Our client, a global electronics and services organisation, was subject to corporate acquisition from a global software giant. When both organisations are of exceptional scale and complexity, the opportunity for the process to become a ‘clash of the titans’ is significant.
The client IT environment was complex: >30,000 users, >19,000 server images and 800 business applications, hundreds of suppliers and thousands of contracts... Our experience led us to focus on three areas that typically cause the majority of issues and would hence need suitable focus and expert management. These three areas, essential to achieving a smooth ‘Day 1’ go-live, were:
- Understanding which business applications need to change to meet legal, regulatory and privacy legislation, including what changes were needed
- Definition and completion of the Transitional Service Agreements (TSAs) which would clearly communicate what was being delivered, by who and until when
- Correctly apportioning the clients’ data between the ‘target’ and ‘spin off’ entities
Our pragmatic approach acted as a highly effective catalyst and helped simplify what, to many, appeared overwhelming. Our structure and control, plus our ‘collaborative, can do’ attitude also helped inject velocity.
By operating in an agile, flexible manner and ‘doing’ as well as ‘advising’, we helped our client in numerous ways, assuring the success of this important programme:
- By understanding the real business requirements, we were able to link this initiative with others, creating greater levels of robustness and surety
- By proactively managing the TSA development, we removed duplication and were able to ‘productionise’ development, using common terminology, templates and descriptions
- By governing efficiently, we were able to align all parties, clarify activities and issues associated with logical and physical separation and reduce error and risk
Through working hard, thinking smart and acting collaboratively, our approach enabled Day 1 success.
