menu
close_24px
Home ❯    Resources ❯    Insights
M&A DONE RIGHT

Mergers & Acquisitions

IT Jira Project Template

Navigate the complexities of mergers and acquisitions with confidence, mitigate risks, and steer your IT team to success.

Download Jira Project ⟶
INTRODUCTION

Achieve Post-Merger Integration Success 

Congratulations on ushering in this new chapter! Whether you've merged with another organization, acquired one, or been acquired, there's a lot of exciting growth and new opportunities that await.

One area you don’t want to overlook is the IT integration strategy, which often takes a back seat to operational and financial due diligence. When only 14% of organizations experience success with their M&A deal, an integrated technology strategy that aligns tools, processes, and people is critical. This means that your IT department should be involved in every stage of the M&A process.

Successfully integrating IT operations is challenging and requires careful planning, collaboration, and honest strategic and technical conversations. That's where Praecipio comes in. After helping several enterprise organizations merge their IT environments, we’ve put together a merger and acquisition due diligence checklist to set you up for success with the integration process.

From consolidating platforms to bridging cultural gaps, our Mergers and Acquisitions IT Checklist is designed to jumpstart your post-merger integration, helping you go from a successful M&A deal to building a connected enterprise.

 

Your IT department should be involved in
every stage of the M&A process.
Heading for Divestiture?

If you're striking out on your own or planning to divest business units, this checklist is essential for navigating the IT due diligence process. Curious about how Praecipio has facilitated IT operations divestiture and carved new paths forward? Dive into the case studies below to discover strategies for aligning IT operations post-divestiture.

Leading Satellite TV Provider Achieves Enterprise Visibility Post-Divestiture
Learn More ⟶
3E Enhances Efficiency with Migration to Atlassian Cloud
Learn More ⟶
Building A Strong ITSM Foundation for Pharmaceutical Companies
Learn More ⟶
FROM VISION TO EXECUTION

Enterprise Portfolio Management 

Enterprise Portfolio Management (EPM) is the strategy used by an organization to prioritize and plan initiatives across all departments, ensuring alignment with strategic goals. This is an important part of the IT due diligence process, as it helps mitigate conflicting priorities and planning methods, which can otherwise cause friction and chaos.

Focusing on EPM during a post-merger integration provides a strategic framework for aligning, managing, and optimizing the combined portfolio of projects and programs. This enables your organization to deliver the right value to customers at the right time.

  • Ensure visibility into all levels of your portfolioPro tip: Tools and their configurations play an important role in EPM, but they won't magically solve all your problems. You must figure out prioritization at every level of the organization so you can provide visibility into how all elements of your portfolio–big and small–roll up into your strategic goals and initiatives.
  • Develop a prioritization strategy for different enterprise-level initiatives across departments
The Role of Product Portfolios in Successful M&A Deals

Ineffective integration of their product portfolio was the most common reason tech companies failed to achieve revenue synergies after an M&A deal. (Bain & Company)

What this means for your business:
Integrating product portfolios is key to achieving long-term value from your M&A deal. Your product planning teams must work closely with go-to-market (GTM) planning teams to ensure products are priced right and that technical teams are equipped to support the new organization’s value proposition. 

DATA-DRIVEN DECISIONS

Enterprise Data Analytics 

Data scattered across disconnected systems makes decisive action impossible. Integrating your Enterprise Data Analytics post-merger ensures your teams and leadership have access to the right information to make the right decisions at the right time. 

To generate valuable insights, your data must be meaningful and aligned with your company culture and leadership needs. Harmonizing data across the enterprise allows your newly formed organization to fully leverage its combined data assets, driving strategic decision-making that moves your business forward.

