Sanoma Pro’s SAP carve-out project

Sanoma sold Porvoon Kirjakeskus Oy’s business to Bonnier as a part of a larger merger. In the merger, Sanoma Pro’s and Porvoon Kirjakeskus Oy’s common IT systems needed to be separated. One of the key areas to be addressed was customer service for retail customers. For business continuity purposes, there was no room for mistakes. The project was very business critical.
Midagon’s role
Sanoma Pro was unable to find a suitable project manager internally. Therefore, Midagon was contacted for an experienced M&A project manager. As part of the project, a new ICT organization and new project management model were also adopted. This further increased the project’s complexity. In addition to meeting the project expectations, project personnel needed to learn the new project methodology and operating model. The manager had a key role in managing not only the project, but the overall change around it.
Program success and delivered benefits
The project delivered results as expected at costs that were below the budget. Midagon’s experienced project manager brought discipline to the project team. She managed the steering group reporting, which clearly allowed the steering group to make prompt, fact-based decisions. During the project, Sanoma Pro’s project management capabilities were also raised to a new level.