Mergers & Acquisitions come with a ton of challenges — especially in healthcare.
But these challenges can easily be overcome…
You just need the right IT strategy enabling the process.
Today’s guest, John Ragsdale, Founder and CEO of theAppPlace (TAP) Innovations, is an M&A expert with a long track record of success. He joins the show to discuss why IT is the ultimate enabler for that success.
Join us as we discuss:
- How to shape people and process for a winning M&A
- How IT can add value to any M&A
- The importance of partnerships (and how to choose the right partners)
How People & Process Enable M&A
Let’s face it.
M&A only works if you have the right people to make it work. Without the right people, you’re going to have a much harder time getting it off the ground.
But if you think that people are all you need — not so fast. Processes are also going to be key to making it work.
Because if you have the best team, but no outlined processes, you’re going to end up spinning your wheels and taking your whole team of great people down with you.
You need to be thinking through every step of the process BEFORE you begin. If you haven’t thought, in detail, through each step of how you’re going to make it work, you’re going to have a real challenge.
How IT Can Add Value, not Disrupt
M&A isn’t always a particularly enjoyable experience, especially for the company getting acquired. Often, it means a lot of disruption, uncertainty, and unanswered questions. But IT can be critical in not only playing a role in M&A, but adding value rather than disrupting.
Some of the biggest value IT can bring is simply in stability.
Picture a larger company coming in and buying a small one- or two-location company. Odds are that smaller businesses may have not spent a lot of money on technological upgrades. They have old equipment that is slow and generations behind.
It’s a real value when you come in and say, “we’re not replacing everything, but in order to bring everything up to standard, we’re going to replace your network, upgrade your internet circuits, and a lot of your workstations.”
All of a sudden, people have faster machines, more reliability, and feel a sense of investment from the company. Because the truth is, spending money on premium equipment is a great way to show an employee how much they’re valued.
You can’t go in and tear the whole house down, because that would be totally disruptive. You fix things little bits at a time. Small, noticeable changes that add up to big change, without being overwhelming, distracting, or disruptive.
The Importance of Partnerships
As you make your way through a successful M&A, partners are crucial.
Because as we talked about earlier, one of the biggest challenges in the M&A world is upgrading and replacing technology. You realize you have all this changeover to get done, and you want to make that change without disrupting the business.
The business wants to keep going and making money. They don’t want you to have to shut them down for a week, or even a day. That’s revenue.
Making sure you’re doing as much planning ahead of time, and if it’s a large M&A, making sure that you’re leveraging partners, or even multiple partners. That way nobody burns out, everybody can be flexible, and the business winds up happy.
Still itching for more IT strategy and tactics? You can find this interview and many more by subscribing to Groovers Talk Tech on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google or here.
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Questions? info@mobiuspartners.com or chat in the lower right.
