Shutting Down SAP and Preserving Data in Insolvency Cases
Even after insolvency or business closure, your data stays accessible with AvenDATA.
From R/3 to ECC 6.0 and S/4HANA, we archive SAP systems of every generation and industry solution, from Bank Analyzer to IS-U.
The Challenge
Even after insolvency, SAP systems cannot simply be switched off and deleted. Business-critical data remains subject to statutory retention periods, particularly under tax and company law. For insolvency practitioners and former management, this means:
- Legacy systems must remain available
- The underlying infrastructure continues to generate costs
- Security risks increase as maintenance lapses
- Data becomes harder to access and analyse
- In-house staff are usually no longer available
The result: even after a company has been dissolved, its legacy systems continue to generate costs, legal risk and unnecessary effort.
Proven Archiving Solution
with More Than 17 Years of Project Experience
AvenDATA has developed its legacy system archiving continuously for more than 17 years and proven it across thousands of projects, including insolvency cases.
Our established methodology has enabled us to respond reliably and transparently to technical, tax and legal enquiries over many years, whether from HMRC and other tax authorities, insolvency practitioners or creditors.
ViewBox, our research platform, provides simple, legally compliant access to archived data even without active IT staff, whether for a specific audit or to satisfy statutory retention requirements.
ViewBox is in use at more than half of all DAX-listed companies in Germany, a clear indication of its stability, flexibility and practical value at enterprise scale.
From Europe to Asia and across North America, our archiving technology is proven and ready for use worldwide, including in demanding situations such as business closure or insolvency proceedings.
Your Reports Live On
as Filterable Analyses, Even After Insolvency or Business Closure
Even if the company no longer exists, its data remains accessible in ViewBox.
We do not simply transfer the relevant data from your decommissioned legacy system: we make sure that information stays clear, traceable and analysable over the long term.
This includes:
- Rebuilding business-critical standard reports
- Implementing bespoke reports, including company-specific analyses
- Archiving all related documents, such as invoices, orders and accounting records
Before the project begins, we define with you which reports and analyses will still be needed, for example for tax enquiries, insolvency practitioners, the courts or auditors.
Drawing on our experience from numerous decommissioning projects, including insolvency cases, we know exactly what matters when no in-house staff are available.
In ViewBox, data can still be searched, analysed and evaluated years after the system has been shut down, without the original system, internal IT or ongoing licences.
Whether for legal requirements, tax audits or external requests, reports are always available in a structured, filterable and easy-to-understand format.
Fast Project Delivery and Clear Economic Benefits,
Even After Insolvency
Archiving a legacy system usually takes between one and four months, depending on the scope and complexity of the data. In an insolvency, swift and reliable decommissioning is critical, because infrastructure costs continue to accrue while no trading activity remains.
Our clearly structured, standardised approach lets us archive even very large systems efficiently, securely and in full compliance with statutory retention requirements.
We have already migrated systems holding more than 30 terabytes of data into our archiving solution, including key reports and complete documentation.
Thanks to our proven project methodology, ongoing IT costs fall quickly and noticeably, particularly database and operating system licences, maintenance, hosting and IT resources, which are often no longer available in an insolvency.
In most cases the project pays for itself within a few months through measurable savings on infrastructure, licences and administration.
System Analysis
Even where trading has already ceased, a thorough system analysis remains the foundation of every successful archiving project.
As a first step, we carry out a detailed review of your remaining IT systems. This gives a reliable basis for estimating project duration, effort and cost, even when no operational structures or internal contacts remain.
- We examine both technical and commercial aspects
- Remaining access options for the system
- Structure, type and size of the database
- Scope and relevance of existing reports and analyses
- Bespoke requirements, such as custom reports or interfaces
On this basis you receive a binding fixed-price quotation, giving you maximum certainty for planning and decision-making during insolvency proceedings or subsequent administration.
Project Archiving
Once the analysis is complete, the archiving itself begins, guided and supported by our experienced team.
In a kick-off session we define the organisational and technical framework. In many cases no internal contacts are available, and our approach is designed precisely for these situations.
From that point on, we take on all the key tasks:
- Technical set-up and access configuration
- Export and transfer of all data relevant to archiving
- Reproduction of important standard and bespoke reports
- Full documentation to ensure audit compliance
Our experienced project managers keep the process structured and make minimal demands on your resources.
At the end of the project we run a structured testing and acceptance phase to confirm that all data has been archived completely, correctly and traceably. The data is then secure and ready for any future audit.
The Result
of Archiving
Once the project is complete, all relevant tables, documents and reports from the legacy system sit in ViewBox, our proprietary archiving platform.
This web-based platform gives authorised parties, including insolvency practitioners, authorities, auditors and the courts, fast, secure and traceable access to all archived information, even years after the company has closed.
A key advantage is that we reconstruct all essential standard and bespoke analyses, including special reports, so that tax, commercial and legal review remains possible entirely independently of the original system and without ongoing licences.
After successful implementation and sign-off, the original system can be permanently decommissioned, including all infrastructure and licence components.
At the end of the project you receive comprehensive project and procedural documentation setting out every step transparently, in particular:
- The method of data transfer
- The structure and organisation of the archived content
- The testing and acceptance phases carried out
In addition, we log every step of the archiving process in our Jira ticket system in an audit-proof manner, from the initial data export to the final handover and, if required, the later deletion of the source system. This means third parties can always verify how, and with what degree of care, the archiving was carried out, even when no in-house staff remain.
Software and Research Platform:
Making Data Usable Even After Insolvency
With ViewBox, our web-based archiving solution, AvenDATA provides a powerful reading and research platform built specifically for accessing data from decommissioned legacy systems, even when the company is no longer trading.
Through an intuitive web interface, the platform supports fast searching, structured analysis and targeted retrieval of archived information, with no need for the original source system or active IT staff.
ViewBox ensures that archived data:
- Remains understandable and fully usable years after decommissioning
- Stays accessible in an audit-ready form, including for insolvency practitioners, auditors and the courts
- Is structured and ready for tax, legal and business-related enquiries
A key advantage: automated deletion. ViewBox applies your retention rules automatically and erases records once their retention period expires, so you meet both your retention and your erasure obligations under UK GDPR.
ViewBox and its underlying cloud infrastructure hold multiple certifications and undergo regular, extensive security and functionality testing, giving you maximum legal certainty both during insolvency proceedings and in response to later enquiries.
Ready for the
Next Step?
In a one-hour expert session, we review your legacy system together, whether operations are still running or the company has already been liquidated. We will show you live how to decommission your system efficiently and archive your data so that it stays accessible and legally compliant for the long term.
In this session you will receive:
- An assessment of your existing data structure and how it will be transferred
- A live demo of our archiving solution
- An explanation of how we replicate your existing reports and analyses
- A reliable estimate of effort, duration and cost
Transparency from the start.
Our proposals are based on clearly defined fixed prices, with no renegotiation. Even where no in-house staff are available, we ensure a smooth, reliable process. Quality, dependability and value for money are our priorities.
Book your free expert session now.
Quick Answers to Your Questions
Personal, no-obligation advice on archiving in insolvency cases.
Personal, no-obligation advice on archiving in insolvency cases.
Thank you
Thank you for your enquiry.
We will contact you shortly.
We will contact you shortly.