Atos Origin conducts business through three service lines: Consulting, Systems Integration, and Managed Operations.  The Consulting line addresses the strategy and IT needs of an organization across the board, from personnel to processes to technology. The Systems Integration line works to develop and implement new systems for clients, while also maintaining or improving on legacy systems. Through alliances with major vendors such as Oracle, SAP and Siebel, the firm is able to match best-of-breed technologies to each client's needs. The Managed Operations segment revolves primarily around outsourcing, offering the management of core infrastructure like data centers, desktop support, server farms and network communication systems. Atos Origin also provides BPO and specialist processing services, payment and card processing services, CRM and multichannel contract services. 

Reboot

The firm has struggled in recent years with overall revenues, but is undergoing a number of transformative steps in an attempt to reverse its fortunes. Following poor financial results for 2006, Atos Origin announced its "303" plan in February 2007: a three-year course of accelerated organic growth, improved efficiency and a more global outlook on business.  An executive committee was formed and tasked with achieving these goals through improved execution of operations, service lines and functions. In addition, new managers were appointed to selected European offices, as well as to sales and finance divisions. The offshoring business received particular attention, with the firm initially planning to hire 8,000 additional employees for the division by the end of 2009. 

The company has also initiated what it refers to as the "TOP Program", an acronym for total operational performance. The TOP program has four main objectives: better leveraging of the firm's global concept; closing the gap between itself and competitors using industry benchmarks; developing better efficiency through lean management processes; and implementing sustainability initiatives.

For some regions, the plan seems to be paying off already. In 2008, total revenue for the Asia Pacific region grew by nearly 30 percent, making it the fastest growing area for the firm in terms of overall revenue growth. Still, CEO Thierry Breton issued a financial forecast in February 2009 predicting that overall firm revenue would fall by 2 percent in fiscal 2009—a reflection of both the pressures of restructuring and the global financial downturn.

Atos Origin's origins

The firm began its existence in 1997 as simply Atos when French IT services companies Axime and Sligos joined forces. Origin was formerly a Dutch subsidiary of Royal Philips Electronics, created from a 1996 merger of two U.S. companies. In 2000, Atos joined forces with Origin, and began building its European empire. The firm acquired the U.K. and Netherlands offices of KPMG Consulting in August 2002. In January 2004, Atos Origin doubled its staff and boosted its resources with the purchase of IT services company SchlumbergerSema (from Schlumberger) for EUR 1.28 billion.