  • Interview key stakeholders and build consensus on reporting processes
  • Streamline and standardize reporting
  • Create executive-level dashboards
  • Standardize data management framework
  • Understand data structure
  • Analyze key dependencies on current environment(s)
  • Determine the amount of data that needs to be migrated
  • Verify data compatibility
  • Establish a testing process to validate data integrity after migration
  • Implement data governance practices
  • Standardize definitions and taxonomyThe Power of Speaking The Same Language: By implementing standardized language along with data governance and properly configured tools, a leading satellite TV and streaming service provider gained the data clarity they needed to make faster, smarter business decisions. [link]
  • Determine data entry requirements
  • Create consistent field configurations for data entry
On average, employees spend 9.3 hours/week searching for or gathering information.  McKinsey
There are 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created each day.
70% of technology integrations fail in the beginning, not the end. Bain & Company
DELIVER VALUE FASTER

Enterprise SDLC/PDLC 

Software Development Lifecycle/Product Development Lifecycle

Your SDLC gives you the keys to delivering value faster to customers. Optimizing your software development process goes beyond having technical conversations; it also involves people, processes, accountability, and backing from leadership. 

Before configuring your SDLC post-acquisition, you must dive into company culture and your teams’ internal dynamics to ensure they understand the “why” behind their work. This results in more active participation and accountability from teams, driving greater organizational alignment. 

  • Define and true-up processes across systems
  • Establish a delivery process that works well for the organization
  • Define how departments will collaborate
  • Integrate and optimize departmental processes
  • Uncover organizational dependencies
  • Conduct a process overlap and gap analysis 
Related Resource
Appfire Optimizes Atlassian Cloud Environment After Consolidating Multiple Instances Showcasing The Importance of Enterprise Intelligence
Read The Case Study ⟶
KEEP TEAMS ON TRACK & ON BUDGET

Enterprise Resource and Capacity Management 

Allocating resources for upcoming projects and aligning them with strategic priorities is already challenging enough. Adding a merger and acquisition into the mix complicates things even more. Capacity and Resource Management is vital for project and organizational management, allowing for the efficient use of both human and technical resources to meet organizational needs.

Streamlining capacity and resource management during the post-merger integration helps avoid redundancies and optimize workloads, ensuring all teams are adequately staffed and equipped. 

  • Discover current workloads and responsibilities for different IT teams
  • Analyze the cost and flow of work based on how resources are allocated to initiativesPro-tip: Use Tempo's Timesheets, Planner, and Cost Tracker apps to generate insights about your organization's capacity and utilization and how your business goals align with resource availability. [Tempo.io]
  • Utilize capacity management data to forecast initiative timelines
  • Perform skills and cross-functional ability analysis across teams
Related Resource
Webinar: Achieve Enterprise Intelligence in the Cloud
Watch On-Demand ⟶
OPTIMIZE YOUR INVESTMENT

License Management 

Managing licenses is a complex and time-consuming process, but a merger or acquisition is a chance to streamline the licensing management lifecycle and eliminate redundancies. This cuts down on costs, time, and administrative overhead, allowing you to budget more effectively for future growth.

Simplifying licenses is key for aligning software assets with the new organization's strategic and financial objectives. This ensures that your IT supports business goals and that you only pay for what's necessary.

  • Co-term your software licenses and consolidate vendor relationships
  • Track your SEN list and share it with the procurement team
  • Establish a technical and procurement contact for each vendor
  • Evaluate your systems to choose the right user tiers and identify upgrade or streamlining options
  • Centralize visibility 
  • Unify licensing procurement process Important questions to ask when integrating your licensing procurement: • Are you purchasing licenses through multiple vendors?
    • Do you have redundant licenses within any tools?
    • Do you need to true-up your admin privileges or user counts?
Related Resource
Why Co-Terming Atlassian Licenses is Important
Read The Article ⟶
SET YOUR TOOLS UP FOR SUCCESS

Technology Stack Rationalization 

It is rare–if not impossible–to find two companies using the same set of tools configured the exact same way. Nonetheless, when merging IT operations, it’s critical to quickly integrate systems and align teams with the right tools that support streamlined processes.

