Atos is a European
multinational information technology
Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology syste ...
(IT)
service and
consulting
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
company headquartered in
Bezons
Bezons () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.
Population
Transport
An extension of the tramway line T2 to Pont de Bezons opened in 2012. With Bezons not served by any stations ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and offices worldwide. It specialises in hi-tech transactional services,
unified communications
Unified communications (UC) is a business and marketing concept describing the integration of enterprise communication services such as instant messaging (chat), presence information, voice (including IP telephony), mobility features (including e ...
,
cloud
In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may ...
,
big data
Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...
and
cybersecurity
Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...
services. Atos operates worldwide under the brands Atos, Atos, Syntel, Atos Consulting, Atos Healthcare, Atos Worldgrid,
Groupe Bull
Bull SAS (also known as Groupe Bull, Bull Information Systems, or simply Bull) is a French computer company headquartered in Les Clayes-sous-Bois, in the western suburbs of Paris. The company has also been known at various times as Bull General E ...
, Canopy, Maven Wave, and
Unify.
History
The company was formed in 1997 through a merger of two French IT companies; and combined with the Dutch-based company Origin B.V. in 2000 to become Atos Origin.
It subsequently acquired
KPMG
KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations.
Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...
Consulting in 2002 and
SchlumbergerSema in 2004.
In 2010 Atos Origin announced the buyout of
Siemens IT Solutions and Services and finalized the acquisition in July 2011. Afterwards, the company name reverted to Atos.
Background: a series of mergers (1997–2011)
In 1996, Origin B.V. was created after a merger of the Dutch company BSO and the Philips C&P (Communications & Processing) division, while a year later in 1997, Atos was created following a merger of the French companies Axime and Sligos. In 2001, Atos Origin sold its Nordic operations to WM-data. In 2002, it made a major acquisition by buying
KPMG Consulting in the United Kingdom and in the Netherlands. Then in 2004, it acquired
SchlumbergerSema, the IT service division of
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited (), doing business as SLB, is an oilfield services company. Schlumberger has four principal executive offices located in Paris, Houston, London, and The Hague.
Schlumberger is the world's largest offshore drilling comp ...
and took over the infrastructure division of ITELLIUM, a subsidiary of
KarstadtQuelle
Arcandor AG was a holding company located in Essen, Germany, that oversaw a number of companies operating in the businesses of mail order and internet shopping, department stores and tourism services. It was formed in 1999 by the merger of Kars ...
.
At the same time (2004), the company created a new subsidiary,
Atos Worldline, and the renaming of its consulting activities as Atos Consulting. Also in 2004, Atos Origin Australia, originating from
Philips
Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters is ...
, was sold to Fujitsu. In 2005, Atos Origin sold its activities in the Nordic region, which had become part of the company with the acquisition of Sema Group, to
WM-data while in 2006,
Atos Origin sold its operations in the Middle East to local management.
In October 2007, Philippe Germond replaced longtime CEO
Bernard Bourigeaud. Two shareholders, the
hedge fund
A hedge fund is a pooled investment fund that trades in relatively liquid assets and is able to make extensive use of more complex trading, portfolio-construction, and risk management techniques in an attempt to improve performance, such as ...
s Centaurus Capital and Pardus Capital, tried to gain control over the company via the supervisory board.
In November 2008, the boardroom battle came to an end when
Thierry Breton
Thierry Breton (; born 15 January 1955) is a French business executive, politician, writer and the current Commissioner for Internal Market of the European Union.
Breton was vice-chairman and CEO of Groupe Bull (1996–1997), chairman and CEO o ...
replaced Philippe Germond as chairman and CEO.
In August 2010 Atos Origin acquired Indian payment company Venture Infotek.
Siemens IT
In December 2010 Atos Origin agreed to acquire the IT subsidiary of
Siemens
Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational conglomerate corporation and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe headquartered in Munich with branch offices abroad.
The principal divisions of the corporation are ''Industry'', ''E ...
for €850 million.
As part of the transaction, Siemens agreed to take a 15% stake in the enlarged Atos, to be held for a minimum of five years.
