Bringing Data Down the Mergers and Acquisitions Road
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:
- Are there government contracts or audit requirements that require full detail?
- Are there open accounts receivable that may be disputed and why?
- Are there any outstanding claims against a project?
- Did the acquisition include assets that need to be tracked?
- Who will own the open accounts receivable?
- Will you be responsible to pay any outstanding vendor payments?
- Do you need prior invoice details, prior invoice totals or just prior billed totals?
- How much value is left to recognize for revenue?
- Does the prior revenue method used by the previous firm line up with how you recognize revenue?
- Will the client let you assume the contracts?
- Are there reporting requirements that are ongoing with the client?
- 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.

With all the hot topics of last year, we thought it would be interesting to see which ones were valued the most by Deltek Users. To figure this out, we compiled a list of the top 10 read Full Sail Partners’ blogs of 2017. From finance, to marketing, to HR, to project managers, it seems that we offered a little something for everyone. Let’s check them out:
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the architectural and engineering (A&E) industry are on the rise. Unfortunately, many firms are not prepared to successfully implement the M&A process. With an acquisition, it is imperative that the “buying” entity have a well-defined set of procedures to easily onboard the incoming firm. In the case of a merger, all involved firms would need a set plan which would dictate the transition to a new firm. However, first a firm must decide the direction it will take regarding the M&A process and evaluate how it will affect the current organization’s structure.
2017 was a banner year for Deltek users with so many amazing new service offerings coming available. Each of these solutions was designed with users in mind to create a more streamlined business operation. From improved user interfaces to near instantaneous data transfers, Deltek users now have an array of options to get their work done faster and more efficiently.
Gone are the days where human resources (HR) professionals simply focused on just filling staff requisitions. Today’s HR professionals are looking to build relationships which will impact their organization’s bottom line. With this in mind, they must successfully compete for and win the best talent which fits the needs of their firms. The talent acquisition team can boost the efficiency of both the recruitment and on-boarding of this talent using an automated system.
Data here, data there - this seems to be a continuous issue for professional services firms as more technology solutions designed to overcome specific business challenges enter the market. Luckily, there is an answer to this problem for Deltek Vision and Deltek for Professional Services (DPS) users - the 
Yep, you read that right. I said free resources are available for Deltek users. Using these free resources, you can become more familiar with Deltek products and keep up with the newest features and how they work. Even more, Full Sail Partners and Deltek both offer these free resources for your consumption. So, what are these useful yet complimentary tools and where do you find them?
In today’s world of technology, computer users are faced with the constant threat of security issues. One wrong click of the mouse and your computer can be instantly crippled. It is not only important that you are aware of the types of threats that are out there, but you should also be familiar with the steps you can take to protect yourself.