Global Supermarket Giant Auchan Launches Business Service Management Project.

MCLEAN, Va. -- IT Implementation By Selesta and Atos Origin Using Managed Objects' BSM Solution, Formula(R)

Auchan, a global supermarket chain with more than 1,200 locations in 12 countries, is implementing a business service management project for its information systems. The innovative approach involves taking the organization's business requirements into account, with the goal of aligning business needs with the IT infrastructure.

Auchan is in phase two of accelerating and improving the organization's IT infrastructure. The project is based on collaboration between Atos Origin and Selesta, the European integrator and distributor of Managed Objects' Business Service Management (BSM) software Formula(R). The approach will help to change IT production from technically based management in favor of IT management focused on business services. The project covers 12 business processes deemed 'critical' by Auchan, the first of these to be rolled out is financial reporting.

"After a thorough study of six BSM products on the market, we chose Formula from Managed Objects for its ease of integration with our IT systems, the speed with which we could get it up and running, and the numerous references," said Benoit Thibaut, who is responsible for Service Instrumentation with Auchan.

Selesta will integrate Formula into Auchan's IT infrastructure. Using its know-how in Business Service Management and its knowledge of Auchan's production setup, Atos Origin will model Auchan's business processes and manage any remaining development.

"The advantages for my Information Systems Department are considerable," said Samuel Hurtrel, in charge of the Operations department at Auchan. "The ability to warn business users in advance of abnormal situations, based on the impact that the disturbances would have on the business processes, will provide an improvement in our dialogue from a business user's view," he added.

"We did not hesitate in recommending using a BSM product, since it put the customer at the center of the IT management's attention, which is exactly the philosophy that we have adopted," said Atos Origin.

About Managed Objects

Managed Objects is the Business Service Management Company. Consistently acknowledged by the analyst community as best in class, our methodology and suite of software built on the Formula(R) platform relates networks, systems, end users, applications, and even business metrics to the services that IT delivers. We have implemented Business Service Management more than any other company, helping our customers to monitor, manage and report on the availability and performance of services like online trading, customer relationship management and corporate e-mail. That is why CSC, DISA, Fidelity Investments, Progress Energy, Reuters, Telenor, TIAA-CREF, T-Systems and others rely on Managed Objects. For more information, visit www.managedobjects.com.

About Selesta

Selesta is one of the principal integrators of software for use in large companies. Selesta is in particular the integrator and distributor of the Formula product from Managed Objects, the world leader in BSM. Selesta has branches in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, with nearly 300 staff, a turnover in the region of EUR 100M and around 2,000 customers (Groupama, Decathlon, Caisse d'Epargne, BNP Paribas, Banque de Bretagne, Natexis, Exxon, Atos Origin, Generali, Societe Generale, Pirelli, Alitalia, Banca Intesa, Bayer, Colgate, San Paolo, BCEE, Telecom Italia, Fiat, Portugal Telecom, etc.).

Further information is available on the following Internet site: http://www.selesta.fr. Contact: Samy Rezgui - [e-mail]

About Atos Origin

Atos Origin is one of the main international players in IT services. Its business is turning its customers' strategic vision into results, by improving the use of consulting solutions, systems integration and information management. Established in 50 countries throughout the world, Atos Origin achieves an annual turnover of more than 5 billion euros with a staff of 50,000. Atos Origin is the worldwide IT partner for the Olympic Games, and the Group's customers 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.

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