Highlights:
- One of the biggest IT headaches in M&A is handling the rise of user accounts from merging systems.
- To prevent data loss and safeguard intellectual property, IT teams must effectively manage access policies and streamline offboarding workflows.
Giant organizations frequently pursue mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to enhance value, but concluding the purchase is just the start. The real concern is integrating two different companies.
Major concerns are:
- How do teams cooperate to foster revenue?
- How do leaders use data from the other company?
- How to send an instant message?
Business integration, employee performance, collaboration, and network security can be hampered without the right IT integration strategy.
Manually consolidating IT systems and onboarding new teams can raise the costs and strain already stretched IT resources. As a result, many merged IT systems can become standalone. It might turn out to be the failed desired synergies.
This blog uncovers five ways of an identity-first approach that eases IT post-merger integration. Below are five ways that will empower your business to thrive constantly.
Practical and Proven Post-merger IT Integration Strategies
Mergers are crucial, but IT integration can be challenging. Let’s uncover proven strategies for a smooth transition, enhancing synergies and growth.
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Build a single, authoritative source for identities
Managing identity sprawl, or the rapid rise of user accounts because of combined architectures of merging companies, is a well-known M&A concern.
If the acquired organization has also made acquisitions without tackling these issues, the problem will be compounded. To relieve IT stress and save against cyber threats targeting M&A vulnerabilities, IT teams frequently merge user identities through a domain consolidation project, which is intricate, time-taking, and expensive.
A strong identity platform can ease this by automating the importation of users from multiple Active Directory (AD) or Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directories and converting profiles into a common schema.
This post-merger integration IT strategy builds a single source of truth for all employee identities, eases AD group management, and centralizes access to applications. It easily links directories and applications from the acquired organization and its subsidiaries, improving flexibility and agility.
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Provide employees access to needed applications from the first day
After developing a single source of truth, the second step is furnishing day-one access to complicated applications from both companies. Advanced identity systems automate onboarding, simplifying IT stress and quickly integrating the acquired company’s systems and employees with minimum disruption.
Also, quick access to key resources improves productivity, provides a sense of belonging and shows commitment to connectivity.
For example, encouraging sales teams from both companies to look at each other’s client lists. It can unveil novel revenue opportunities.
An identity access management solution with pre-built provisioning integrations for cloud, mobile, and web apps assists a best-of-breed IT strategy, integrating the acquired company’s systems securely from day one.
This technique gives strength to IT leaders to phase out obsolete tools and improve the IT stack, creating a digital workplace that employees appreciate working with.
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Save and automate access during periods of high turnover
When a company is acquired, employee attrition often spikes, which creates various access needs across the merged organization. It’s essential to quickly deactivate the accounts of fired employees to dodge security risks.
To avoid data loss and protect IP, IT teams need to properly handle access policies and offboarding workflows efficiently. By integrating an advanced identity solution with both the acquirer’s and the acquired organization’s HR systems, companies can have timely and accurate account provisioning and de-provisioning.
Automation can help in these processes, such as deactivating accounts immediately upon termination. So, this post-merger IT integration strategy allows customization for specific needs, such as grace periods or access rollovers for managers.
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Simplify complex compliance processes
Merging organizations often create a complex regulatory system with multiple legal and contractual obligations. If an organization fails to comply, this can result in severe legal, reputational, and financial damage.
Also, manual compliance management can stop M&A activities and cause future problems. Centralizing access management with an identity solution helps merge user accounts and access rights. It also guarantees ongoing compliance.
Lastly, centralized access management automates processes like access certification, requests, and reviews, lowering the risk of non-compliance due to manual error.
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Standardize security to expedite Zero Trust initiatives
Alongside managing employee offboarding, other key IT security aspects must be prioritized during high-risk periods. M&A transitions offer a chance to enhance security with zero-trust practices.
IT and security teams should develop both interim and long-term plans to unify security policies, technologies, and governance across the merged entity. Immediately after an acquisition, implement new security policies for the acquired organization and treat it as an external network with restrictive controls until its security is reviewed and upgraded.
An Identity-first approach can facilitate adaptive Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and enhance zero trust strategies over time by integrating risk-based access policies, improving SIEM integration, securing developer access, and providing passwordless access for all users.
Summary
By creating a single source of truth for user identities, avoiding lengthy consolidation projects, automating provisioning, simplifying compliance, and enhancing security with zero-trust practices, the right Identity solution can speed up post-merger IT integration.
A modern cloud-native Identity platform supports these needs with its flexible architecture, reducing collaboration time with new domains and accelerating M&A activities by synchronizing and consolidating domains quickly.
Enhance your understanding by delving into various IT Infra-related whitepapers accessible through our resource center.
