The fusion of several companies into a new single unit, a so-called merger, presents IT service providers with a tremendous ­chal­lenge. Applications and existing databases have to be consolidated into a new structure in an instable business process environment, with unclear allocation of responsibilities and often under extreme time pressure. In this risky situation the customer expects its IT service provider to supply it with comprehensive advice and support. Even companies with the advantage of a long-standing and stable IT governance structure are often helpless when faced with the flexibility and speed of reaction expected in a merger situation. This means that IT service providers must obtain a detailed understanding of the complexity drivers in this situation in order to be able to make a realistic calculation of the effort required and the necessary personnel and system resources available.

Banishment from Paradise


A successful relationship between an IT service provider and its customer is often the result of a long term optimization phase. In the best case the result is a win-win situation in which the service provider gets a regular income and profit, and the customer gets the required services and a reliable IT platform. The demands of both sides are balanced and based on a long term partnership.


A merger, or even the fusion of several organizations, destroys this balance as several optimized units are pushed together. This often includes external and internal IT service providers which have to date only known one other as competitors in the market.


This makes the route to a new win-win situation particularly precarious. The alternative ways forward are numerous and range from the further development of existing sub-structures, the implementation of a completely new system, or outsourcing or insourcing. The desired future IT structure is often not clear during the early stages of the merger. The transfer into the new structure, whether as a ‘big-bang’ or as a gradual transformation with some activities continuing in parallel, has to be planned carefully. IT service providers face the major challenge of having to support their customer in the reduction and control of the migration risks, particularly in the planning of the merger and the migration of their applications, in an environment characterized by uncertainty.

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