Please note: Unlike other cases below, the following situation is not unique to this client case. It is included because many clients believe their situation is exceptional while in fact it is routine.
Situation
A serial acquirer wished to adopt Integrator, but the management team (a) was fully occupied by two acquisitions in progress, and (b) did not feel that it's existing M&A process was "ready" or sufficiently well-defined.
The client feared that, before they would be capable of making a transition to an well-organized system like Integrator, it would have to first define an internal M&A discipline (a perpetually unfinished project), and/or wait for a break in M&A activity. However no such opportunity was on the horizon. eknow and Integrator were selected to "make it happen."
Challenges
The corporate development management team simply did not have time to commit to organizing, explaining, and migrating data or processes. The individuals with the most knowledge were the least available. M&A process existed in each business unit but were not centrally defined. Many processes were not explicitly define at all. There was no single repository for corporate development or integration-related data or documents. The relevant documents were spread across multiple teams and team members: primarily spreadsheets, but also Microsoft Word, Powerpoint or Project documents.
In short, without significant interaction with the client, eknow would have to create, define and migrate the client's processes, and migrate the client's data. Integrator would have to be populated with the client's organization, workflow, historical data, client-specific templates for future deals, and customized forms and reports matching the client's nomenclature and process. eknow would know if it had "gotten it right" only after the client had reviewed the essentially completed implementation.
Solution
- One contact person in a support role at the client organization was designated to locate and forward documents, which eknow would identify for him. The client contact person would internally request specific types of documents from the colleagues who would have access to them.
- eknow then requested anything available from the following list: a corporate development organization chart, any spreadsheets previously used to track potential targets, a due diligence checklist, and a copy of pre-close and post-close integration task spreadsheets from at least one recent acquisition, and at least one sample of a weekly or monthly executive summary or progress report for a previous integration.
- The client contact person located these documents and forwarded them to the eknow project manager as they were located.
- eknow analyzed these documents and determined the organization and processes they reflected. With this information and data, eknow recreated the organizational structure in Integrator, created client user accounts, and tailored Integrator reports and forms to reflect the implicit requirements of the client and its industry. During this process a few clarifying questions regarding roles were answered by the client contact person.
- Next eknow extracted all relevant data from those documents, manually when necessary, regardless of the format of the document. Spreadsheets were "massaged" or "scrubbed" into importable form. MS Word and Powerpoint documents were manually translated into importable data. Task lists were read and manually edited by eknow analysts and imported into Integrator.
- In this case eknow hid all Integrator tools or modules, such as TSA's, head count management, and risk mitigation, that were not immediately relevant to the client's M&A activity. Note however that this type of configuration can now be done by a client administrator at any time by simply checking the appropriate boxes.
- Finally, select Integrator iMemo templates were modified to request and collect task data from users, for the client's assessment, due diligence, and integration processes.
The completed implementation was presented in a walk-through for the customer contact who had assisted with the documentation above. eknow made minor revisions within one business day.
Outcome
eknow presented client management with a fully populated system, and made final revisions, in just over one week. The system reflected the client's organization, contained user accounts for all initial users, was populated with historical data, included templates for target assessment, due diligence, pre-close activities, and post-close integration. Forms, reports and iMemos were tailored for the client.
Most importantly, this was accomplished (a) without wasting time of busy corporate development managers, (b) without requiring the client to have a well-defined, disciplined process before the transition, and (c) without distracting the team from deal it was working on at the time.
The outcome was a success. However, success in this situation is routine, for two reasons. First, eknow's long experience with precisely this situation allows it to work quickly with little guidance. Note also that, because this specific service is included in eknow's flat fee structure, eknow is incentivized to complete the work correctly and as quickly as possible. Second, Integrator's M&A-specific design mean that the core M&A process and best practices do not have to be defined by the customer. It is already defined in Integrator. The customer need only identify any necessary exceptions or variations from the norm.