IBM Technology Chosen to Manage UK DIO’s Physical Assets and Infrastructure

The United Kingdom's Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has awarded IBM with a contract that will help it gain greater insight and intelligence in relation to its entire property portfolio.

DIO, an operational arm of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), is responsible for the management of some 4,000 separate sites and includes military barracks; land, air and naval bases; and military training grounds. Using IBM's smarter buildings software and services, DIO expects to reduce building operating costs and find ways to better utilize its existing real estate.

The MoD is one of the United Kingdom's largest landowners, covering some 900 square miles and around 45,000 buildings, 55,000 houses and 135,000 Single Living bedspaces. It has real estate in Germany, Cyprus and the Falkland Islands, along with facilities in Norway, Poland, Kenya, Canada, Belize, Nepal and Oman. Charged with managing all of these physical assets and infrastructure, DIO's goal is to drive greater efficiency and operations of these buildings to support an estates rationalization program that will deliver significant efficiencies over the next decade and beyond.

Defence in the United Kingdom is undergoing a major period of transformation as the government is requiring its agencies to better utilize resources, including real estate assets. With buildings accounting for 45 percent of all carbon emissions in the UK, this is a natural area to start. DIO will use IBM technology to meet these Defence needs by replacing its outdated legacy IT environment and create a new centralized information management system, allowing faster analysis and more informed decision-making to better manage its vast network of real estate.

"The award of this contract to IBM represents a major milestone in transforming the Defence Infrastructure Organisation since it will allow us to work smarter in providing a Defence estate, which meets military needs and supports our Armed Forces," said Andrew Manley, DIO Chief Executive. "IBM analytics technology helps us continue our work in creating a world-class infrastructure to put DIO at the leading edge of the technology transformation process happening right now across the MoD."

The IBM TRIRIGA solution will provide an integrated property management solution comprising of software and consultancy services. This will give DIO central visibility of its extensive global property holdings and data on how efficiently they are being used. Geospatial mapping capability, created by business partner Esri UK limited, provides the real-time visualization map that gives a complete scope of their infrastructure and assets.

For instance, with these new capabilities DIO can assess if buildings or bases are not being used at full capacity. They can then decide to consolidate resources to either free up space for other uses or eliminate the cost from their balance sheets.

The IBM solution will also enable processes to be streamlined across the MoD's diverse organization by linking with the systems used by DIO's Next Generation Estate Contracts team. This will reduce reliance on multiple outdated systems, and greatly speed up and improve the flow of information between the organization and its industrial partners. Overall, this will help to support an improved, more agile and strategic management of its estate.

"Having the right data at the right time is essential for DIO," said Dave Bartlett, vice president, Smarter Physical Infrastructure, IBM. "IBM's analytics and smarter buildings software will help provide a new level of intelligence to how the MoD is managing its global real estate portfolio."

The upgraded system will be launched in a number of capability releases through April 2014. These are based on analysis of future business needs, the current DIO technology landscape and engagement with industry through procurement.

IBM's strategy is to seamlessly integrate technology into the world around us to drive greater intelligence on this Smarter Planet. The world around us is changing, and technology is no longer a siloed area, but a fundamental element to the growth and success of every business. Everything from buildings, to transportation systems, manufacturing, healthcare and to cities themselves are becoming smarter. Launched in 2008, IBM has been focused on driving this next era of information technology and its impact on business and society.