In a further example of the faith held in outsourcing deals by major organisations, the Highways Agency has signed a £75 million deal to hand over the running of its IT support.

Lasting for five years, the agreement with Atos Origin will reportedly see the agency make a 15 per cent saving in its budget each year.

Some 120 IT support staff will switch from the Highways Agency under the terms of the contract, which should help with the smooth transition of network services.

With the agency responsible for the maintenance, improvement and operations of England's major road networks, the organisation has numerous tailored applications to deal specifically with the challenges this creates.

But under the outsourcing agreement, Atos is tasked to support and develop this large and complex range of back-office systems - which could potentially improve the agency's efficiency given time.

This follows Atos' other recent successful sign-up, a £14 million managed services deal with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.