Project December 15, 2025

Sika & MBCC: Successful merger of two IT worlds

atrete ensures secure and smooth IT integration at Sika.

With the takeover of the MBCC Group, Sika faced the largest acquisition in the company's history. Sika AG, a leading global supplier of specialty chemicals for the construction and automotive industries, headquartered in Baar, Switzerland, employs over 33,000 people in more than 100 countries. The integration of the MBCC Group, which had previously been part of BASF's Construction Chemicals division and comprised around 6,000 employees in over 60 countries, presented Sika with a number of complex challenges.

The initial situation was characterized by different IT structures: While MBCC relied on a centralized, outsourced IT model, Sika worked with a decentralized, internal IT organization. Added to this were high expectations from the specialist departments, which demanded fast and smooth access to central applications such as SAP and CRM.
The requirements for the merger were extremely complex.
Before any IT integration, Sika conducts a comprehensive IT security assessment. atrete supported Sika in the technical areas of these analyses.
At the same time, the Sika team, with the support of external partners (including atrete), began developing a viable integration strategy.

The path to this goal was deliberately designed to be iterative: in several phases, the requirements and framework conditions were first analyzed, then evaluated and prioritized. A key element was the introduction of Azure Virtual Desktop, which gave employees of both companies fast and secure access to the applications they needed. At the same time, a new global project organization was created under the name "Program Bridge" to manage all IT integration projects. atrete provided support in the design and management of network, location, and cloud integration.

The actual integration took place in several stages: First, the networks of the two companies were connected via Azure Peering to create a stable and powerful basis for further cooperation. In the following months, the locations were gradually integrated into the Sika network, ensuring that employees continued to have access to all necessary systems and data. The migration of workstations and servers was carried out in close coordination with the respective departments and taking local conditions into account. Particular attention was paid to maintaining the highest security standards and minimizing downtime.

The result of this comprehensive integration work is a stable, future-proof IT landscape that meets the requirements of a globally active company. The individual integration concepts were successfully transferred into a global overall concept, cooperation between the teams and integration partners ran smoothly, and project and budget management was transparent at all times. Particularly noteworthy is the high level of satisfaction among end users, who were involved in the process from the outset and were able to benefit directly from the improvements.

By integrating the MBCC infrastructure, Sika has not only laid the foundation for further growth, but also gained valuable experience in Azure infrastructure services that can be leveraged across the entire company in the future. The ongoing ERP migration is expected to be completed within the next two years, marking the conclusion of this groundbreaking project.

"Working with atrete exceeded our expectations. Thanks to their dedicated and professional approach, we were able to successfully integrate the MBCC infrastructure as requested."

ALEX RAGETH, IT PROGRAM LEAD