How does a good IT approach guarantee the value of an acquisition?

The deal is done. The strategy is right. Then the takeover was successful... right? Not always! Because what about IT?

Many companies see IT as the closing item in acquisitions. But IT is actually a critical success factor. If you don't pay enough attention to this, IT can destroy the value of an acquisition. Especially when you are dealing with a carve-in, where you have to merge systems.

A good IT approach, on the other hand, can guarantee the value of an acquisition. How? We share that in this blog post!

1. Standardize the target environment

A strong acquisition starts with a solid IT foundation. If you work towards one standardized environment, you ensure that people can communicate well and unambiguously with each other. This foundation also makes future acquisitions faster and easier: every subsequent company you add follows the same process.

In concrete terms, this means, for example, that you set up a joint intranet. This allows employees to find each other immediately, even if they don't know each other yet. In addition, you can offer important documents, such as a new employee handbook, via the intranet. This way you ensure that everyone is aware of the latest internal agreements and processes.

2. Conduct an IT inventory early on

What you see is what you get: that statement is relevant in many situations, but often does not apply when you take over a company. Especially when it comes to IT, there can be technical snags.

What systems does the company use? What data and intellectual property do you have to deal with? How do people work together?

A thorough IT inventory provides quick insight. The sooner you do these, the better. The best stage: the due diligence phase. This way you avoid surprises and lay the foundation for a smooth carve-in.

3. Create a concrete migration or unbundling plan

When it comes to acquisitions, there are always choices on the table. Are you migrating from Amazon to Azure? Are you reducing two financial applications to one? What do you do with duplicate HR systems or document environments?

Sometimes temporarily running legacy systems is the best interim solution. But you want to make that decision very consciously. That is why it is smart to draw up a plan. In addition to the technical side, you also deal with matters such as adoption and communication: for whom is the work going to change, when do you transfer which systems and how do you keep employees informed?

4. Transfer everything quickly and in a controlled manner

When implementing your plan, you want to keep the impact on end users as small as possible. Speed is therefore of the essence. But quick action alone will not get you there: safety and care are paramount in a migration. For example, it is important to include security risks. At the same time, you want to deal well with resistance from employees who are going to work with new tools.

Coordination between the IT departments of the companies that are being merged is crucial in this context. Only by joining forces can you achieve a smooth and controlled migration.

5. Manage and stabilize

Is the migration over? Then you are really just starting. The new environment needs management and stabilization. Especially in a period when an organization is fully engaged in acquisitions, there is a lot of movement. New employees, open questions, a shift in internal politics... it's difficult to manage it all.

Do you have time for good management? It doesn't seem so. But: don't treat it as an afterthought. Because management is a precondition for a successful acquisition. If you leave this undone, security risks will quickly arise, for example. And if you don't answer questions from new employees in time, chaos will ensue.

Want to get real value from an acquisition?

Wortell has a lot of experience in assisting organizations with an acquisition. With the use of best practices , we ensure that things do not go wrong. Are you curious about our approach and experience? Take a look at this page.

Would you like us to think along with you about a coordinated carve-in process for your organization? Or do you want to spar about how other companies have approached this? Feel free to contact us. We are happy to talk to you.