Bridging the Gap During an M&A

Mergers, acquisitions and divestitures create significant cultural change – impacting people, processes and technology. There’s a heavy amount of work leading up to the business transaction, but the real impact begins at the time of integration – a change that impacts all users, processes and technologies for both organizations.

Every acquisition or divestiture tends to follow 4 phases once a decision has been made:

1. Transaction communication
2. Discovery and planning
3. Execution
4. Integration and stabilization

At the beginning of the M&A process, a high-level discovery identifies the key people, processes and technologies that inform the terms and duration of the Transition Service Agreement (TSA).

When the teams responsible for executing on an M&A find out a transaction has been completed, the clock has already started ticking. Not having an experienced team or lacking the resources to execute are the main reasons organizations struggle to deliver phases 3 (execution) and 4 (integration and stabilization) successfully.

The buyer organization will usually seek to streamline business support processes, such as HR and finance, by integrating the new organization into their existing platforms to realize the full benefits of the acquisition or divestiture. Since collaboration platforms like Google Workspace are key to core business processes, integrating them first helps position the newest parts of the organization for integration and cultural alignment.

Bring all your teams together with Google Workspace

That said, even migrating just a handful of users, groups and files to Google Workspace is complicated. A good migration is not just about migrating data. A well-executed migration takes into consideration where users are coming from and accounts for change management and training – both for end users and the technical administrative staff supporting the new platform.

As we all know, the devil is in the details. An experienced migration partner will understand that we must account for more than just the data. They will examine how users are accessing the data – like their mobile devices and browser type or file-sharing permissions – and customizations like email signatures.

Since every M&A is different, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. However, there is a consistent framework to follow that will inform the approach.

Need a helping hand merging your Google Workspace accounts during an M&A? Our team can help, from pre-planning to implementation, helping you go from daunting to done in no time.

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An M&A requires moving fast – and sometimes security is left until the end, even though it should be a top priority. An M&A is actually the perfect time to reestablish your Google Workspace security settings and protocols. For assistance, check out Pythian’s Google Workspace Security Health Check for recommendations to harden your Google Workspace security posture.  

How Pythian can help

At Pythian, we’ve helped hundreds of companies with their mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. From these experiences, we’ve developed a four-step M&A&D framework to help companies with the complexities of managing the execution and integration of Google Workspace, so you can focus on what really matters: creating one, unifying culture for all employees.

With our M&A&D Services for Collaboration Platforms, we’ll work with you to migrate your data, establish security protocols and ensure employees are minimally disrupted. We are here to help during and after a transaction, either as a one-time engagement scoped to a single transaction or as an ongoing engagement tailored to your specific requirements.

Our M&A&D services include a comprehensive package that will set up your newly merged organizations for success, including:

•   Security settings review
•   Data migration
•   Co-existence management
•   Reporting and analysis
•   Change management and communications
•   End-user training
•   Project management

Our long-established Google Workspace practice encompasses a full range of services, including recommending the Google tools that best suit your organization’s needs, in-depth training and support. Plus, our tailored help guides you through managing change, ensuring adoption and leveraging Google Workplace capabilities through PROSCI- and Google-certified change managers. Have more questions about an M&A&D? Watch as our team of experts answer the most frequently asked questions from companies going through mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.