Acquisition: IT Assimilations

Introduction:  "Ok, so we've acquired a new company. Now what do we do ?"  These words have been used far more than you might realize. This document provides a game plan and a road map on what and how to go about assimilating an acquired company's technology. Key issues are emphasized to help you minimize risk as you implement significant change in the organization. 

Table of Contents
Introduction 
I.     "We've bought another company; what do we do now?" 
II.    Identify the Objectives 
III.   Company Objectives Lead to IT Strategy 
IV.   Was Due Diligence Performed ? 
V.     Size It Up 
              A.  Key Risks 
              B.  Potential Problem Areas 
              C.  IT Dependencies 
              D.  IT Organizational Impacts 
              E.  IT Budget Implications 
              F.  Opportunities 
VI.    Boil it Down to Key Initiatives 
VII.   Prioritize and Make the Tough Decisions 
VIII.  Gain Agreement on Assimilation Strategies   
              A.  Everyone's Needs or Pain Are Not the Same 
              B.   It's still a Company Team 
IX.     Build an Assimilation Project Plan 
              A.  IT Transition project List 
              B.  IT Assimilation Project Summary 
              C.  Business Application Conversion Project Plan   
              D.  Employee Transition Planning
X.     Implement with Care
XI.    Track Results 
XII.   Got More Than One Technology to Convert ? 

APPENDIX:
A.  New Acquisition Planning Questionnaire 
B.  Business Application Conversion Plan - Template 
C.  Sample Employee Severance/Retention Letter 
D.  Legacy System Status 
E.  Transition Issues Templates 
F.   IT Transition Project Summary List