When involved in an M&A, take an iterative approach to applying EA best practices. Good enterprise architects work from the abstract to the concrete, modeling the right things at the right time. Best practices include:
- Architecture references. Complete a first, quick assessment to guide strategic discussions early in the M&A process. Use more detailed architecture references for due diligence and integration planning later on.
- Application rationalization. Your first pass at application rationalization will have to be from the outside. When exploring targets, document the experience from end users’ perspectives—good experiences, regardless of the technology underneath, will point to interesting targets. Later, you can map applications to those experiences and eventually rationalize the applications’ worth.
Your success will depend as much on your people skills as on your technical knowledge. People skills include:
- Relationship building. Try to build relationships early on with the enterprise architects in the target companies. Continue working more closely with them as the M&A progresses.
- Change management. Frame the EA work in the context of change management. A digital acquisition means changes for both IT staffs. Use your EA deliverables to keep the right people in the loop about possible changes.
- Education. Help business leaders understand your work and the value you provide. Standardize your “business-as-usual” processes and deliverables so that you can repurpose and adapt them quickly for a deal.
- Culture integration. Integrate company cultures around technology adoption, planning for communication, training, and team-building exercises.
