Mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and other corporate re-structuring efforts continue to grow. Yet, the business value expected following an M&A deal sometimes doesn’t materialize, often due to inadequate integration and execution efforts. One reason? The failure of IT to be a part of the strategic team. As the Harvard Business Review notes:
“Technology can make a significant impact on the success of M&A, from enabling an accelerated and better-informed deal process to improved post-merger integration. Company executives are recognizing this, with 84 percent of companies in the report agreeing the CIO should have a seat at the M&A table.”
Find out more about why M&A transactions fail and 5 Ways to Improve IT Integration and Increase M&A Value…download the white paper.
Organizational change amid organizational change
When M&A deals are announced, employees of the impacted organizations are thrown into a den of uncertainty. Not only will they experience change as a result of the M&A transaction itself—such as changing processes, systems and cultures—their roles may change as well.
This uncertainty can be particularly acute in IT departments, which are often tasked to integrate or separate the technologies that drive all the other business units and the impacted organizations themselves.
As a result, CIOs often find themselves in a quandary. They must navigate integration or separation of their own business units, while concurrently managing integration or separation of the impacted organizations. While it’s an opportunity to look at the existing IT organization and make the changes needed to meet the long-term needs of the resulting organization, it often requires CIOs to eliminate redundancies, realign roles, and recruit the expertise needed for long-term organizational value. And that makes for uncertain IT employees.
It’s incumbent upon CIOs and IT leaders, then, to adopt and clearly communicate a joint transition plan early in the process. A clearly communicated and agreed-upon plan will reduce the disruption caused by employee uncertainty and ensure the IT teams successfully integrate or separate the impacted organizations.
Put CIOs and IT leaders on the M&A team
Because of the critical nature of IT in M&A success, CIOs should have a seat at the table where M&A decisions are made. As the Wall Street Journal noted:
“Because the overall effectiveness of a deal typically depends on a clear post-deal IT vision and the alignment of key stakeholders and workforces with this vision, CIOs can help increase the chances of a successful M&A transaction when they are part of the deal-planning process, align IT integration strategy with deal priorities, and focus on communicating plans and strategies.”
Logicalis: Your IT and M&A deal partner
Fortunately, IT delivery is being transformed, driving new strategies and technologies that—with a knowledgeable and experienced partner—make it easier to achieve business value from M&A efforts.
Logicalis specializes in helping companies run their businesses in two worlds, while navigating M&A transactions under challenging circumstances and tight timelines. Backed by extensive experience and consulting leadership, Logicalis provides a range of services to help organizations through M&A transactions:
- IT strategy development and deployment
- Platform effectiveness & capabilities
- Financial costs and structured actions
- Vendor & suppliers contract optimization
Seamlessly integrating applications, data centers and communication platforms—with the right partner and through a transparent and transformative IT process—paves the way for CIOs and IT leaders to successfully complete their M&A deals and derive the intended business value from them.
Learn how to improve M&A success. Download our white paper 5 Ways to Improve IT Integration and Increase M&A Value now.