Once we launched Stage 3 technology integration (data model integration) in a publish M&A vendor atmosphere, we dropped a Monty Python reference as a metaphor for the challenges of attaining this degree of unification. However for Stage 4, we have to prolong our cinematic and tv metaphors to the following degree and go, with apologies to Star Trek, The place No Man Has Gone Earlier than. Nicely, that’s not totally true, however usually, solely a minority of expertise corporations obtain Stage 4 integration: UX Integration/Replication (on prime of a single information mannequin).
On this Spend Issues PRO sequence, we’re defining, introducing and exploring the 5 ranges of M&A expertise integration that distributors should undergo when bringing collectively completely different modules and platforms. We must always be aware, nevertheless, that integrating completely different purposes and expertise stacks shouldn’t be a requirement of any acquisition. However any time a expertise supplier needs to market and obtain buyer synergies via a transaction outdoors of “cross-sell/up-sell” the diploma of integration deliberate, its timing and supreme realization ought to be a precedence for buyers and clients alike.
Right now, we discover the fourth degree of integration that happens in a post-merger state of affairs or when distributors replatform outdated expertise onto a brand new stack whereas nonetheless having to keep up current resolution functionality on the legacy platform. From a vendor perspective, we outline the way to do it and supply examples of such a integration. And from a consumer perspective, we recommend ideas and methods for expertise patrons to discern this degree of integration in contrast with others.
In case you’re new to this sequence and wish to study the 5 ranges of integration, start with this introduction. Within the earlier installments, we cowl Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 integration ranges intimately.
