1. Involve the IT Department Early in the Process

A company sale or acquisition is divided into three major phases. In the “Due Diligence” phase, the unit to be acquired is carefully analyzed. Involving the IT department in this early phase is particularly important to record and analyze the IT infrastructure during the inventory. This prevents critical and, above all, cost-intensive surprises before they occur. A study shows that companies where the IT department was involved early on process IT projects much more effectively.

2. Elevate the IT Topic

The same study also shows that for 70-80% of the executive levels of the surveyed companies, the IT department only takes on a supporting function and thus causes costs but does not directly contribute to the company’s success. The strengthened visibility of the IT department within a company ensures that IT issues are considered early in the event of an acquisition. The more the board knows about the IT of their own company, the more likely a positive outcome of the project from the IT department’s perspective.

3. Implement IT Service Management (ITSM)

Comprehensive IT service management offers compelling advantages for the company, not only in the change process. By targeted outsourcing of certain IT services, a lot of money can be saved without compromising the performance of the IT infrastructure. A completed Service Level Agreement (SLA) defines the tasks and requirements of the services, thus creating transparency for the company. An example of this is multi-level data backup, which protects critical data from loss.

4. Choose an Appropriate Integration Strategy

There are different approaches to integrating or separating IT infrastructure, which strongly depend on the goals set in advance. One option is to maintain both infrastructures and run them in parallel. In a second approach, the company’s IT is completely absorbed by the existing system of the acquiring company.
Additionally, there are rarer variants of adopting the “best of both worlds” or using the opportunity to introduce a completely new IT system. This choice should be made with the utmost care and in the knowledge that there is no standard solution, but rather always tailored to the individual case.

5. Don’t Underestimate the Impact of IT on Business Performance

A company’s IT infrastructure is undoubtedly cost-intensive – both in acquisition and maintenance. However, this fact should not be the center of perception. In fact, the potential for savings through the use of modern IT services is great. At the same time, a lean and purposeful IT infrastructure can also create synergy effects that increase revenue and efficiency. Due to digitalization, the overwhelming majority of business processes nowadays are IT-supported, which means that the performance and usability of modern IT solutions have a direct impact on a company’s business performance.

digatus stands by your side as an experienced companion throughout the entire process and directs IT services purposefully into the Merger Acquisition process. digatus analyzes the status quo, classifies and categorizes the previously used services, applications, and technologies, and plans the gentle restructuring of your IT architecture on this basis. In addition to market-appropriate value assessments, we establish procurement plans, calculate integration costs and resulting synergy effects in a comprehensible manner, or prepare sourcing plans. Thus, digatus provides reliable decision templates and ensures the seamless management of complex transformation processes.