Due Diligence for Mergers & Acquisitions

There are all kinds of business criteria that should be evaluated prior to a merger or acquisition. Some of the more obvious ones include synergism among the business models, cultures, and processes. But there are also many technology criteria that speak directly to how easy or difficult it will be to integrate and optimize the technology of the companies in question. If the technology infrastructure, architecture, and applications are incompatible, there will be serious - and expensive -problems with integration and optimization. There are also philosophical issues to assess. How is technology acquired? What sourcing deals are in place? How is technology organized? To whom do the technology leaders report?

The problems, as always, are part technical, part organizational, and part human. For years our industry has distinguished among "people," "process," and "technology" criteria; M&A due diligence should include these - and additional - factors. Formal M&A due diligence efforts require a framework for organizing and assessing the due diligence criteria that matter. Cutter Consortium Fellow Steve Andriole has developed a framework that can be used to conduct formal M&A technology due diligence. The framework addresses all aspects of the technology environment, and accommodates criteria weighting, among other methodological capabilities.

Dr. Andriole is available to join your due diligence team, guiding your organization through the "current state" as well as the "end state" of what will happen after the merger or acquisition, and help you assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) that the M&A opportunity presents.