Align files across buyer and seller.
Before the deal can close, every file has to end up on the right side. That is data separation. After years of delivering it on custom-built systems, we built Octosight to do it right.
A $2B divestiture of a digital advertising business from a media conglomerate. 5,000 employees. 395 million files. Every one of them had to be reviewed to determine what stayed with the seller and what transferred to the buyer.
Before Octosight existed, this required six separate tools. A 60-day timeline stretched to 12 months. The transaction close was delayed. The cost reached $8M.
This volume is not an edge case. It represents how unstructured data accumulates inside modern organizations.
Ownership changes faster than systems and data do.
In divestitures, the Transition Services Agreement (TSA) period provides a defined window to separate data. Each party retains the IP required to operate. Unrelated or sensitive data does not transfer. Data subject to legal hold must be preserved before any remediation begins.
In a divestiture, employees are formally mapped to either remain with the seller (Oldco) or transfer to the buyer (Newco). In practice, far more people than those assigned to the transaction hold data relevant to both sides. The data involved reflects years of collaboration that did not anticipate a future transaction.
Teams work across accounts, campaigns, and regions using everyday tools designed for productivity, not separation. Files move between laptops, shared drives, SharePoint, and OneDrive. Emails are forwarded, attachments are reused, and meeting artifacts accumulate over time. When separation begins, that data already exists everywhere it is allowed to exist.
The challenge is that data separation cannot be executed reliably with email instructions, manual searches, or progress tracked in spreadsheets. Those tools were never designed to identify, validate, and remediate data at this scale, under the time pressure and scrutiny of a transaction, with defensibility.
Ensure the buyer receives the IP required to operate the acquired business.
Prevent unrelated or sensitive seller IP from transferring.
Meet regulatory, contractual, and audit requirements under fixed timelines.
Five approaches. One works.
Data remains commingled. Regulatory obligations go unmet. The true cost shows up in headlines, lawsuits, and regulatory findings.
Issue new laptops. IP permanently destroyed. Revenue lost while employees cannot work. Deal value materially reduced.
20+ consultants send guidance by email. Employees run keyword searches. No centralized tracking. No audit trail. Indefensible at scale.
Cobble together tools from separate vendors. Each connection is a failure point. No single audit trail. Fragile and expensive.
A built platform, not a project. Smaller advisory team. Faster execution. Lower total cost. Platform license + advisory. 0 months build. 2 months config. 2 months execution.
Five approaches mapped to defensibility and cost.
Only one approach delivers effective, defensible separation without eroding value.
Search, review, and execution in one place.
Data separation fails when those three things live in different systems. Octosight connects them.
Centrally defined criteria surface the right files. Employees review in guided workflows. Decisions carry through to execution without moving data between tools. Legal hold and retention are preserved before any remediation begins.
From first criteria to final audit, the work stays in one governed platform.
From scoping through proof of completion.
One platform.
Filter to what matters
Centrally defined criteria narrow millions of files down to the ones that require human review. Most data never needs to be touched.
Integrated support and reporting
Built-in ticketing, contextual guidance, and real-time dashboards give program managers and executives clear visibility into progress and exceptions.
Review guidance and files in place
Employees review their own files alongside clear, role-specific guidance. No data moves between systems. No email chains. No guesswork.
Execute those decisions
Tagged files route to the correct destination. Seller data stays. Buyer data transfers. Retained data is preserved. Deleted data is permanently removed.
Make defensible decisions
Every file gets a disposition: keep, transfer, preserve, or delete. Decisions are captured at the point of review with the reasoning attached.
Prove what happened
Immutable audit trail documents every decision, every action, and every outcome. Defensible under regulatory scrutiny or litigation.
- Faster execution. Lower total cost. A built platform, not a tool assembly project.
- Preserved deal value. IP stays intact. No broad deletion. No data on the wrong side.
- Minimal disruption. Employees review their own files in guided workflows. Business continues operating.
- Real-time visibility. Program managers and executives see progress, exceptions, and completion in one dashboard.
- Defensible record. Immutable audit trail documents every decision, action, and outcome.