In general, when a company is acquired, there are two primary directions in which the new owners want to lead complementary or parallel technology: Either one company’s systems are deemed superior and the other company’s users are migrated to the superior system, or the systems are deemed complementary and integration is prioritized. With either approach, it is imperative that the overall technology strategy is aligned with strategic business goals. Having mis-aligned strategies between business owners and IT is one of the most common, if not the most common, reason for integration and migration failures. In general, I have found in practice that the most effective approach to managing technology in transition is best accomplished by understanding the following:
Align understanding regarding the acquisition: One would hope that a solid business strategy is in place prior to an acquisition and that all parties involved in the transaction clearly understand that strategy. While this is usually the case, it is not always true that those who understand a company’s underlying systems are aware of the details of the acquisition’s strategic importance. Ensuring that the technology owners understand what is driving the business will help align both parties and minimize assumptions that can derail transition efforts.
Inventory Baseline Capabilities: In the case of congruent or complementary technologies, it is critical to understand the capabilities of each system prior to transition or integration planning. Pride of ownership aside, each system should have functionality inventoried and should be examined architecturally for scalability, performance, extensibility, etc. Having a solid understanding of both system’s baseline capabilities provides the foundation for transition or migration planning. Often this is performed as due diligence on acquired systems but is often incomplete or non-existent for the acquiring company’s systems.
Formulate the Vision: Where does the company want to go from a business perspective? Will either system provide a path to realizing that vision by itself or is technology integration a necessity? When does the business need specific technology solutions to be functional in order to meet goals? Once these questions and others are explored, a vision for future technology solutions can be created that aligns with business needs and tactical planning can begin.
Bridge the Gap: Overlaying the current state with a vision of the future will clearly point out gaps between the two. Creating an inventory of the tasks (along with high-level time estimates and team requirements) necessary to bridge these gaps and using the business strategy to prioritize those tasks creates a high-level plan that can be used as a starting point for the technology migration or transition.
