Make IT a Successful Partner in M&A Integration

Many organizations forget the essential role IT plays during M&A integration. IT is often unaware of a merger or acquisition until the deal is announced, making it very difficult to adequately interpret business goals and appropriately assess the target organization.
IT-related integration activities are amongst the largest cost items in an M&A, yet these costs are often overlooked or underestimated during due diligence.
IT is expected to use the M&A team’s IT due diligence report and estimated IT integration budget, which may not have been generated appropriately.
IT involvement in integration is critical to providing a better view of risks, improving the ease of integration, and optimizing synergies.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

Anticipate that you are going to be under pressure. Fulfill short-term, tactical operational imperatives while simultaneously conducting discovery and designing the technology end-state.
To migrate risks and guide discovery, select a high-level IT integration posture that aligns with business objectives.

Impact and Result

Once a deal has been announced, use this blueprint to set out immediately to understand business M&A goals and expected synergies.
Assemble an IT Integration Program to conduct discovery and begin designing the technology end-state, while simultaneously identifying and delivering operational imperatives and quick-wins as soon as possible.
Following discovery, use this blueprint to build initiatives and put together an IT integration budget. The IT Integration Program has an obligation to explain the IT cost implications of the M&A to the business.
Once you have a clear understanding of the cost of your IT integration, use this blueprint to build a long-term action plan to achieve the planned technology end-state that best supports the business capabilities of the organization.

Make IT a Successful Partner in M&A Integration Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should follow Info-Tech’s M&A IT integration methodology and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Make IT a Successful Partner in M&A Integration – Executive Brief

1. Launch the project

Define the business’s M&A goals, assemble an IT Integration Program, and select an IT integration posture that aligns with business M&A strategy.

2. Conduct discovery and design the technology end-state

Refine the current state of each IT domain in both organizations, and then design the end-state of each domain.

3. Initiate operational imperatives and quick-wins

Generate tactical operational imperatives and quick-wins, and then develop an interim action plan to maintain business function and capture synergies.

4. Develop an integration roadmap

Generate initiatives and put together a long-term action plan to achieve the planned technology end-state.

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Table of Contents

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Guided Implementation 1: Launch the project

Call 1: Introduce project steps and assess member fit
Call 2: Interpret business M&A objectives
Call 3: Select an aligned integration posture to guide the IT integration

Guided Implementation 2: Conduct discovery and design the technology end-state

Call 1: Determine the current state of each IT domain in the target organization
Call 2: Determine current state of each IT domain in your own organization
Call 3: Design the technology end-state of each IT domain

Guided Implementation 3: Initiate operational imperatives and quick-wins

Call 1: Highlight tactical focus areas to consider during discovery
Call 2: Build an action plan to deliver operational imperatives and quick-wins