The potential for creating new business values and simplifying operations are core drivers of the divestment process. However, many organizations underestimate potential complications when untangling connected IT environments between one or more companies. By engaging IT professional services, such as Talent as a Service (TaaS), companies can implement, navigate, and leverage the tools they need for a successful transition.
Most companies accumulate a myriad of applications, platforms, and interconnected systems over the course of operations. Reliance on legacy applications or infrastructure will further compound any complications. By streamlining their technology stack, divesting organizations can increase efficiency, speed up the divestment process, or even make themselves more attractive to potential buyers.
According to the EY Global Corporate Divestment Study, organizations that “use both effective digital tools and third-party data or benchmarks to augment their efforts” record benefits such as faster transition times and fewer disruptions to operations.
Case study: Multi-state retail chain partners with CBTS to meet divestiture timeline
A CBTS global client recently divested its retail division to a large convenience store chain. At the time of the sale, the client had almost 4,000 stores across the United States. The company faced many hurdles to a smooth transition: limited budget, strict regulatory accounting rules, and insufficient skilled IT personnel. Throughout the process, the organization realized that additional IT resources were needed to complete the transition on time and under budget.
The client turned to CBTS to guide them through the arduous process of creating an independent IT environment compatible with the buyer’s infrastructure. The CBTS ITprofessional services team enabled their team to focus on day-to-day operations while supporting their ambitious restructuring goals.
This post outlines the importance of a third-party IT partner during a divestiture and highlights the specific solutions implemented for the convenience store chain.
Read the complete case study here.
The CBTS TaaS advantage
Business restructuring events like mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures are the ideal time to streamline IT teams. Partnering with an IT professional services provider like CBTS has the following benefits:
- Flexible, custom staffing model
- Access to talent with expert-level experience and training
- On-demand placement of staff and resources
- Affordable pricing model based on your unique project needs
Strategizing technology optimization before, during, and after a divestiture
Aligning and optimizing technology usage is ideal at any point of restructuring, but especially pre-sale. Before a divestiture, modernizing digital tools makes an organization more attractive to potential buyers. Additionally, optimizing technology processes helps to successfully transition between the divested and the new parent company. Taking stock of your IT resources to supplement where needed is invaluable during and in the immediate aftermath of a merger, acquisition, or divestiture, as it can help smooth out any transitional issues.
For many companies, failing to factor IT integration and optimization into the divestment process can lead to blown deadlines and overspending. Chief among the common causes of delays during divestitures is the inability of organizations to conform to regulatory guidelines. EY reports that nearly 50% of companies that run longer than scheduled for divestments cite regulatory approvals as a primary cause of delays.
Working with CBTS helps remove technology and compliance roadblocks that slow down divestitures and drag out the transition process.
Learn more: How to modernize applications during mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures
Implementing managed IT professional services and TaaS
The beauty of a TaaS engagement is that it is highly customizable for each client. After the initial alignment session, the CBTS IT professional services team dedicates IT experts specific to infrastructure, network, security, and applications. Each group comprised a project lead, lead technical developer, senior developer, and software development engineer. The embedded CBTS project lead managed each team and maintained daily communication with the company’s IT leadership to ensure alignment on strategy and implementation. To meet the company’s accounting standards and need for predictable monthly costs, a custom pricing model was created that offered revenue-based rebates and flat-rate billing.
Accomplish your goals with a well-supported team
The divestment process was carried out smoothly with minimal impact on the client’s daily operations. Furthermore, CBTS was selected as the primary IT partner for the chain, and up to 65 CBTS IT experts continue to work to integrate and support the newly divided and streamlined IT environment.
By outsourcing IT implementation, company executives can concentrate on ensuring overall business continuity and process integration while leaving the technical aspects to CBTS.
Choosing a partner for your IT needs
Partnering with a third-party IT professional services provider during M&A can provide efficiency, dependability, security, compliance, access to emerging technologies, and predictable pricing. CBTS is an experienced IT services provider with highly certified engineers and project managers at the ready. The CBTS team provides a truly co-managed experience, giving clients complete control of their IT environment throughout the partnership, while offloading burden from internal IT teams.
Contact CBTS for more information on executing a complex divestiture roadmap without disrupting daily operations.