Strengthening the MOD’s defence infrastructure with enterprise asset management

Land May 29, 2026

While often invisible to frontline operations, FM plays a critical role in ensuring infrastructure is resilient, ready, and responsive to the needs of the Armed Forces whenever and wherever required.

Article submitted by Peter Lemon, MACS’ sales director UK & Ireland.

The Ministry of Defence’s estate is one of the largest and most complex in Europe. Comprising over 96,000 individual assets spread across 900 different sites, it covers 225,800 hectares in the UK alone. Its management is crucial, directly supporting the MOD’s day-to-day defence operations, logistics, infrastructure planning and military personnel welfare. The term ‘high-stakes FM’ is frequently used in the facilities management (FM) industry, but here, it is no exaggeration.

Peter Lemon

Despite its scale and importance, estate management was not always operating as effectively as it could. Asset data was fragmented across more than 150 legacy systems, resulting in siloed information, inconsistent maintenance records and limited insight into asset performance. Without an overarching view of its data, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) – the body responsible for managing the estate – struggled to track costs, contracts and workloads, leading to inefficient performance and increased risk. Weaknesses in the supply chain further reduced resilience, ultimately compromising operational assurance and defence readiness.

In 2017, MACS introduced a comprehensive enterprise asset management (EAM) solution to address these issues. Building on the earlier implementation of IBM TRIRIGA as the estate’s Infrastructure Management System in 2012, this programme focused on further strengthening systems integration, governance and compliance. Since then, it has improved efficiency and strengthened the Ministry’s defence capabilities, highlighting the critical role of advanced FM strategies and technologies in supporting the sector.

Building a connected, data-driven estate

A key priority was the creation of a master asset register – a centralised, comprehensive record of assets across the estate. This extended beyond buildings and infrastructure to include individual components such as HVAC systems, lighting, and drainage, providing a consistent baseline for compliance. Incorporating data from five million assets and aligned to industry-standard formats, it supports audits, inspections and ‘golden thread’ principles. In other words, it provides a single source of truth for the MOD’s asset portfolio.

Re-establishing DIO’s control over its data was another major undertaking. Since 2017, more than ten million documents and five million asset records have been repatriated and standardised, benefiting both DIO and incoming industry partners. Maintenance plans are now consistently structured using industry-standard codes (NRM3 and SFG20), streamlining onboarding and ensuring operational continuity, even during supply chain transitions.

The introduction of a centralised IBM Maximo Computer-Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) system has also been key. It enables DIO to capture every maintenance transaction through a single platform, giving incoming partners immediate clarity on where and how to record their work. Within 10 months, we mobilised CAFM support across seven Future Defence Infrastructure Services contracts, with a combined value of £2.9 billion over seven years.

Our expertise in IBM technologies also underpinned the wider EAM ecosystem. Using IBM App Connect Enterprise and IBM MQ, we developed a secure, scalable integration platform to enhance data exchange between DIO and its partners. This enables real-time visibility of planning, compliance, and health and safety activities across the supply chain. Since 2017, the platform has processed more than 1.7 billion messages, equivalent to 54 per second, supporting the estate’s transition from reactive to proactive maintenance.

Finally, we optimised DIO’s 130,000-asset Single Living Accommodation (SLA) portfolio using IBM TRIRIGA. The platform’s Space Management functionality helped create the SLA Management Information System (SLAMIS), providing real-time visibility of every SLA block’s availability, condition and occupancy status. As a result, military personnel benefit from accommodation that is better managed, more reliable and aligned with the demands of operational life.

Operational and commercial impacts for the MOD

These changes have delivered tangible outcomes across the estate. To date, 25 million work orders have been processed and more than £150 million of work delivered. With more accurate and centralised data, investment decisions are now more strategic, evidence-based and cost-effective.

That same insight, combined with a proactive maintenance approach, has also strengthened asset sustainability. Reduced dependence on reactive repairs allows critical systems to operate optimally for longer, improving reliability and readiness to support defence activity.

Looking ahead, the EAM solution is designed to scale. Its architecture supports future AI and predictive maintenance capabilities, enabling DIO to anticipate failures before they impact operations. This ensures the estate can adapt to evolving and unpredictable defence requirements, however rapid they may be.

FM as a defence-facilitator

Overall, the success of MACS’ EAM solution demonstrates how effective estate management, underpinned by robust data, strong governance and integrated technology, can directly support defence outcomes.

While often invisible to frontline operations, FM plays a critical role in ensuring infrastructure is resilient, ready, and responsive to the needs of the Armed Forces whenever and wherever required.