Case Study
FTI Technology Executes Time Critical Data Divestiture Ahead of $6 Billion Transaction
A Fortune 300 telecommunications company had 75 days to migrate more than 50 terabytes of Microsoft 365 data for 2,000 employees to a Fortune 50 acquirer, with nearly $6 billion in transaction value at stake. FTI Technology led technical execution, supporting the company in closing the deal on schedule, with the substantial majority of data transferred ahead of legal day one.
Situation
The 75-day deadline required separating and transferring data across four distinct Microsoft 365 workloads, each with its own structure and ownership patterns. Meeting the requirements for closing demanded precise identification of what data needed to move, secure infrastructure and error-free execution, all while both organizations continued operating without interruption.
The data divestiture also had to protect competitively sensitive email data through selective holdback and work around network throttling constraints that threatened the timeline. Alignment was needed between two separate IT organizations on requirements, validation standards and escalation paths, under significant time pressure.
Our Role
FTI Technology deployed a single, integrated divestiture strategy spanning the technical, operational and stakeholder coordination challenges of the engagement. The team built and operationalized the migration infrastructure, engineered solutions for addressing network constraints and ran validation across every workload in scope.
FTI Technology’s support and solutions included:
- Inventory of Microsoft 365 data across SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams and Exchange for all 2,000 employees, mapping dependencies and identifying emails requiring legal holdback.
- A secure landing zone in the acquirer’s Microsoft 365 environment and rapid deployment of enterprise migration software to meet the compressed timeline.
- Processes and workflows to overcome network throttling constraints that threatened the completion timeline and compliance.
- Rigorous validation protocols across all workloads to protect data integrity.
- Project management and coordination between the two IT organizations, including reporting, working sessions and escalation management.
- Oversight of selective email holdback to protect competitive interests during the transition.
- Real-time progress and risk reporting, with facilitation of technical working sessions between IT teams and managed escalation on critical path items.
Our Impact
FTI Technology’s processes and technical execution ensured the client could complete the necessary data divestiture for 2,000 employees, with full operational capability, on time, in support of a high value business transaction. The team ensure data integrity was maintained across all Microsoft 365 environments throughout the data divestiture and transition. Experts also provided ongoing support for 30 days following the deal’s closing to reduce friction and resolve any unforeseen issues.
The team:
- Executed transfers with a high degree of accuracy, minimizing disruption and post-migration issues.
- Completed the substantial majority of transfers before legal day one, giving the new entity full Microsoft 365 access without delay and with minimal remediation.
- Enabled the divesting company to close on schedule with no technical impediments.