The SLO Imperative
Why SAP Landscape Transformation Is Critical for M&A Success
The M&A Technology Challenge
Mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures create immediate IT integration challenges. Organizations must consolidate duplicate systems, harmonize business processes, migrate critical data, and maintain operational continuity under aggressive timelines and intense scrutiny. When SAP systems are involved, complexity increases: multiple versions, custom code, master data inconsistencies, and legal requirements for data separation or integration.
SAP System Landscape Optimization (SLO) addresses these challenges through structured methodologies for system consolidation, harmonization, and transformation. Rather than risky 'big bang' approaches, SLO enables phased, controlled landscape changes that preserve business continuity while achieving strategic IT objectives.
Common SLO Scenarios
Post-Merger Integration.
Two organizations with distinct SAP landscapes require unified systems to achieve synergies. Duplicate company codes, plants, and master data must be consolidated. Business processes need to be harmonized. Legal entities may require merging or reorganization across systems.
Divestiture & Carve-Out
The business unit being sold requires a clean separation from the parent company's SAP system. Master data, transactional history, and organizational structures must be carved out without disrupting remaining operations. Legal requirements mandate the complete separation of data by specific dates.
Internal Reorganization
Business units are being restructured across legal entities, geographies, or functions. Plants may be reassigned to different company codes. Profit centers may be realigned. All changes must maintain transactional integrity and historical reporting capabilities.
System Consolidation
Multiple SAP instances (ERP, CRM, SRM) accumulated through acquisitions need consolidation. Goal: reduce IT complexity, lower maintenance costs, standardize business processes, and create a single source of truth for enterprise data.
The Cost of Getting It Wrong
Failed SAP landscape transformations carry severe consequences: months of operational disruption, lost revenue from system unavailability, compliance violations from data mishandling, employee productivity losses, customer satisfaction issues, and missed M&A synergy targets. Organizations that approach SLO without specialized expertise often experience 6–12-month delays and 40-60% budget overruns.
The MOIT SLO Advantage
MOIT's SLO services combine deep SAP technical expertise with M&A program management experience. We've successfully executed landscape transformations for Fortune 500 companies across manufacturing, chemicals, automotive, and life sciences. Our approach: minimize risk, maintain business continuity, meet legal deadlines, and position your IT landscape for future growth.
What is System Landscape Optimization
Comprehensive SAP Landscape Transformation Services
MOIT's SLO Service Portfolio
PMO & Program Management
MOIT acts as your internal PMO, coordinating IT, business, finance, legal, and SAP teams throughout the transformation. We provide project governance, risk management, stakeholder communication, and timeline enforcement to ensure all parties remain aligned and accountable.
Data Support & Functional Mapping
Critical analysis mapping current-state organizational structures (company codes, plants, profit centers, cost centers) to future-state designs. We identify data dependencies, document business rules, and create detailed transformation specifications to ensure no data loss or process disruption.
SAP Collaboration
Direct collaboration with SAP's System Landscape Optimization group, leveraging specialized tools and expertise. We coordinate with SAP support, manage licensing implications, and ensure transformations align with SAP best practices and roadmap.
Harmonization & Standardization
Beyond technical system consolidation, we harmonize business processes, master data standards, organizational structures, and report frameworks. Goal: create a unified, simplified IT landscape that supports standardized business operations across the merged entities.
SLO vs. Traditional System Integration
Traditional system integration approaches—point-to-point interfaces, manual data migration, custom integration code—create technical debt and long-term maintenance burden. SLO uses SAP-native transformation tools (Transaction MGTRANS, SAP TDMS, archiving solutions), ensuring changes are supportable, upgrade-compatible, and aligned with SAP's architecture principles. This approach reduces risk, accelerates timelines, and positions landscapes for future SAP innovations, such as S/4HANA.
When Organizations Need SLO
SLO Service Offerings
Eight Specialized Services for Every Transformation Scenario
Structural reorganization of business units across legal entities, geographies, or operational models. Supports plant relocations, company code mergers, profit center realignments, and organizational restructuring driven by strategic or regulatory requirements.
Visual Element: BUR transformation diagram showing organizational structure before/after
- Organizational Structure Mapping: Detailed analysis of current organizational assignments...
- Master Data Transformation: Material masters, customer-material info records, vendor assignments...
- Transactional Data Migration: Open sales orders, purchase orders, production orders...
Chart of accounts harmonization, fiscal year alignment, and financial reporting standardization across merged entities. Enables consolidated financial statements, unified accounting policies, and streamlined audit processes.
- Chart of Accounts Harmonization: Consolidate multiple COAs into a unified structure...
- Fiscal Year Alignment: Synchronize fiscal year calendars, period definitions...
- Controlling Structure Unification: Merge controlling areas, consolidate cost center hierarchies...
Customer number harmonization, vendor consolidation, material master unification, and supply chain integration across merged operations. Enables shared procurement, unified sales processes, and integrated production planning.
