Three Technology Surprises in Acquisitions, and How to Avoid Them — a Free White Paper

by Harwell on March 10, 2003

in Acquisitions

What is this thing called “acquisition due diligence”, and how does due diligence for information technology differ from any other kind of acquisition due diligence? These questions will be answered in this white paper which describes the three IT surprises that you want to avoid.

Did you know that most people doing IT due diligence only avoid one of the three surprises? Get the white paper and find out about the other two surprises you need to avoid!

In the white paper I say, “In simple terms, due diligence is the elimination of future surprises.” Yet most IT due diligence done today is done the same way that financial due diligence is usually done: it just tries to verify the accuracy of the asset inventory. That eliminates one surprise, but that’s not the surprise you have to worry about! IT is much more than computers and software; if you don’t look at other aspects of IT, then you run the risk of huge unexpected expenses after the acquisition is complete. I’ve even seen acquisitions that are so crippled by IT expenses that the acquiring company ends up selling off the assets of the new acquisition just to try to salvage something out of the deal. These are clearly failed acquisitions.

Don’t make those mistakes! Learn what to watch out for when you do IT due diligence. It’s simple stuff, and you probably have people who have the skills to do the work, but this aspect of IT due diligence is often forgotten.

Building on Harwell’s technology due diligence experience from over twenty acquisitions, this three-page white paper gives you the overview you’ll need to get started on your own IT due diligence.

Download the white paper

Tagged as: alignment, architecture, CIO, Expectations, Leadership, M&A, Management, Objectives, perception, Strategy

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