Integrating technology before and after an acquisition is critical to an organization’s success, yet it’s often overlooked. When acquisitions transpire, there are often redundancies. Regardless of the industry, optimizing and streamlining operations will result in efficiency and higher productivity to effectively sustain short- and long-term growth.
In this episode of Cherry Bekaert’s Digital Journeys podcast series, Jim Holman, Director and Strategy & Operations Leader, and Nita Sanger, Director of Digital Advisory, share best practices and insights into incorporating the right technology platforms and processes to best suit your business and to minimize disruption.
Listen to learn more about how to:
- Determine what opportunities to leverage and how to eliminate redundancies
- Develop a seamless client experience to provide consistent, positive, personalized experiences
- Identify impediments such as inadequacies, skills and capabilities and budgeting
- Execute a human approach by crafting a systematic approach that unifies change management
- Analyze the current economic conditions and what executives can do to prepare
If you have any questions specific to your situation, Cherry Bekaert’s Digital Advisory team of advisors are available to discuss your situation with you.
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HOST: Hello, everyone, and welcome to Digital Journeys. Today we will learn about the importance of process optimization before and after the acquisition of an organization. Jim Holman and Nita Sanger will share their expertise on integrating technology platforms and other processes to minimize disruption from an acquisition. With that, I turn it over to Jim.
JIM HOLMAN: Thanks, Jerry. Now let's talk to Nita. Nita, why should leadership care about effectively integrating an acquired firm into the parent company? What's in it for them?
NITA SANGER: There are three primary reasons leadership should care about effective integration. First, it helps grow revenues more effectively and increases customer stickiness. Private equity–funded companies often pursue acquisitions to grow revenues quickly, either to add adjacent products or services or to enter new markets. Effective integration provides clients a seamless experience, which increases retention.
NITA SANGER: Next, integration helps run the business more efficiently by creating economies of scale. Integrated operations and a single ERP system allow information to flow effectively, reducing redundancies in technology, people, and processes. Accurate information, for example about inventory, prevents delays in delivering products to clients.
NITA SANGER: Lastly, new buyers increasingly avoid companies that have not effectively integrated their acquisitions. An integrated portfolio is an asset for future sale. Those are the three key reasons leadership should care.
JIM HOLMAN: The last one is interesting—viewing an integrated part of a portfolio as an asset for future sale. What challenges and barriers prevent leadership from focusing on pre- and post-acquisition integration and optimization?
NITA SANGER: Common barriers include time, finance, and skills. Time is scarce; leadership teams prioritize revenue-generating activities and often lack bandwidth for end-to-end business transformation. Financial resources are limited, and spending typically favors revenue-generating initiatives over operational efficiency projects. Skills and capabilities are also constrained; many smaller firms lack experience in program management or project management, and it is difficult to reassign staff from client-facing work to integration efforts. These are the biggest challenges.
JIM HOLMAN: What does pre- and post-acquisition integration and optimization focus on?
NITA SANGER: Focus on three areas: program management, change management, and platform unification. Program management ensures a systematic approach to cover all critical aspects, plan effectively, and minimize disruption to clients and internal teams during the deal process. Change management is critical to keep people informed and address concerns about what the acquisition means for them. Platform unification creates a single place where clients can access the firm's combined tools and services. We call this the platform play, and it makes subsequent tuck-in acquisitions easier for clients.
JIM HOLMAN: That's great. With current market conditions—higher interest rates, high inflation, market uncertainty, and a potential slowdown—what can CEOs do to continue to get the most out of their acquisitions?
NITA SANGER: CEOs can use this slowdown as an opportunity. First, create a scorecard for past acquisitions to assess whether they met expectations and to capture lessons learned. Second, streamline operations before the next acquisition so the business is optimized for integration. Third, consider security and privacy: ensure client information remains safe when bringing in new technologies built on different platforms. Finally, focus on talent retention; use this period to retain the people who will drive future growth so integrations proceed faster and revenue is generated more quickly.
JIM HOLMAN: Thanks, Nita. If you'd like to learn more about how Cherry Bekaert can help with pre- and post-acquisition integration and optimization, please contact us.
HOST: I would like to thank Jim and Nita for their insights today. Stay tuned for more Digital Journeys, and feel free to like and share this podcast.
