Data migration following a merger or acquisition (M&A) is a difficult tightrope walk of significant difficulty for the organisations involved. To build a practical, sustainable structure for the newly combined organisation, all data must be aggregated and managed correctly and effectively, and the information it has at its fingertips must be streamlined, efficient, and authoritative.
In addition, the merged firm must deal with a slew of additional difficulties, including managing staff transition, maintaining customer service standards, and upgrading its brand strategy. Most significantly, it will seek to demonstrate that the purchase generates a profit and puts it in a better commercial position.
There are several data variables to consider following a merger and acquisition: the two systems merging may be entirely incompatible; data quality may be inconsistent, troublesome, and out of date; data may be kept in multiple locations; and data compliance difficulties may exist.
To help avoid those concerns, here are some procedures we recommend taking when moving data following an M&A:
- Determine who the stakeholders are. This is critical in any data move, but more so following a merger, when key people may still be jockeying for position and new responsibilities may not be clearly defined. It’s critical to get buy-in from all stakeholders involved and to establish who is accountable for signing off on the project’s different stages.
- Bring in the professionals. With so many systems to consolidate and maintain following an M&A, IT staff can easily become overwhelmed. Define who will carry out whatever duty within the IT department to minimise duplication of effort – and to ensure that nothing slips between the cracks – and enlist the help of a data migration vendor if the required skills do not exist within the IT department. After an M&A, timing is key, and the firm must be in good health both inside and out, so don’t risk overruns due to a lack of experience.
- Find out where the data is kept. Companies may have kept their data in a variety of ways and in a variety of locations. Making a list of what’s stored where can help you map out the area and prioritise what needs to move where and when.
- Make a profile of the data. Check to see if the data is useful and valuable, or if it can be retired. Identifying data quality concerns early on offers you a better idea of what you’re up against, what resources you’ll need, and how much it’ll cost. Knowing exactly what you’re dealing with will also save you time afterwards.
- Clean up and transform the information. Make the data more usable and useful by standardising it. Remove any data that is out of date, duplicated, or no longer needed from both systems, as well as any data errors, so that the only data to be transferred is valuable, current, and compatible with the new business.
- Make use of advanced and relevant instruments. Tools and procedures that have been tried and proven will alleviate the headache, speed up the process, and produce a more satisfied result.
The NovoFinity team can always offer help with our proven capabilities in managing complicated data migration projects like mergers and acquisitions. We can help you convert and transform data so it can be delivered in the correct format to the right location and in the right way.
