M&A IT Playbook & Integration Checklist

Ensunet Recent Post |

A nimble migration process minimizes the pain of an IT integration

After a recent acquisition,our client moved to swiftly integrate the two companies by migrating every employee computer and device to reflect our client’s assets. The migration
allowed for uniform software and hardware standards throughout the organization, improving IT
security and providing a strong foundation for future collaboration.

Code One Migration Case Study R3 PDF Download

Although the acquired company was significantly smaller in size than our client, their operations and personnel were scattered in multiple locations across several continents. As the project manager,Ensunet was tasked with overseeing the logistics involved in physically upgrading the hardware for over a thousand employees. This involved:

  • Managing a complex vendor supply chain
  • Complying with local customs regulations
  • Overcoming multiple cultural and language barriers to coordinate the work of multinational IT teams

The migration project included the following tasks:

  • Removing all branding from assets that were unique to the previous company’s identity such as splash pages and icons.
  • Adding icons that would allow employees to easily access their new help desk and software portals
  • Updating the email client and desktop collaboration software.
  • Strengthening security by upgrading antivirus software and standardizing WiFi connectivity standards for all company-issued laptops
  • Retiring obsolete hardware that was out of warranty and providing employees with new computers.

Mobilized multiple internationally-based IT teams to create alignment
around technology standards, migration goals, and timelines. Our client needed a partner that could take a lead role in coordinating a geographically distributed workforce. We partnered with teams based in North America, Europe, Asia and Central America to secure local buyin. This involved holding multiple conversations over several weeks to provide IT personnel with the background and technical training they needed to work together and comply with new corporate IT standards. We also consulted with overseas colleagues to streamline the process
of complying with local custom requirements.

Targeted a hard-to-reach, highly mobile sales force by establishing
ad-hoc virtual environments at sales conferences. Migrating a highly mobile international sales force required significant advance preparation and flexibility. Since their sales team rarely, if ever, returned to a central home office, we traveled to sales conferences attended by the salespeople from the acquired company. Once there,
we worked with every member of the sales team to minimize potential disruption while we completed the migration.

Successfully executed the worldwide hardware and software upgrade of 1,125 devices over a four-month period.

Rebranding IT assets after an acquisition ensures that employees have the same experience throughout the organization. It also improves security and mitigates potential risks by bringing everyone to the same security standards. Despite one instance where our client’s vendor ran out of the model we were using and another instance where the plane carrying critical equipment changed its flight plan and landed in a completely different county, we were able to meet our deadlines ahead of schedule.

Migrated our client’s entire international sales force despite challenging circumstances and tight turnaround times.

Salespeople rely on their laptops and mobile devices to stay in contact with their prospects and manage their accounts. As such, it was critical to minimize the amount of time they would be left without their devices. After establishing operations in hotels where large groups of the sales team had gathered for key industry events, we set up a server to recreate our client’s virtual environment and coordinated the migration of the sales teams. The results included:

  • Migrating 238 employees in 72 hours at a conference in Baltimore.
  • Migrating 87 employees at an international sales event in Europe.

Need a hand?

Reach out to the world’s most reliable IT services.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.