The company dropped the "Origin" suffix of its name in July 2011 after completing its acquisition of the Siemens unit.
In November 2011 Atos and software services provider Ufida International Holdings formed the joint venture Yunano. The two companies invested €5.7 million. Atos has 70 percent and UFIDA has 30 percent. The joint venture has its HQ in
Bezons
Bezons () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris.
Population
Transport
An extension of the tramway line T2 to Pont de Bezons opened in 2012. With Bezons not served by any stations ...
, France, a suburb of Paris. In 2012 Atos announced the creation of a new company called Canopy. The CEO is Philippe Llorens. In 2011 Atos introduced a Zero Email initiative,
banning email as a form of internal communications, except for use with customers and prospects.
As part of the initiative, Atos acquired the French software company blueKiwi in early 2012, rolling out their ZEN social networking software across its organisation.
Bull
In August 2014, Atos announced that it had acquired a controlling stake in
Bull SA through a tender offer launched in May. Atos announced plans in October 2014 to buy out or squeeze out the remaining share and bondholders of Bull.
Xerox ITO and Syntel
On 19 December 2014 Atos announces the acquisition of
Xerox
Xerox Holdings Corporation (; also known simply as Xerox) is an American corporation that sells print and digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox is headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut (having moved from St ...
's IT Outsourcing business for , tripling the size of the North American business.
At the time of the acquisition, the unit generated (Q3 2014) and had 9,800 employees operating in 45 countries.
In October 2018, the company accelerated its expansion in North America with the (including debt) acquisition of Syntel,
a company with activities in banking, financial services, healthcare, retail and insurance.
Failed acquisition bid for DXC
In February 2021, Atos ended talks for a potential acquisition of
DXC Technology
DXC Technology is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia.
History
DXC Technology was founded on April 3, 2017 when the Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE ...
. Atos has proposed for US$10 billion including debt for acquisition.
Google Cloud
In April 2018, Atos announced a global partnership with Google Cloud to help offer secure artificial intelligence systems. As part of this partnership, the two companies would create common offerings and open "labs" dedicated to artificial intelligence in London, Dallas, Munich and Paris.
In 2019, the company divested from
Worldline
The world line (or worldline) of an object is the path that an object traces in 4-dimensional spacetime. It is an important concept in modern physics, and particularly theoretical physics.
The concept of a "world line" is distinguished from con ...
, its payment subsidiary, as part of its strategy to become a "digital pure player".
The company gradually sold its shares, retaining only a 3.82% stake in Worldline as at April 2020.
On 1 November 2019, Elie Girard replaced
Thierry Breton
Thierry Breton (; born 15 January 1955) is a French business executive, politician, writer and the current Commissioner for Internal Market of the European Union.
Breton was vice-chairman and CEO of Groupe Bull (1996–1997), chairman and CEO o ...
as chief executive officer, following Breton's appointment as EU commissioner.
In December 2019, Atos acquired Maven Wave, a US-based Google Cloud Premier Partner specialising in cloud and mobile applications, data analytics, experience design and cloud infrastructure.
In June 2020, Atos,
GENCI and
CEA revealed the "Joliot-Curie" supercomputer which would help in academic and industrial open research.
Services and activities
Services
Atos activities are organized in four divisions:
* ''Infrastructure & Data Management'':
Datacenter
A data center (American English) or data centre (British English)See American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, spelling differences. is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house comp ...
management, service desk and
unified communications
Unified communications (UC) is a business and marketing concept describing the integration of enterprise communication services such as instant messaging (chat), presence information, voice (including IP telephony), mobility features (including e ...
;
* ''Business Applications & Platform Solutions'':
consulting
A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization.
Consulting servic ...
and
systems integration;
* ''
Big Data
Though used sometimes loosely partly because of a lack of formal definition, the interpretation that seems to best describe Big data is the one associated with large body of information that we could not comprehend when used only in smaller am ...
& Cybersecurity'': production of
high-performance computers &
server
Server may refer to:
Computing
*Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients
Role
* Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...
s and
cybersecurity
Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, t ...
