Atos has won a £200m IT infrastructure contract from the Home Office

The Home Office has awarded a £200m IT infrastructure contract to cover the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND), it announced on Tuesday.

Under the six-year deal, supplier Atos Origin will take responsibility for service provision and IT support for 8,000 staff across the directorate. It will take over the IT from incumbent supplier Siemens Business Service at the beginning of November and is expected to deliver "significant operational improvements".

The IND had suffered IT problems under Siemens. It had to process asylum claims on paper in 2001 after shelving a £77m computer system. The directorate had also been dogged by IT delays in the late 90s.

Home Office Minister, Des Browne, said: "Atos Origin demonstrated to us that they have the expertise and understanding to successfully deliver the Immigration and Nationality Directorate's IT. Investing in its infrastructure is part of the directorate's drive to continually improve the working environment for its staff as well as ensuring value for money.

"I would like to thank the previous supplier Siemens Business Services for the service they provided during the life-span of the previous contract and who have supported the business during a period of high activity."

Atos beat competition from Siemens and Fujitsu for the contract.

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