What to Expect When Your Company Merges with Another

by Stephanie Faris on Monday, September 26 6:00

Business owners work hard to build growing, thriving companies. Even with all that work, though, sometimes a business can become much stronger by merging with another company. Whether it s a big corporation interested in buying that company out or a small or midsized business that feels together, two small companies can become stronger, the transition can be stressful. This is especially true for a business s IT department, which faces decisions about server migrations and equipment moves in addition to its other daily workload.

If your business is going through a merger, or might be in the future, there are a few things you can do to prepare for any changes you might see. Wherever you are in the process, these steps can help.

Get All the Information

Even if a merger has been officially announced, it can be difficult to get all the information necessary to start preparing. Some corporate buyouts lead to few changes while others involve some or all of a team relocating and combining resources. If a relocation is imminent, it s important that IT get as much information as possible to start preparing. Let management know that your team needs plenty of time to plan a move to ensure it goes smoothly.

Inventory and Clean

One thing you can do, even before you have all the facts, is begin inventorying your servers and office equipment. You ll likely be asked to provide this information eventually, so having it in place will help. This is also a time to evaluate your server setup and streamline things. You may find your servers are relocated to the other company s site or migrated to the cloud. If that happens, you ll want things to be as clean as possible.

Plan and Prepare

Once you have word that some or all of your equipment will need to be relocated, it s time to start taking inventory and ensure you re prepared for a move. You ll need to make sure you can safely move equipment, since sensitive server components can easily be damaged when exposed to shock, static, or humidity. You ll also need to ensure you ll have time to get everything connected, tested, and ready to go in time for everyone to return to work. This often means planning to move over a long weekend.

Trust an Expert

IT relocation experts have often gained years of experience handling relocation projects. In the stress of a merger, a team could find itself spending hours working through every phase of an upcoming move. Instead, an expert third-party provider can take all of the information and plan the project for the business, from start to finish. This allows IT teams to focus on the other duties they have on their to-do lists, making things easier for everyone.

A business merger can be a stressful time for any employee, but IT teams face even greater challenges. Since mergers can lead to moves and combined resources, it s important for tech teams to start preparing as soon as they know a merger is happening. Even updating inventory and cleaning up long-neglected servers can make a big difference if the new company combines technology resources.