Propelis’s Rapid SAP Carve-Out Sets New Industry Benchmark

EDISON, N.J. – May 07, 2026 – In a move that redefines the timeline for complex enterprise separations, global marketing services agency Propelis has completed a full SAP system carve-out in just eight months. The project, orchestrated by SAP consulting leader Lemongrass and data migration specialist cbs, not only established Propelis as an independent entity but also simultaneously modernized its core technology, providing a blueprint for speed and strategic transformation in the fast-paced world of mergers and divestitures.

The separation marks a critical milestone for Propelis, which was formed from the 2025 merger of SGS & Co and SGK. The newly combined entity, with over 9,000 employees across 30 countries, required a clean and rapid break from a shared SAP ECC environment to operate independently. The successful project delivered a new, scalable technology foundation without disrupting business continuity for either Propelis or the seller.

A New Gold Standard for Speed

An eight-month timeline for a project of this magnitude is exceptionally fast. Industry benchmarks for complex SAP carve-outs, which involve surgically separating deeply integrated business data, typically range from nine to 18 months. These projects are notoriously complex, date-driven by M&A agreements, and fraught with risk, including potential data loss, compliance breaches, and costly operational downtime.

The ability of Lemongrass and cbs to compress this timeline is a testament to a highly disciplined and technologically advanced approach. “Lemongrass and cbs proved to be the right partners for us from day one,” said Sriram Updahyayula, CIO/CTO at Propelis. “They brought clarity, structure and deep technical expertise to a highly complex carve-out — and delivered exactly what they committed to. Their ability to align stakeholders and execute with precision was critical to achieving independence on time and without disruption.”

The project's success hinged on avoiding common pitfalls. Many traditional carve-outs use a "clone and delete" method—copying the entire system and then attempting to purge irrelevant data. This approach is often slow, carries a high risk of unintentionally exposing the seller's sensitive data, and saddles the new entity with years of historical baggage and technical debt.

The Blueprint for a Flawless Separation

The project's velocity and precision were enabled by a "selective data transformation" methodology, a core specialty of cbs. Instead of a messy clone-and-delete process, this approach builds a clean target system and migrates only the specific data relevant to the new entity. This surgical technique was powered by cbs’s proprietary software, the cbs ET Enterprise Transformer®, a tool designed for precisely this kind of complex data surgery.

This method provided several critical advantages. First, it guaranteed data privacy and compliance by ensuring no sensitive data from the seller’s remaining operations ever left the source system. Second, it provided Propelis with a clean, lean system from day one, free from irrelevant historical data, which improves performance and simplifies future management. The production cutover was completed with zero unplanned downtime for Propelis and no production impact on the legacy company, a rare feat in such large-scale transitions.

“This SAP carve-out shows what’s possible with disciplined data separation and strong partner alignment,” noted Lorenz Praefcke, CEO of cbs America. The project required meticulous coordination, with Lemongrass leading the overall program delivery and ensuring alignment between business, technical, and partner teams. An Azure-based project landscape was used to accelerate development and testing before the final transition to SAP Enterprise Cloud Services for the production environment.

More Than a Split: A Foundation for Future Growth

Propelis and its partners viewed the carve-out not merely as a separation but as a strategic opportunity for wholesale modernization. The project became a catalyst to shed legacy systems and build a technology stack ready for the future.

Key modernizations included transitioning all system integrations from the older SAP Process Orchestration to the cloud-native SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) Integration Suite. This move provides Propelis with a scalable, agile, and robust platform to connect its diverse applications and data sources, which is essential for a global marketing agency managing complex client workflows. SAP BTP also serves as an innovation platform, enabling the future use of advanced AI and automation.

Furthermore, the company’s analytics capabilities were migrated to a dedicated Microsoft Azure environment. This gives Propelis access to powerful cloud-based data tools like Azure Synapse and Power BI, enabling more sophisticated data analysis, faster insights, and better-informed decision-making for both its internal operations and client campaigns. This strategic adoption of cloud platforms not only enhances operational stability but also significantly reduces long-term technical debt.

“This carve-out required speed, precision and trust across multiple stakeholders,” said Tim Wintrip, CEO at Lemongrass. “Together with cbs, we combined deep carve-out experience with selective data transformation expertise to protect critical data, maintain continuity and help Propelis achieve its separation on an accelerated timeline.”

With its new independent and modernized SAP landscape supporting operations in over 30 countries, Propelis is now positioned for growth. The company is continuing its partnership with Lemongrass for managed services and further transformation initiatives, building on the success of a project that has set a new standard for executing complex corporate divestitures with speed and strategic foresight.