Start with a solid IT Assessment

To be able to do the detailed planning for the IT integration, you have to know your starting point. Two things will help inform this baseline: the business assessment and the IT assessment. Views of each of these should have been produced as part of the M&A transaction process. In the case of IT, the due diligence report should include:

• an inventory of what is there (business applications, infrastructure, organisation, processes and level of automation)
  
• the risks (technology stability, technology ownership, software licensing, staff support, vendor support and major expense needs)
  
• the IT budget for the next 12 months
  
• the capital expenditure needs for the next 12 months
  
• the IT project initiatives
  
• the leverage opportunities
  
• a high-level transition plan.

BEFORE you do anything else... suspend all on going projects. THEN, if the due diligence report doesn't exist (or is lacking in detail), undertake/complete the IT assessment. This sounds obvious, but you will be under pressure both to allow certain projects to finish and to start the transition based on the high-level plan.

Once the baseline has been established, then the overall phasing and extent of the IT integration can be agreed and the detailed plans developed.