Mix, migrate or separate? How to salvage essentially the most out of an received company’s technology

This text used to be written by Jeff Highley, Vice President of Solution Engineering at Rackspace Know-how.

2021 has been a file-breaking one year for mergers and acquisitions, with $2.4 trillion in deals on the books as of early June, nonetheless getting tubby heed out of an acquisition takes more than simply inking a contract — it includes cautious taking into account the plot to enact your strategic targets.

Amongst those concerns is constructing an intensive understanding for the methodology to mix the received company’s technology, including advertising and marketing/gross sales instruments, finance and billing systems, and third-event conversation, and collaboration instrument. For every and every bit of tech, chances are you’ll well maybe like to make a resolution from three classes of action:

1. Fully combine it into your own stack.
2. Sunset it and migrate its processes and records to at least one other platform.
3. Let it hurry parallel to present systems.

To end it correct, you’ll have to have confidence in thoughts both sizable-describe concerns and granular particulars. Within the raze the time funding is charge it to manufacture clear you’re getting tubby heed from the acquisition.

7 steps to tech integration

You’ll salvage the easiest results out of the integration route of if you treat it love a structured program, with clear milestones, timelines, and reporting. Many firms feature up an integration administration space of job (IMO) to alter the transition — from technology to onboarding the received company’s workers and customers into the present ticket.

Integration understanding milestones and key decision-making have to be identified on the 30-, 60-, and 90-day marks, with results monitored closely for on the least 12 months after the acquisition. To fabricate clear the tech facet of integration proceeds as smoothly as that chances are you’ll well maybe have confidence, be clear the next steps are a phase of your route of.

1. Outline your targets.
   
   Earlier than you have what to end with the received company’s technology, you will have an thought of the closing reason of the relationship. If the acquisition is fervent by inspiring skills, it can well maybe now not be foremost to mix their technology in any appreciate. But in case your goal is to consolidate with a competitor and execrable-sell, integration of their merchandise and infrastructure will likely be key to success.
2. Blueprint a clear understanding for every and every product or carrier.
   
   Decide which of the received company’s merchandise and companies have confidence essentially the most engrossing heed to you, both attributable to they get a obtain 22 situation to your own portfolio or attributable to they provide high margins or sturdy earnings. Know-how linked to those merchandise and companies is charge investing in for the prolonged-term, whether that formula affirming it in parallel alongside side your systems or integrating it alongside side your present infrastructure. By incompatibility, technology linked to lower-heed offerings can likely be phased out, with files and processes migrated to your systems.
3. Be willing to alternate.
   
   Don’t build the burden completely on the received company to adapt to your processes and instruments. An acquisition is a likelihood to manufacture both firms greater. Watch at systems in foundational categories equivalent to gross sales and advertising and marketing, finance, and billing. Are there areas the build apart you’d welcome development? The acquisition could well even be the catalyst to interrupt thru inertia.
4. Take care of a listing of their technology.
   
   Commence with a discovery phase the build apart the received company teaches your personnel how they hurry their industry. Your goal have to be to love their route of for generating earnings, from identifying ends in receiving charge on invoices, so you don’t unintentionally disrupt it.
5. Build in thoughts working worthwhile technology in parallel.
   
   As soon as in some time there are accurate causes to now not migrate systems. If the received company has a sturdy ticket in an build apart the build apart the acquirer’s most modern offerings are aloof rising, it can truly also fabricate sense to again that separate ticket and some of its linked gross sales and advertising and marketing infrastructure. By keeping the pinnacle of the gross sales funnel separate, chances are you’ll well maybe be in an area to obtain more earnings from customers within the prolonged hurry.
6. Opt the plot to tackle files.
   
   The received company’s files could well maybe even be one of essentially the most treasured gains from an acquisition — nonetheless it absolutely could well maybe even be a disclose to mix it in a methodology that produces worthwhile study. If the received company makes exercise of a clear cloud provider, you have confidence to dangle a multi-cloud solution to make insights from merged datasets.
7. Align contracts and licensing.
   
   As soon as you have confidence the greater integration understanding hammered out, it’s time to dive in on the particulars. In case your company and the received company license the equal instrument, you’ll wish to line up contract renewal dates, phrases and prerequisites, and subscription plans. If the received company is getting a greater deal, chances are you’ll well maybe even be in an area to search out additional savings.

Taking a prolonged-term have confidence

Don’t fabricate the error of pondering that integration ends the day you welcome the received company’s workers to your group. Integrating other folks, processes and technology takes time — and a fashion of idea. By laying the groundwork on the technology facet from the foundation chances are you’ll well maybe feature the integration up for achievement — and secure most heed from your acquisition.

Jeff Highley is for the time being the Vice President of Solution Engineering at Rackspace Know-how, leading a personnel of technical pre-gross sales experts within the Americas field.  Jeff has over 20 years of technology leadership working across a pair of industries and firms.