At the end of the day, a partnership or acquisition must make sense where the numbers must align along with the integration dates. If you are expecting a positive ROI within 3 years, but the integration work takes closer to 5, then things are not going to work out too well. Likewise, if you are able to squeeze the integration work within 3 years, but it’ll cost as much as you spent on the initial purchase and will continue to cost as much, then is it really worth it?

This is why the process itself is a delicate balancing act, and why the integration side poses the biggest risk. One of everyone’s favorite model focuses on the Venn diagram highlighting the diametric opposites of good, fast, and cheap.

Instead of thinking of the absolutes of having to pick two, think of it as something closer to a color wheel with your three primary colors, and you get sliders along the edges.

How do you find your sweet spot?

Pick an edge. Think of speed and cost as one possibility. What could factor in to this equation?

  • In-house (or retaining talent) vs. out-source (typical consulting firm vs specialists)
  • Buying a pre-packaged dedicated solution to facilitate data transfer vs developing in-house
  • “Lift and shift” from the old organization to the new vs migrating the pieces into what you already have
  • Duplicating everything to account for the new resources being acquired

What other knobs can you turn?

PS: When I mentioned that I’ll be in London for the Financial Times: Due Diligence Summit, it probably would’ve helped if I gave the dates. This will be the week of October 7th.