Tech rationalization involves evaluating technology platforms and systems to determine the best way to combine and optimize them. This process cuts costs, decreases IT environment complexity, and ultimately lays the groundwork for building a scalable technology foundation.

  • Understand KPIs and budget to establish what tools are critical
  • Evaluate IT Managed Services integration needs After acquiring Meridian Medical Technologies, Kindeva Drug Delivery moved its IT operations in-house and expanded upon Meridian's ITSM processes. Read The Case Study ⟶
  • Evaluate your tooling and identify redundancies 
  • Document subscription renewal dates and renewal cycles 
  • Pinpoint unused admin seats 
  • Identify integration points
Related Resource
HP Cuts Costs and Breaks Down Silos After Consolidating Jira Instances
Read The Case Study ⟶
Team Planning Orange-2
The average company spends $135,000 a year on unnecessary software licenses.
TECH STACK OVERVIEW

SaaS Catalog Itemization

Dive into this worksheet to streamline your tech stack before making moves. Fill out the specifics—admin, renewal dates, costs—for each SaaS tool you're using. Spot redundancies, trim the excess, and prep for smooth transitions. If something’s missing, add it under 'Other.' Get set for smarter, sharper tech management.

CRM Software
  Admin Renewal  Cost
HubSpot
Salesforce
Zoho CRM
Pipedrive
Freshsales
Microsoft Dynamics 365
Other:
ITSM
  Admin Renewal  Cost
ServiceNow
 Jira Service Management
Freshservice
SolarWinds
Zendesk
Ivanti
Other:
Password Management
  Admin Renewal  Cost
LastPass
1Password
Bitwarden
NordPass
Keeper
Dashlane
Other:
Project Management
  Admin Renewal  Cost
Asana
Trello
Monday.com
Basecamp
Smartsheet
Jira
Other:
API Protection
  Admin Renewal  Cost
Apigee
Akamai
Cloudflare
Imperva
Salt Security
Kong
Other:
Collaboration
  Admin Renewal  Cost
Slack
Teams
Zoom
 Google Workspace
Dropbox
Figma
Other:
Customer Support
  Admin Renewal  Cost
Zendesk
Intercom
LiveAgent
Kayako
Freshdesk
 Zoho Desk
Other:
HR Management
  Admin Renewal  Cost
BambooHR
Workday
ADP
bob
Zenefits
UltiPro
Other:
CONNECTED TEAMS & TOOLS

Atlassian Organizational Change Management 

While you might be lucky enough to have merged two organizations that rely on Atlassian tools to get work done, it’s unlikely that the tools are configured the same way because of Atlassian’s trademark flexibility. 

Regardless of your situation, merging IT operations involves navigating tremendous organizational change and requires finding common ground with how these tools are used. Adopting new ways of working is essential to drive organizational alignment and establish a cohesive Atlassian footprint that can evolve with your new organization. 

  • Train & onboard team members on how to use tools to support optimized processes
  • Determine adoption roll-out program
  • Establish governance framework
  • Appoint governance committee
  • Implement a resiliency and change management plan
Discover the Power of Enterprise Visibility
Turn your data chaos into clarity and action with single-pane-of-glass dashboards, near-real-time data, and powerful enterprise tools like Jira Align. Get started with this collection of resources from our industry experts.
See Collection of Resources ⟶
Incident Report
GET STARTED NOW

Download Your
Jira Project Template

Grab the CSV template to import this comprehensive checklist directly into your Jira project and streamline your workflow today.

Download Jira Project Template ⟶
Cited & Referenced Sources
GET YOUR COPY

Download Your Worksheet

Ready to solidify your strategy? Click the button to either print this page as a PDF, preserving your input, or download our Excel template to continue refining your plan on your terms.

📃 Print To PDF ⟶

 

Take The First Step Towards Seamless Integration

You don't have to navigate this complex journey alone—connect with us now and let's make your next big move a success.