academic health center for 36 hours to assist in wrapping in plastic and storing more than 3,500 PCs and securing other equipment to protect against water damage. Atos Origin also assisted in powering down the IT systems when UTMB was evacuated, and later helped unpack and move thousands of PCs to restore operations and get the hospital IT back online for reopening and patients' return.

For its other Houston-area based clients, Atos Origin also created contingency plans to produce stable IT systems and the lowest risk to the clients' businesses. Atos Origin moved critical IT applications and equipment to a disaster recovery site located at its data center in Arlington, Texas, about 250 miles from Houston. Employees from Atos Origin, many of whom had volunteered to stay, worked in parallel teams, securing operations on-site at clients' facilities while preparing critical equipment and applications to go live in Arlington, if necessary. Trucks loaded with equipment and data from clients' facilities departed every 12 hours from the Houston area to the Arlington site. In addition, Atos Origin secured hotels in Arlington to provide temporary office space and accommodations for clients that had been evacuated or displaced by the hurricane.