Full Sail Partners Blog

Many firms in the architectural and engineering (A&E) industry are using mergers and acquisitions (M&A) as a strategy to grow. As discussed previously in a blog by Mike Kessler, a firm must first choose the best fork in the M&A road to accomplish its goals. Once this path has been taken, a decision must then be made about which data to migrate and the steps to take for a smooth transition.

Deciding Which Data to Migrate 

If you ask project managers which data is important to them, they will usually say all of it. However, is that truly the correct answer? Probably not. Depending on which direction your firm chose in the M&A process, there are many questions to ask. Something that may help decide which data to migrate is to determine who is responsible for the work completed prior to the M&A. 

Additional concerns might be: 

1. Are there government contracts or audit requirements that require full detail?
2. Are there open accounts receivable that may be disputed and why?
3. Are there any outstanding claims against a project?
4. Did the acquisition include assets that need to be tracked?
5. Who will own the open accounts receivable?
6. Will you be responsible to pay any outstanding vendor payments?
7. Do you need prior invoice details, prior invoice totals or just prior billed totals?
8. How much value is left to recognize for revenue?
9. Does the prior revenue method used by the previous firm line up with how you recognize revenue?
10. Will the client let you assume the contracts?
11. Are there reporting requirements that are ongoing with the client?
12. Do you need visibility into prior work for cost comparisons?

The answers to these questions, or even other scenarios, may place data requirements on how much data you bring in and at what level. Again, the amount of data to be migrated depends on which fork was taken in the M&A road and the organizational structure of the entity post M&A. After addressing which data to migrate, then you can move on to the how. 

Options for Migrating the Data 

So, now that you know which data to migrate, how are you going to do it? 

Before providing the migration options, please note that having knowledgeable personnel to assist in this process can save time and prevent frustration. 

There are three options for data migration: 

• Vision Data Import
• Microsoft SQL
• Manual Entry 

Determining the Data Migration Process 

Once you have picked the migration option, you must decide what order to migrate the data in. This is important because every firm has critical processes and secondary processes that need data to function and keep the company running. 

Here are some things to consider: 

• Prioritizing the critical areas
• Setting a schedule of what is required (this will help guide you in the process and make sure necessary parties are involved)
• Having a company champion or champions who can answer employee questions
• Keeping communication lines open (this will allow for an easier transition) 

Assistance with Data Migration Decisions is Available 

Regardless of which direction your firm takes in the M&A process, Full Sail Partners can offer help with your data migration decisions. Contact us and one of our subject matter experts will be in touch. Let us help you ease on down the M&A road.