CASE STUDIESCARVE-OUT · AUTOMOTIVE2019 – 2021

MEKU Group

Six companies separated from shared IT while production continued.

PROJECT AT A GLANCE

MEKU Group

THE TASK: Separate six companies from a shared IT environment.
OUR CONTRIBUTION: Lead the technical project, assess dependencies and separate the companies step by step.
THE OUTCOME: The units received separate data environments. Production continued throughout the separation.

THE PROJECT

Starting point
and requirements.

Six companies in a mid-sized automotive-related group shared IT with central applications and directory services.

Following insolvency in 2019, buyers were found for the individual units. Shared IT significantly complicated their sale. Management and the insolvency administrator therefore included IT early in the transaction process.

NON-NEGOTIABLE REQUIREMENTS

Production continues in every unit, including those not yet sold.

IMPLEMENTATION

What Sysfacts
took on.

Took technical project leadership across the estate, coordinating with management, the insolvency administrator, advisers and buyers
Prioritised and documented a roadmap for all six companies
Simulated separation steps in a lab first, exposing dependencies before changes to production
Separated companies individually outside critical business hours while the others continued working

AFTER THE PROJECT

What changed for the client.

OUTCOME AND OPERATIONS

Each unit received its own data without access to the other companies’ data. IT separation became a tested part of the transaction.

PROJECT DATA

companies ready for individual handover: 6
months to the final handover: 24

Technical context

Shared original environment

Six companies used two Frankfurt data centres with 20 VMware hosts and Dell storage configured as a metro cluster. The infrastructure supported all companies’ applications.

Central services and applications

Active Directory, an SAP HANA system, a Citrix workspace environment and a Microsoft 365 tenant connected the units. Separation therefore involved identities, access and shared data, not just virtual machines.

Technical separation

Planned steps were first simulated in a lab. Companies were then separated individually outside critical business hours while the remaining units continued using the existing estate.

Separation outcome

Each unit received its own data without access to other companies’ data. The technical roadmap and separation steps were documented as part of the transaction.

“Sysfacts made our IT ready for carve-out during insolvency while safeguarding ongoing operations throughout. We were able to separate shared services, including SAP, in a controlled way and hand each unit over to its buyer.”

Dr. Joachim Pieper Managing Director · MEKU GROUP Translated from German