Your goals

Your goals

In another “duh” moment: there is a reason behind everything. Specifically, the goals you are hoping to realize with the acquisition you are planning to take. I have covered growth as one example, but another common goal once an acquisition happens is to streamline operations and cut operational costs. The cool kids call this realizing synergies.

As you start looking at the goals for your current or future acquisitions, the tech side can become either a focal point or a key driver towards accomplishing the goals. If it doesn’t, then it may become the noose around your neck and result in the acquisition failing to meet your intended goals.

For example, when the acquisition is with another company in the same market, there will be considerable duplication in data, tools, processes, and personnel. What do you reduce, and how? Will the solution be short-term, or is there a longer-term objective? Can you take the best parts of both and turn it into something better?

The answer to these questions will dictate the shape and direction of your integration effort, and can become your guide towards success.

For example, if you’re planning to reduce your operational budget to before the acquisition, how would the new purchase change the equation for you? What components are complementary and can be combined? Can they even be combined?

There is an often quoted statistic about how a majority of acquisitions end up failing to deliver for the acquirer. At the end of the day, this is due to not having a complete handle on the true goals and objectives of the acquisition and how the various pieces play a part in fulfilling them, or how the biggest black box, outside of the people, is the tech powering the organization.