M&A Information Technology Best Practices

Chapter 7

M&A IT and Synergies

Jim BolandRonald GoldbergColin HartnettSunil RaiStephen Ronan

IT's Role and Contribution to Synergy Capture

Merger, acquisition, and divestiture transactions can be times of great stress and great opportunity for the information technology (IT) organization. In today's business world, IT will be on the front line of any M&A transaction, and its leadership must be ready, willing, and able to:

• Think and act strategically and dispassionately about where transaction synergies can be achieved.
• Work collaboratively with the leadership team in creating the vision for, identifying, and capturing the synergies.

Information technology personnel see firsthand the impact of the process efficiencies and inefficiencies across the company. This chapter focuses on IT's role in identifying, developing, and capturing these synergies in the M&A transition.

IT's Unique Position in Synergies Identification

The IT function in most organizations is truly a hub and engine of business activity. Visions and plans of products and services to be created, product designs, product development, sales, orders, shipments, bills, customers, vendors, purchases, payments, human resource allocations, payroll, financials, budgets, and business plans are captured, tracked, and coordinated on a variety of computer platforms, and most, if not all, of these are maintained by the IT organization. The CIOs and VPs of IT who see this have an opportunity, especially during M&A transactions, ...