Tips for surviving ongoing industry consolidation
When we acquire, we want to avoid companies that use proprietary systems. We've replaced people who have no matches to our technology. We also ask, "Can they grow into it, or are they only familiar with older technology?" If they've got a fundamental skill set, they're perceived as value added. On the plus side, I'm aware of a lot of employees coming in through acquisitions who have expertise in customer-facing systems. They already understood CRM platforms [that we use]. Other incoming workers are still on 20-year-old ERP systems, which is not as desirable. Barry Libenson, CIO, Ingersoll-Rand
We're all interlocking parts. It's a basic human function of the organization. If someone is only capable of doing one thing -- processing a purchase order, for example -- that is a dead-end street. Think strategically. How can you help this organization? You can work with suppliers, who might be on the contract management side within the company. Or they might be outside suppliers or enablement partners. Even if you're only on the purchasing side, and you don't do extranet or supply portals, those are places you can improve. Albert Pang, analyst, IDC
In addition to the business analyst, another important role will be that of the application architect or integration specialist. You're integrating business apps too, and the merged or acquired firm cannot act as one firm until you have the same set of applications. You need the architect to understand if the strategy is an end or a stopgap. Glenn Cullen, analyst, Forrester Research