Mergers & Acquisitions Planning and Integration (cont'd.)
We can help identify and address key issues and make critical decisions early in the process to allow you to efficiently execute your IT integration plan in a manner that minimizes risk and achieves the integration objectives. Common IT integration strategies include:
Absorption: Acquiring company installs its systems and technology into the acquired company.
Advantages include fastest path to a single company operation, familiar systems and the lowest overall ITcost. Disadvantages include required business process changes in acquired company and potential for significant disruption to the acquired company.
Best of Breed: Companies conduct a joint assessment of application systems supporting each business function in each company and select the “best” alternative. Advantages include potential for better functionality over time and better “buy-in” by the merged organization. Disadvantages include slower implementation, required changes in both companies and a major integration effort.
Transformation: The merged companies agree to install new systems and technology – i.e., Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) – or an industry-specific software package. Advantages include achievement of a “best in breed” environment. Disadvantages include extensive time required to implement, cost and potentially major integration work.
Maintain IT Autonomy: The acquired company retains its IT systems and is interfaced to the acquiring company as required (e.g. Accounting/Financial Reporting, Human Resources, etc.). Advantages include minimal impact to both environments. Disadvantages include lost financial and operational synergies and continued higher costs associated with maintaining two environments.
Outsource or Interim Outsource: The merged companies may explore engaging a third party to outsource information technology for both environments or, on an interim basis, outsource the acquired company’s IT with the plan to integrate their IT at a later date.
Our senior staff have sponsored and managed numerous M&A IT integration initiatives and we can bring this expertise to you in selecting and developing an appropriate IT integration strategy and developing and orchestrating the IT integration process
Representative Mergers and Acquisitions Planning and Integration Client Engagements:
Regal, Hilton
|
Client Testimonials:
"Our acquisition of the Promus Hotel brands presented us with the major challenge of consolidating two complex, mission critical IT environments. This initiative played a key role in meeting very aggressive synergy goals for the combined business, and it was by far the most complex. Our objective was to upgrade and combine the IT environments as quickly as possible, and to do so seamlessly and without service interruption. The acquisition occurred at a time when several major initiatives were in progress, and we couldn't afford to lose valuable momentum. Transition Partners played a vital role in allowing us to successfully balance these priorities. Their team program managed an enormously complex project, which involved in-sourcing Hilton's data center operations, implementing the required infrastructure in our Memphis operations and migrating operations cross-country on time, with no business disruption. The experience Transition Partners contributed throughout the project was extremely valuable to the team, and to its success."
—Michael McConnell, Vice President of Strategic Systems, Hilton Hotels
"Transition Partners has been a blessing in disguise for us. Initially, they were hired to help complete a risk assessment on a large development project. During that project, a merger was announced that would merge two companies into the corporate office in Knoxville , Tennessee . We had to quickly put together an IT / Accounting plan to support the merger, and Transition Partners was hired to support that need. Their consulting team did a great job helping us develop and manage the Integration Plan. Along the way, the scope of their work expanded to include Project Management for all key business functions. Their experience, knowledge and insight has been of great value in helping us complete the complex merger quickly and successfully ... They are former CIOs, all very seasoned individuals with lots of experience in many industries and, most importantly, they are good people. Through Transition Partners' efforts, we were able to reduce IT expenses by $4.8 million annually. They are all good people with no agendas other than focusing on the task at hand." —J.E. Henry, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Regal Entertainment Group
|