;
*
Worldline
The world line (or worldline) of an object is the path that an object traces in 4-dimensional spacetime. It is an important concept in modern physics, and particularly theoretical physics.
The concept of a "world line" is distinguished from con ...
:
e-commerce
E-commerce (electronic commerce) is the activity of electronically buying or selling of products on online services or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain manag ...
payment services and
point of sale
The point of sale (POS) or point of purchase (POP) is the time and place at which a retail transaction is completed. At the point of sale, the merchant calculates the amount owed by the customer, indicates that amount, may prepare an invoice f ...
terminal applications
Geographies
United Kingdom
According to a
National Audit Office report on the government's four biggest suppliers, Atos earned £700 million in revenue from the public sector in the UK in 2012; of £7.2 billion sales worldwide. Atos holds £3 billion worth of UK government contracts providing services to a wide range of organizations including
NHS Scotland
NHS Scotland, sometimes styled NHSScotland, is the publicly funded healthcare system in Scotland and one of the four systems that make up the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. It operates 14 territorial NHS boards across Scotland, ...
,
Home Office,
Welsh Government
The Welsh Government ( cy, Llywodraeth Cymru) is the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of ministers and Minister (government), deputy ministers, and also of a Counsel General for Wales, counsel general. Minist ...
, the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
,
Transport for Greater Manchester
Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is the public body responsible for co-ordinating transport services throughout Greater Manchester in North West England. TfGM is responsible for investments in improving transport services and facilitie ...
, the
BBC and a multimillion outsourcing contract to
NS&I.
In the United Kingdom, from 1998 to 2015 the company was at the centre of a controversy over the management of
contracts by their healthcare division of the
Work Capability Assessment
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is used by the British Government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to decide whether and to what extent welfare benefit claimants are capable of doing work or work-related activities. The outcome of th ...
for the
Department for Work and Pensions
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(DWP).
Controversy
Atos Healthcare
In the United Kingdom, from 1998 to 2015, Atos Healthcare was at the centre of a controversy over the management of contracts by their healthcare division of the
Work Capability Assessment
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is used by the British Government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to decide whether and to what extent welfare benefit claimants are capable of doing work or work-related activities. The outcome of th ...
(WCA) for the
Department for Work and Pensions
, type = Department
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, logo_width = 166px
, formed =
, preceding1 =
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(DWP).
In August 2015, statistics from the DWP showed that 2,380 people had died between 2011 and 2014 soon after being found fit for work through disability benefit assessments.
In 2014, "the DWP negotiated an early exit from the existing WCA contract with the private firm, Atos, after raising concerns about the quality of its work".
Nevertheless, in 2016 Atos was still undertaking work for the DWP in assessing
Personal Independence Payment
Personal Independence Payment (abbreviated to PIP and usually pronounced as one word) is a welfare benefit in the United Kingdom that is intended to help working age adults with the extra costs of living with a health condition or a disability.
...
(PIP) applications. The Press Association said in 2017 that Atos, used by the DWP to make its decisions, were due to be paid more than £700m for their five-year contracts against an original estimate of £512m.
When Atos took over administering PIP, estimates of how fast claims could be processed were over-optimistic as were estimates of how easily claimants could get to assessment centres. This led to delays in assessments, distress to claimants and unexpectedly high costs. Atos was accused of misleading the government.
Atos developed a computer system that would extract data from GP's computers nationwide. Costs rose from £14 million to £40 million and it was felt Atos had taken insufficient care how it spent taxpayers' money.
When Atos lost the contract for fitness to work tests, Richard Hawkes of
Scope
Scope or scopes may refer to:
People with the surname
* Jamie Scope (born 1986), English footballer
* John T. Scopes (1900–1970), central figure in the Scopes Trial regarding the teaching of evolution
Arts, media, and entertainment
* Cinema ...
said, "I doubt there's a single disabled person who'll be sorry to hear that Atos will no longer be running the fit-for-work tests." Hawkes claimed the "fundamentally flawed" test should be "more than an exercise in getting people off benefits. It should make sure disabled people get the specialist, tailored and flexible support they need to find and keep a job."
