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Abstract:
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“All marriages are happy . It’s the living together afterwards that causes all the trouble .”
- Raymond Hull , Canadian Playwright .
Although Mergers and Acquisitions are common , no merger is termed as successful until post merger integration is successful . During M &A , two companies that function uniquely are fused together , and the Information Technology group is expected to consolidate two different systems efficiently . This integration should be well -executed , and without any disruption to business or customers . Every merger is different , and can have innumerable reasons for failure , ranging from poor implementation strategies to cultural or attitudinal problems . One of the reasons , many Post -Merger Integration activities fail , is due to the Information Technology complexity and inadequacy to address the issues , it brings to the table . This thesis aims at studying the importance of post -merger Information Technology (IT ) integration and developing an IT strategy for the integration . There are no scientific guidelines laid out for a post -merger IT integration and each company employs its own methods . Hence the author has researched and developed a post -merger IT integration framework that can give definitive approach and assist in seamless integration . This framework includes practices that can be followed for a smooth IT transition and checklist to ensure successful integration .
Lastly the author presents two cases of M &A that illustrate the importance of IT integration , namely , Sallie Mae - USA Group and HP -Compaq . Sallie Mae & USA Group was a huge success due to its successful IT integration implementation while HP -Compaq merger was a disappointment for the lack of understanding the importance of IT integration . From these two cases , the author has also derived the usefulness of the proposed framework . Author has also presented another case of Oracle -Sun merger , which does an analysis of the IT integration carried out by the two companies . It would not be unwise to say , that IT plays an ever increasing pervasive role in today’s organizations , hence a successful merger demands successful IT integration . |