How Barking and Dagenham council is modernising highway asset management with Siemens Asset Management Software
Local councils are under ever-growing pressure to ensure their roads and other public assets remain safe and reliable, while at the same time having to manage tighter budgets and increased expectations from the public. A reactive approach – responding to issues of asset deterioration only after they are noticed – is increasingly unsustainable, and, especially with issues such as pothole repairs, expensive short-term fixes all too often use up crucial funds without delivering long-term improvements.
The Road Surface Treatments Association estimates that surface treatments cost £3.50–£8.00 per square metre, while reactive pothole repairs can exceed £80 per repair. The Public Accounts Committee’s 2025 report on local road maintenance also found that planned works were 35% more cost-effective than reactive fixes.[1]
To shift from short-term fixes towards lasting benefits, councils need a way to compare different options and understand how they might assist them.
The London Borough of Barking & Dagenham (LBBD) council is addressing this challenge through a major digital transformation programme built around Siemens Asset Management Software's (AMS) Confirm platform.
Having used elements of Confirm for more than three decades, the council has expanded its use of the system by integrating multiple asset classes and council services under a unified platform to improve operational efficiency, data quality and enable teams to have greater visibility of their assets, ensuring they are maintained proactively.
Moving away from siloed software
Like many local authorities, LBBD has a range of assets under its control and is responsible for a variety of associated services, including (but by no means limited to) highways: inspections and street works, street cleansing, grounds maintenance, arboriculture and parks and playgrounds.
Historically, these assets and services were managed by LBBD individually, often relying on spreadsheets or paper records, or separate, siloed software systems. This led to inefficiencies and operations teams struggling to manage assets accurately. By consolidating asset data within a single platform, LBBD has improved data quality and created a more complete view of assets across the borough. This enables maintenance teams to proactively prioritise work orders, allocate budgets more effectively and make informed decisions.
With growing expectations around digital access, compliance and transparency, the council needed to modernise. Rather than introduce yet more disconnected tools, LBBD made the decision to invest more extensively in Confirm, maximising the potential of the system to deliver a complete asset management solution.
Adopting Siemens AMS’ managed service model
In 2024, as part of that strategy, LBBD adopted Siemens AMS’ managed service model. This decision meant that server management would be handled by Siemens directly and system upgrades could happen automatically, leading to greatly reduced downtime and improved tracking of assets.
Using the managed service model results in reduced downtime and much smoother system upgrades. In the past, if LBBD had an upgrade, major or minor, it meant raising a project, getting the resources, and a substantial time commitment. The council has since managed to eliminate these steps, streamlining its workflow.
Confirm at a glance
Confirm simultaneously manages multiple asset types, enabling more efficient workflows and increasing value through proactive asset lifecycle management. It also allows asset managers to collect data and manage assets via the mobile app, increasing flexibility and freedom while reducing downtime and further enhancing productivity, regardless of location.
The system also offers state-of-the-art mapping to simplify and improve the management of assets and infrastructure. This technology improves emergency response and allows for better public engagement.
Users of the platform get industry-leading mobility, centralisation, and reporting all in a single, cloud-based platform. A safe and easy-to-use enterprise-grade platform allows councils to securely and proactively manage their assets.
Improved usability and enhanced visuals
New dashboards have also been rolled out, allowing the team at LBBD to use a map-based visualisation of their assets. Confirm Web, a modern, cloud-based interface within Confirm, was introduced to LBBD, which has since helped it manage public infrastructure assets.
An example of this approach has been the council's arboriculture assets. By integrating external geospatial datasets into Confirm, LBBD has enhanced its asset mapping capabilities and improved the accuracy of data obtained. This approach demonstrates how a centralised asset management platform can support multiple infrastructure asset classes while integrating with external platforms to support asset management.
While LBBD has used Confirm for over thirty years, its senior officers weren’t aware of the capabilities the system has to offer, and now, with its assets transformed using the solution, the council is much more aware of how efficient the process has become.
The digital transformation journey continues
As LBBD continues on its digital transformation journey, it expects additional council-owned assets to be integrated into the Confirm system, including playgrounds and grounds maintenance. The council is also in the process of reviewing its existing workflows to manage its assets as efficiently as possible.
The ultimate goal, now well underway, is to create an independent, fully integrated platform by using the system to manage public assets across the borough.
For local councils managing multiple assets, including highways, there is increasing pressure to deliver with limited resources, manual planning and reactive maintenance. The ability to manage a wide range of asset classes through a single connected platform is becoming increasingly important. By combining asset data, maintenance activity and reporting, LBBD has enabled itself to manage its assets with a more data-driven and proactive approach.
Daniel Mills, Account Director, Asset Management Software, Siemens, comments: “By strengthening its use of Confirm and taking advantage of Siemens AMS’ managed service offering, the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham has taken a significant step towards a more connected, data-driven approach to asset management. The result is improved operational efficiency, better visibility of assets and a platform that will continue to support the borough’s services in the years ahead. We’re proud to be working with LBBD in their digital transformation journey and look forward to a long, continued partnership.”
Sean Brindley, Business Information Support Officer, LBBD, comments: “It was difficult to get a complete picture and to identify all the assets that fell under one roof. Some assets were being tracked on spreadsheets, while some were still being managed via paper records, which meant we were really struggling to manage everything accurately and efficiently.
The major impact of using the managed service model is reduced downtime and much smoother system upgrades. In the past, if we had an upgrade, major or minor, it meant raising a project, getting the resources sorted out, and a substantial time commitment. Now we’ve eliminated all of that.”
As councils continue to manage public expectations, asset management solutions that enable preventative maintenance while providing a clear and accurate view of assets will play a critical role. By streamlining workflows and controlling budgets, enterprise asset management platforms can help highway managers to effectively and efficiently maintain their assets in the long term and increase value through proactive asset lifecycle management.
Find out more about Confirm: https://assetmanagement.siemens.com/products/confirm
[1] Local Government Association, Improving highways maintenance productivity, 7th May 2025, “Preventative maintenance”, available at: https://www.local.gov.uk/publications/improving-highways-maintenance-productivity#3-preventative-maintenance