When a company enters a demerger or divestment, the business decision is often clear. The IT implications are not.
In an IT carve-out or business carve-out, IT separation goes far beyond splitting systems. Divestments and demergers require reshaping entire IT landscapes, including ERP environments like SAP, while ensuring continuity in identity and access management and collaboration platforms. At the same time, shared data and historical records must be carefully separated. With tight timelines and multiple vendors involved, IT separation becomes one of the most complex and risk-intensive parts of any carve-out.
The challenge is not only technical – it is decision-driven.”
In demergers and divestments, recurring patterns often increase IT separation risk. IT decisions are delayed while business timelines remain fixed, scope boundaries stay unclear, and dependencies between systems and data are underestimated. Plans are frequently built on a linear execution model, even though reality requires coexistence between legacy and new environments. At the same time, the needs of the future standalone organization are not always reflected early enough.
Challenges rarely come from technology alone – but from how and when decisions are made.”
The handover phase is particularly critical: solutions designed for the parent organization may not fit the new entity, leading to delays and rework. Ultimately, the core challenges of an IT carve-out are rarely technical — they are driven by timing, clarity, and decision-making.
Based on experience, successful IT separation follows a structured path:
In one demerger scenario, a listed engineering group was separated into three independent companies — a complex IT carve-out requiring significant restructuring across the enterprise landscape. The work included separating core systems such as SAP, CRM, and reporting platforms, while also separating master data and financial structures. At the same time, entirely independent IT environments had to be established for each new entity.
Vivicta supported the programme by defining SAP carve-out principles, structuring the separation of financial and data models, and planning a controlled cutover with phased implementation.
Key insight: Clear SAP environment definition and detailed cutover planning significantly reduce business risk in IT separation.
In another business carve-out, a product line was separated into a new independent company. The success of the IT separation was driven by strong early-phase planning. A structured pre-study helped define a realistic scope and phasing model, while clear ownership across IT workstreams ensured alignment throughout execution.
Instead of attempting a “big bang,” the separation was implemented in phases across domains, enabling better control and reducing execution risk.
Key insight: Early planning is critical in IT carve-outs – it enables faster execution without sacrificing control.
In a large-scale demerger, an industrial company needed to separate multiple business areas while maintaining uninterrupted operations. This required careful coordination across vendors, systems, and data dependencies – all within a tight timeline typical for divestments.
Vivicta helped structure IT dependencies, evaluate SAP and data separation options, and define clear scope boundaries before implementation began. This preparation enabled smooth execution, aligned vendor collaboration, and ensured business continuity throughout the carve-out.
Key insight: Advisor-led preparation creates the foundation for controlled and low-risk IT separation.
In IT separation, success is rarely determined by technology alone, but by the strength of governance around it. Organizations must manage identities and control access, ensure data protection and compliance (such as GDPR), and maintain tight control over vendors and contracts. At the same time, testing, rollback readiness, and careful cutover planning are essential to avoid disruption. Underpinning all of this is the need to safeguard business continuity. Without structured governance across these areas, even the most well-designed separation plans can fail in practice.
Transitional Service Agreements (TSA) are often necessary, but staying in TSA too long slows down the new entity.
Key priorities:
The goal is not just separation – but value realization after separation.
Vivicta supports IT separation in demergers, divestments, and carve-outs by combining advisory-led planning with execution. This includes IT environment separation, SAP and data carve-outs, and structured governance across security, compliance, and program management.
The difference lies in strong senior advisory bridging business and IT, supported by proven methods and hands-on delivery experience from complex real-life separations.
We don’t just execute – we ensure the right decisions are made before execution begins.
IT separation is the process of splitting systems, data, and IT environments so that a carved-out business can operate independently.
The biggest risks in IT separation typically arise from delayed decision-making, especially when business timelines remain fixed and leave little room for adjustment. In addition, unclear scope boundaries early in a divestment or carve-out can lead to misunderstandings and costly rework later in the process. Organizations also often underestimate dependencies between systems and data, which increases complexity during execution. Finally, misalignment between the parent organization and the new standalone entity can create gaps in requirements and priorities, ultimately putting the success of the IT separation at risk.
It varies widely, but timelines are typically constrained by transaction requirements – which is why early planning is critical.
A Transitional Service Agreement (TSA) allows the parent company to provide IT services temporarily after separation, while the new entity builds its own capabilities.
Business disruption in IT separation can be minimized by defining the target state early, which provides clarity and reduces the need for redesign during execution. A phased approach to implementation further helps manage complexity and maintain control, rather than relying on a single high-risk cutover. In addition, strong governance and structured cutover planning are essential to ensure coordination across stakeholders and vendors. Equally important is securing continuity in identity management, access control, and data access, so that business operations can continue without interruption throughout the carve-out or divestment.
Immediately. The earlier IT is involved, the better the decisions – and the lower the risk.
While IT separation is a core focus in divestments, demergers, and business carve-outs, mergers and acquisitions typically require IT integration rather than separation. In IT integration, systems, data, and processes are combined into a unified environment, whereas in an IT carve-out or divestment, they must be separated into independent entities. In practice, carve-outs and IT separation may also precede a merger or acquisition, making both capabilities closely related.
At Vivicta, we have strong, hands-on experience across both IT separation and IT integration scenarios, enabling us to support clients throughout the full transaction lifecycle – from carve-out planning to post-deal integration.
Tapani has over 30 years of experience in the IT sector, from software development to consulting, working both in development and management positions. Currently, he works as Modernization Advisor, helping to adopt DevOps practices. Tapani is a certified Scrum Master and TOGAF 9.1 Enterprise Architect.