- Customer-Vendor-Material Conversion: Standardize numbering schemes...
- Plant Integration: Integrate new plants into the existing supply chain...
- Sales & Distribution Harmonization: Merge sales organizations...
Legally required currency changes, including Euro adoption, decimal point conversions, parallel currency introductions, and group currency modifications. Complete historical data conversion, maintaining transactional integrity.
- Decimal Point Conversion
- Local Currency Changes by Org Unit
- Parallel Currency Setup
- Group Currency Modifications
HR organizational structure, mergers, and employee data migration between SAP systems. Ensures consistency and continuity of HCM data, supports correction runs, and enables retroactive accounting for merged entities.
Multi-system consolidation at the client level, multi-client system setup, and selective application data transfer (sales orders, invoices, serial numbers) across SAP ERP, CRM, and SRM systems.
Create non-productive system landscapes with reduced data volume while maintaining business object consistency. Accelerates sandbox and training system provisioning, lowers storage costs, and enables realistic testing with production-like data.
Enterprise-wide data archiving strategy with consistent lifecycle management. Relocate and store large data volumes cost-effectively, implement SAP Information Lifecycle Management, and enable secure data removal across SAP solutions.
MOIT's SLO Approach
Proven PMO Methodology for Risk-Free Landscape Transformation
Acting as Your Internal PMO
MOIT serves as your internal Program Management Office, providing governance and coordination across IT, business, finance, legal, and SAP teams. We establish program structure, define roles and responsibilities, create detailed project plans, manage risks and issues, and ensure all stakeholders remain aligned throughout the transformation.
Data Support & IT/Functional Mapping
Critical foundation for successful landscape transformation. Our team conducts detailed analysis mapping current organizational structures to future-state designs, identifying all data dependencies, documenting transformation rules, and creating comprehensive specifications. This rigor prevents data loss, maintains referential integrity, and enables smooth cut-over execution.
SAP Collaboration
Direct partnership with SAP's System Landscape Optimization group ensures access to specialized tools, methodologies, and expertise. We coordinate with SAP support for technical guidance, manage licensing implications, and leverage SAP's roadmap insights for future-proof transformation strategies.
Our 5-Phase SLO Methodology
Assessment & Strategy
(2–4 weeks)
Current state analysis, future state design, business case development, transformation roadmap
Detailed Planning
(4–6 weeks)
IT/functional mapping, data analysis, transformation rules, cut-over sequencing, risk mitigation planning
Development & Testing
(8–16 weeks)
Tool configuration, data transformation scripts, integration testing, UAT, cutover rehearsals
Execution & Cutover
(1–2 weeks)
Production data transformation, system changes, validation checkpoints, hypercare support
Stabilization & Optimization
(4–8 weeks)
Post-cutover support, issue resolution, process optimization, knowledge transfer, program closeout
WHY CHOOSE MOIT
The MOIT Advantage for SAP Landscape Transformation
M&A Program Management Expertise
19+ years delivering SAP solutions for Fortune 500 companies undergoing mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. We understand M&A timelines, deal structures, regulatory requirements, and stakeholder pressures—combining technical SAP expertise with business transformation experience.
Proven Track Record Across Industries
Successfully executed SLO programs across manufacturing (plant relocations, company code mergers), chemicals (divestiture carve-outs, JV formations), automotive (supplier network consolidations), and life sciences (M&A integrations, maintaining FDA compliance). Our industry experience accelerates planning and reduces execution risk.
Comprehensive SLO Service Portfolio
Full spectrum of SLO capabilities—all eight services from BUR to SSLAI. A single partner simplifies program management, reduces coordination overhead, and ensures a consistent methodology across multiple transformation workstreams running in parallel.
Risk-First Approach
Emphasis on risk identification and mitigation at every phase. Comprehensive data validation checkpoints, multiple cutover rehearsals, detailed rollback procedures, and 24/7 hypercare support ensure business continuity throughout transformation. Our risk-first approach has delivered a 100% on-time cutover success rate.
Risk-First Approach
Emphasis on risk identification and mitigation at every phase. Comprehensive data validation checkpoints, multiple cutover rehearsals, detailed rollback procedures, and 24/7 hypercare support ensure business continuity throughout transformation. Our risk-first approach has delivered a 100% on-time cutover success rate.
SAP Partnership & Tool Expertise
Deep expertise with SAP's SLO toolset: Transaction MGTRANS for organizational structure changes, SAP TDMS for test data management, and archiving solutions for data lifecycle management. Certified consultants with specialized training from SAP's SLO group ensure best-practice implementations aligned with SAP's roadmap.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
A: Timeline depends on scope and complexity. Simple reorganizations: 3-4 months. Post-merger integration with multiple SLO services: 6-12 months. Complex divestitures carve-outs: 9-15 months. We work backward from legal deadlines (deal close dates) to establish realistic programs with appropriate contingency.