UEFA CIO: How To Build Pan-Continental Infrastructure For Euro 2020
INTERVIEW: UEFA head of ICT Daniel Marion talks about providing the infrastructure to support European football and plans for Euro 2020
Cybersecurity and infrastructure
Euro 2016 was notable for an increased focus on cybersecurity, not just in terms of how UEFA dealt with threats from a technical aspect but how it educated staff and volunteers.
“Cybersecurity will not go [away] any time soon,” Marion says. “From 2012, it has been a very big point for us so we’ve been looking at this in all areas [from how it affects our]internal systems to how we protect against the likes of DDOS. For 2016, this was one of the major advances. In 2012 we had some counter measures, but were there in a big way for 2016.
“For six weeks we have volunteers, networks and computers everywhere inside and outside. We have people operating these so it’s difficult for them to understand these concepts. We do awareness sessions but it’s difficult.”
With a remit that encompasses the entire of Europe, temporary spikes in demand from fans and a rapid rollout for tournaments, you would have thought UEFA to be the ideal candidate for cloud computing.
UEFA is embracing the cloud but at a slower pace and it believes a hybrid approach in the future is the way to go.
“For many years we have things outsourced [some processes] as a managed service,” Marion adds. A few years back we looked at moving to the cloud but it was too early but two years ago, it started to be [more suitable]. When we found an [appropriate] SaaS solution we used it. IaaS like AWS or Azure, we mainly use that mainly for websites.
“Our core systems are still managed hosting but we will gradually move to the cloud, especially when we find the right service. [However] Cost-wise it doesn’t always make sense to move. When we have need for elasticity [we use cloud] but when we don’t, it’s more expensive. Hybrid. There’s a balance we need to strike.”
Euro 2020
indeed, it is connectivity that Marion thinks will be the largest issue in Euro 2020. When UEFA deals with a single host or co-host, it usually works with the largest network providers (think Orange in France or BT in the UK) to hook up the stadiums and other key facilities like the International Broadcast Centres (IBC).
Finding a supplier for all 13 nations presents a challenge UEFA is not used to dealing with.
“[Euro 2020] would have been a very different experience 20 years ago!” he says. “We produce a lot of content and push it to the IBC via fibre as satellite is not fast enough. We’ll have to find a way to do that in 2020.
“With most large events, it’s best to go with the incumbent as they have the most fibre in the ground and you have one vendor so [problems] are easy to repair.
“For us in 2020 there is no operator in all 13 cities and the IBC might not even be in one of the host countries so there could be 14. I think it’s going to be an interesting, challenging project.
“This summer we should have a good idea and this winter we will know. The reality checks will have been done.”
