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However , while they can boost everything from share values to levels of customer service , certain barriers can prevent them from delivering this value within a reasonable timeframe .

This is particularly the case when many organizations remain in work-from-home mode or adopt hybrid-work practices . These situations can erode projected deal valuations and obscure potential business benefits when teams are not located in the same office for cross-company collaboration and can potentially delay the benefits of rapid but informed decision-making . know exists . So , locking down the new acquisition as quickly as possible should be a top priority .

• Value capture : Post-merger or acquisition technological debts can include replicated technology , unnecessary complexity and operational overheads . Seek out and remove any technical overlaps .

• Right-size teams : By simplifying operating models through Software-as-a-Service ( SaaS ) – native spending , organizations can reduce the need for bloated IT teams and keep spending focused on business imperatives .

• Value experience and discipline : Developing a highly repeatable approach reduces costs and ensures an organization is prepared for any future mergers or acquisitions .

Steve Singer , Regional Vice President and ANZ Country Manager , Zscaler

For IT teams , a merger or acquisition deal can involve long hours working on costly projects to combine different IT infrastructures . Resources need to be linked to allow required access to data and efficient communication across the newly created organization .

The fundamental goal for the IT teams is to quickly and securely enable the businesses to engage with one another , identify and remediate risks from cyberthreats , simplify IT operations and ensure zero disruption in IT operations .

During a merger or acquisition project , it ’ s essential for IT teams to consider a range of factors , including :

• Time-to-value : Senior management is under pressure to demonstrate value . Clunky or nonexistent technology integrations only stand in the way of demonstrating that the merger was a good idea .

• Cyber-risks : Asset inventory is essential to IT security because you can ’ t protect what you don ’ t

The role of Zero Trust

A company can gain a real competitive advantage during the first hundred days following an acquisition or merger by securely connecting personnel from both firms and allowing workstreams to commence quickly .

While this may seem a little like a ‘ yellow brick road ’ to post-M & A bliss , it ’ s often difficult to achieve in practice . The combination of hybrid workforces , technical debt , cloud migrations and limited talent often elongates these integrations that need to be completed .

Thankfully , these issues can be addressed by applying Zero Trust security principles . IT teams owe it to their organizations to explore such Digital Transformation to speed up the M & A process .

Before Zero Trust , the traditional approach to IT integration required significant upfront planning , investment , and effort to achieve marginal results with respect to risk management and efficient user access .

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