Custom Software Apps & SharePoint Consulting

How do we effectively manage data during mergers and acquisitions?

When I received a notification that Robbins & Myers and National Oilwell Varco had announced a merger, it seemed like perfect timing to talk a bit about Mergers and Acquisitions from a data management perspective. “Mergers and Acquisitions are the lifeblood of growth” (Mike Gorsage for INC. Tech) but “companies that approach such an [IT] integration hastily are often unpleasantly surprised by the complexity..or the cost it will add to the transaction.”

Think about how complicated your company’s data systems already are, and then imagine adding another organization’s functionality that’s equally complex. Especially in Oil and Gas, everyone has invested in different platforms, software, hardware and data models, and those systems are integrated specifically to meet the needs of the company they are supporting. So adding all of those connections together can result in a tangle of connections that just creates a huge mess to clean up.  At Entrance, we’re able to turn that headache into a seamless transition. We work to understand and document the processes represented by those digital assets, and then consolidate the intricacies of two companies worth of information into a system of systems that makes sense.

Due diligence regarding digital assets really is the best recommendation we can make regarding Merger and Acquisition planning. Creating an overall IT portfolio requires a lot of inputs. Everything from a complete inventory to a plan for system compatibility needs to be scrutinized. In many cases redundancies can be identified, so that where there are currently two systems there could just be one in the future. In other cases one company simply has a better set of technology platforms than the other. In order to accomodate for all of the potential scenarios, it’s important to work with a partner who is experienced with the types of options that arise in an M&A process, and even more important, someone who understands how data is organized in relation to the value it provides to the business.

In many scenarios, a data management plan created around a merger & acquisiton scenario can drive significant accessibility and decision-making enhancements. By analyzing the purpose and related location of data, what master data should exist and what the system of record should be, the system that comes out of a well-planned m&a scenario is many times far more efficient than the two systems were going in. Surfacing high-quality information at the right time for the right people can be the end result of what starts as a simple assessment.

 

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