Actionable Architecture for Mergers & Acquisitions

Mergers & Acquisitions (including divestments, carve-outs, and organizational transformation in general) are often painstaking, expensive, and cumbersome. Engaging enterprise architecture in the acquisition/merger process allows the acquisition team to plan, execute, and evaluate acquisitions within a strategic planning framework that improves acquisition performance without compromising organizational performance. Specifically, using the EA capability improves acquisition performance through the following:

• Speed (time to capability): The ability to reuse current capabilities inhouse will allow the enterprise to get its products, services, and solutions to market faster
• Reduced integration cost (reuse): The ability to support the integration of new business models and technologies with current operational capabilities will eliminate the need for redundant capabilities
• Reverse integration: The ability to identify business or operational capabilities in the target company will allow them to be scaled inside the acquirer
• Reduced business and IT complexity: Through the ongoing documentation of the current state of the enterprise, redundant and unused assets are identified and eliminated, thus sustaining a more fit enterprise
• Fewer simultaneous projects: The rapid integration process means that both the acquirer and the acquired can avoid the additional challenge of running a large number of integration processes in parallel
• Synchronization with other transformation initiatives: The EA team orchestrates parallel integration processes with other transformative initiatives, enabling the firm to evolve as a coherent whole

The session will outline the necessary actions for the EA team to become a value and proactive player in the pre- and post-merger process.

Dr. John Gøtze

Dr John Gøtze is co-founder of EA Fellows ApS, a Danish consulting and training company specialising in holistic enterprise architecture and digital transformation. John also co-founded the International Enterprise Architecture Institute together with Dr. Scott Bernard, the former federal chief enterprise architect in the U.S.