Mark Serwotka of
Public and Commercial Services Union described the assessments as "designed to harass vulnerable people and take their benefits away rather than provide support and guidance. Doctors, MPs and disabled people all believe the tests should be scrapped so, instead of replacing the failed Atos with another profit-hungry provider, the government should bring the work in-house and invest in it properly."
Liberal Democrat leader,
Tim Farron questioned how Atos and
Capita
Capita plc, commonly known as Capita, is an international business process outsourcing and professional services company headquartered in London.
It is the largest business process outsourcing and professional services company in the United K ...
could have been paid over £500m from tax payers money for assessing fitness to work as 61% who appealed won their appeals. Farron stated, "This adds to the suspicion that these companies are just driven by a profit motive, and the incentive is to get the assessments done, but not necessarily to get the assessments right. They are the ugly face of business."
In 2014, Atos Healthcare rebranded its occupational health business to become OH Assist. The Atos Healthcare brand was reserved for use for the PIP contract. Atos sold its OH Assist business to CBPE Capital in 2015.
For a number of years Atos denied claimants benefits or reduced their benefits if they did not take addictive opiate based pain killers. The
Department of Work and Pensions
, type = Department
, seal =
, logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg
, logo_width = 166px
, formed =
, preceding1 =
, jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom
, headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...
subsequently revised its guidance stating, "healthcare practitioners
isability benefits assessorsshould be mindful that the level of analgesia used does not necessarily correlate with the level of pain".
Corporation tax
It was disclosed in November 2013 through the
National Audit Office that Atos had paid no corporation tax at all in the UK in 2012. The total value of contracts that had been awarded to Atos by June 2013 was approximately £1.6 billion.
Sponsorship
Olympic/Paralympic Games
Atos has been the official IT Partner for the
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
since 2001 and is expected to continue until at least 2024. Atos, through the SchlumbergerSema's acquisition, was involved in previous Games during the 1990s, starting with the
Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992. Atos has been one of 11 major sponsors for the Olympic Games since 2001.
In 2011, some UK-based disability campaign groups called for a boycott of the
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Ga ...
due to Atos' sponsorship of the games and Atos Healthcare's UK contract to perform Work Capability Assessments on behalf of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) During the first week of the
Paralympics
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...
in the summer of 2012, activists and disabled people targeted Atos in a series of nationwide protests. This culminated on Friday 31 August with a demonstration outside Atos headquarters in London, which ended in a confrontation with the police.
Through the
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swis ...
's TOP (The Olympic Partner) programme, Atos has sponsored athletes from all over the globe in order to support their Olympic ambitions, including
Danny Crates
Daniel Brian Crates (born 9 February 1973) is a British former athlete, who specialised in 800m sprinting. He is a former Paralympic world record holder in this event, and won gold medals in a number of international competitions, including the ...
, the 2004 Paralympic Champion in the 800m.
2014 Commonwealth Games
Atos was named as an official supporter of the
2014 Commonwealth Games
The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...
in
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
. On 26 June 2013, "Glasgow Against Atos" occupied one of the Commonwealth Games venues in protest against Atos sponsorship.
2015 Southeast Asian Games
Atos was the official sponsor of
2015 Southeast Asian Games
The 2015 Southeast Asian Games ( ms, Sukan Asia Tenggara 2015; ; ta, 2015 தென்கிழக்கு ஆசிய விளையாட்டுப் போட்டிகள்), officially known as the 28th Southeast Asian Games, o ...
in
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
.
2018 European Championships
In February 2017 Atos has been appointed as the first official sponsor of the
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...
2018 European Championships. The company has been awarded a £2.5 million contract for timing, scoring and results.
See also
*
List of IT consulting firms
The following is a list of the largest notable information technology consulting firms in the world, along with their corporate headquarters location and the total number of consultants they have. Many of these serve primarily as third-party cons ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Information technology consulting firms of France
International information technology consulting firms
Consulting firms established in 2000
French companies established in 2000
Multinational companies headquartered in France
French brands
Companies based in Paris
Disability in the United Kingdom
Protests in the United Kingdom
21st-century controversies
Medical technology companies of France
Companies listed on Euronext Paris
Outsourcing companies