Atos Origin Selected by DSM to Manage Acquisition-Related Transfer of Global IT Systems and Business Processes.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 18, 2004

DSM Nutritional Products, Formerly Roche Vitamins & Fine

Chemicals, Calls on Atos Origin to Complete IT Transfer and

Integration in 18 months

Atos Origin, a leading international information technology (IT) services provider, today announced it has been selected by DSM Nutritional Products, the former Roche Vitamins & Fine Chemicals division acquired by DSM in October 2003, to plan, coordinate and execute the evita (Experience Vitamins Information Technology Anywhere) Program. The evita Program addresses the unbundling of business applications shared with the former owner of DSM Nutritional Products and all necessary separation, transfer and integration of IT infrastructure assets and services. The evita Program spans North and Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific and is scheduled for completion within 18-months of its launch on October 1, 2003. The 18-month schedule includes a 6-month pilot.

The goal of the evita Program is to have a single highly available, secure and integrated platform on which DSM can run their entire EUR 8-billion business. Atos Origin is responsible for separating, transferring, procuring, and integrating the IT infrastructure, systems and services for application and data hosting, network and security, and e-commerce. Additionally, they are responsible for a task usually handled by the seller, the unbundling of shared business applications between Roche and DSM Nutritional Products.

"This is not a formula program. It is complex and requires central coordination, avoiding unexpected costs, meeting deadlines, dealing with those resistant to change, and efficiently tackling the unexpected," said Jo van den Hanenberg, chief information officer, DSM. "The Atos Origin Continuous Service Delivery Methodology, plus the fact that they are already providing us with global hosting and desktop services, confers the all-important trust factor and provides cost efficiencies while allowing the in-house IT team to focus on core DSM business."

Standardization is central to an effective global delivery. Atos Origin provides consistency through assets such as Class-A data centers strategically located around the globe. DSM Nutritional Products operational systems and business processes are to be hosted in Dallas for support of North and Latin America operations, Eindhoven for Europe and the Middle East, and Kuala Lumpur for Asia Pacific.

"One of the criteria for success with such a global project was selecting a supplier that has the same procedures and tools in place globally so the approach can be consist worldwide," said Theo de Haas, evita program manager, DSM. "Atos Origin proved to have these in place so we could quickly and consistently execute our program in all of our global locations. We are confident that they will meet the deadlines."

"This unbundling and integration project represents some challenging complexities such as broad geographic scope, rather precise synchronization, and an aggressive schedule," said Ruud Neeskens, evita project program director, Atos Origin. "We've defined two sub-programs, 'infrastructure & systems' and 'business applications' and the success of each depends on the timing, thoroughness and success of the other. Throughout the project, we must ensure that day-to-day business continues without interruption."

DSM Nutritional Products

DSM Nutritional Products, the successor to Roche's Vitamins & Fine Chemicals Division, is the world's leading supplier of vitamins, carotenoids and other fine chemicals to the feed, food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. The company will maintain its tradition as a pioneer in the discovery of new products, new formulations and attractive applications for all industry segments. For further information please visit www.dsmnutritionalproducts.com.

DSM

DSM is active worldwide in life science and nutritional products, performance materials and industrial chemicals. The company creates innovative products and services that help improve the quality of life. DSM's products are being applied in a wide range of end markets and applications such as human and animal nutrition and health, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, automotive and transport, coatings, housing and electrics & electronics (E&E). The group has annual sales (pro forma including the recent acquisition - renamed DSM Nutritional Products) of approximately EUR 8 billion and employs in the region of 26,000 people around the world. DSM ranks among the global leaders in many of its fields. DSM is headquartered in the Netherlands, with locations in Europe, Asia and the Americas. More information about DSM can be found at www.dsm.com

About Atos Origin

Atos Origin is an international information technology (IT) services company. Its business is turning client vision into results through the application of consulting, systems integration and managed operations. The company's annual revenues are more than $6 billion and it employs 47,000 people in 50 countries. Atos Origin is the Worldwide Information Technology Partner for the Olympic Games and its clients include ABN AMRO, Akzo Nobel, Alstom, BNP Paribas, BP, Ericsson, EDF, Euronext, Fiat, France Telecom, ICI, ING, KPN, Lucent, Philips, Renault, Royal Bank of Scotland, Saudi Aramco, Schlumberger, Shell, Telecom Italia, UBS, Unilever, Vivendi Universal and Vodafone. For more information, please visit the company's web site at http://www.atosorigin.com

Atos Origin is quoted on the Paris Euronext Premier Marche and trades as Atos Origin, AtosEuronext, Atos Worldline, Atos KPMG Consulting and Atos Odyssee.