The coronavirus crisis has pushed companies to review their investment strategies to survive according to M&A integration expert Mike Kiersey, Principal Technologist at Boomi.
Kiersey said that corporations like Mitsubishi are undergoing a major shift, where M&As play a crucial role – sparking the question of how to integrate both parties. As the transition to digital speeds up, it can be expected that we will see a rise in mergers and acquisitions after the pandemic.
He said that companies, such as Microsoft and its most recent acquisition of IoT security outfit CyberX, will invest in improving their operational resilience. For this, they will turn to M&As to gain new tools and capabilities and reach new markets. Many will look to acquire smaller, innovative firms, to face up to this challenge, while others will look to make a deal with larger companies able to support them.
Correctly integrating technologies, processes and data is crucial to successful M&As. For example, a common hurdle for businesses going through an M&A is how to merge a remote workforce. When every employee is remote, onboarding new hires and harmonising the new teams comes with swathes of new data, additional tools that need to be integrated with the existing ones, and a series of business processes which need to be merged, effectively and without disruption.
“Businesses need swift integration, one broken down into manageable chunks and with seamless application and data integration for all their combined services. For a fully successful merger, both parties will need to be able to access raw data from a single platform. This will help the company design the approach it will take towards its customers, partners and employees in the future, and navigate the challenges presented by the economic downturn”, Kiersey said.
To achieve this, businesses need to make sure data points are accessible and clear. When these are united by a master data management solution able to cross departmental and geographic borders the company can gain agility without sacrificing control. he said.
