Navigating Tech Stack Transformation During Distribution M&A: Strategic Considerations and Stakeholder Engagement

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the distribution industry can be tricky, especially when it comes to getting the technology of the merging companies to work together. For one thing, integrating different IT systems and platforms can be technically challenging — and costly. Discrepancies in software, databases, and operational processes may lead to data management issues and unbalancing your existing operational harmony.

But, it’s important to know that these transitions can lead to great opportunities for growth and progress through digital transformation. To take advantage of these opportunities, you need to understand the strategic considerations for making any necessary changes within the organization and engaging key stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition. A data-driven approach is crucial in making these changes effectively.

Re-evaluating the current technology setup during distribution M&A and figuring out who the main team members using those tools are will help you build a strong technological foundation for the future. With decades of experience in the distribution industry, we’ve seen the roadblocks, challenges, opportunities, and solutions that come with company growth and expansion. As you tackle the necessary changes and conversations, we’ll give you advice on the specific questions and topics to discuss with each group.

Strategic Considerations for Tech Stack Re-evaluation

Before you approach the stakeholders involved, understand the strategic considerations when reviewing each business’s current technology stack. Take inventory of the systems currently used by both organizations. Your assessment needs to go beyond the simple review of repeated software or duplicate accounts.

Assessment of Current Technologies

Start by conducting a comprehensive assessment of both companies’ technology stacks, including:

• Accounting solutions
• ERPs
• eCommerce platforms
• CRM software
• Business intelligence software
• Marketing automation platforms
• Customer support ticketing software
• Software for quoting and proposals, if not part of your ERP/CRM

While the first steps will be a general inventory of existing technologies and an evaluation of system redundancies, take the time to identify gaps in capabilities across current software tools and any need for additional solutions. As you review the inventory and evaluate redundancies, it’s important to focus closely on compatibility, scalability, and alignment with future business objectives.

You should seek to utilize technology solutions that are easy to deploy and require minimal training for your entire team — not just the IT department. Evaluate the compatibility and interoperability of the existing systems and platforms, then determine what can be consolidated or replaced by a more comprehensive system.

Next, assess the scalability of the current tech stack or any new software solutions you’re looking to adopt to make sure the updated tech stack will be able to grow with your business. M&A is all about strategic company growth and evolution, and each software solution should be carefully chosen knowing that it will be able to accommodate your changing business.

Each solution should align with your current and future business objectives. Just as the newly merged teams should be aligned in the business’s strategic initiatives moving forward, your technological infrastructure should support and move with your teams without disruption.

Integration vs. Innovation

Change is inevitable in distribution M&A. You’ll want to consider the long-term vision of the merged entity and operational efficiencies. Consider whether new, updated tools will be best for your organization and staff by conducting a cost-benefit analysis. Evaluate the advantages or disadvantages of integrating the existing tech stacks versus investing in more modern, innovative solutions.

Additionally, analyze how more modern, innovative solutions may set your company up for success. Depending on the current technological infrastructures of each company, it may be time for you to upgrade your solutions for a genuine impact on your competitive advantage. Because technology changes so quickly, M&A can be the perfect time to re-evaluate these tools and push forward with new initiatives. Embrace digital transformation to stay competitive in the digital age.

For example, if you’re using an ERP that pulls in vast amounts of data, but you have separate (or no) tools for parsing through that information for clear, actionable insights, now would be a great time to consider a CRM with built-in BI that integrates natively with your ERP and eCommerce platform.

Data Consolidation, Analytics, and Governance

Successful M&As in the distribution industry often hinge on the ability to integrate operations smoothly. Data congruency, where multiple users can access the information from the same place at the same time without risking data integrity, is crucial. This congruency from one system to the next is key for systems to coexist and level the playing field for everyone involved.

A due diligence check should involve making sure the consolidation of data between companies is as accurate and consistent as possible, factoring in intangible assets such as intellectual property. Different data fields and storage processes often lead to inaccuracies in the merged data, so note those changes and determine your data merging strategies before any consolidation.

Once the data has been successfully consolidated, it’s important to hold general data integrity checks so no information is lost or slips through the cracks. Develop data governance frameworks that clearly outline data ownership, control of staff access, data quality standards, and any necessary data compliance standards and protection regulations.

Scalability, Artificial Intelligence, and Future-Proofing

It’s important to address the scalability of your updated tech stack as your business grows. If the scalability of these tools isn’t addressed during M&A, it could mean that you’ll have to adjust your tech stack needs soon after, causing more change and potential disruption to operations. Evaluate the scalability of your existing systems and any new software solutions you’re looking to invest in. These systems should be able to support any future growth of the merged entities and adapt to changing market conditions when needed. Interest rates can also impact the scalability of tech stacks and overall M&A activity, as higher interest rates make deals more expensive and necessitate strategic allocation of funds.

One factor to consider is how easy it is to add new features or new users to your existing systems. Many software solutions require you to upgrade to a higher tier or pay to add individual users. M&A may seem like a risky time to adopt new technologies, but it’s critical during the consideration phase of your future tech stack. Seek out solutions that are designed to grow with your business, offer unlimited users, and are upfront about one-off charges and fees that may pop up.

Cultural Alignment and Change Management

Merging companies often have distinct corporate cultures, and aligning these cultures to create a cohesive work environment is crucial for employee morale and productivity. Maintaining customer centricity throughout this process is essential to avoid competitive reversals and churn. Keeping talent around post-merger is vital since losing key employees can disrupt operations and hinder the achievement of merger synergies.

One of the biggest challenges with the adoption of an entirely new tech stack is the time it will take for your employees to learn how to use those new solutions and train others on the tools. This not only takes away time from their main roles but can sometimes lead to frustration for your team. Because of this, it’s important to select solutions that align with your merged company’s culture to ensure a smooth adoption and maintain customer intimacy.

Ask yourself:

• Does this technological solution fit in with our current work processes?
• Will this solution lead to confusion or miscommunication?
• How will this technology benefit the entire company and help remove silos?

Your employees may likely be more receptive to minor additional changes during the M&A transition, rather than disrupting their structured and established workflows post-merger or acquisition. Still, ensure that you develop strong change management strategies to overcome any possible resistance to change. This should include communication plans, training outlines, and support initiatives to foster a more positive and successful adoption of the new technology while maintaining customer intimacy.

Stakeholder Engagement in the Digital Transformation Process

You’ve completed a full evaluation of your current tech stack, identifying potential gaps that may need to be filled with additional digital tools. Next, identify key stakeholders to gather insights that will assist in the final decision-making process.

IT Department

The IT department typically holds the keys for each software tool and can be the first to help guide decisions for new tools you may want to integrate. This team will likely be the prime executor of your tech transformation, as they’ll be responsible for the technical evaluation and integration process using a data-driven approach.

They can identify and address any technical limitations of your current or new software, so be sure to ask them if these tools are compatible and can be easily integrated. They’ll be the most likely to have insights into how you can ensure a smooth integration or transition with these newly merged systems or platforms.

Here are 20 questions they’re likely to ask and what to listen for in the responses from any solutions you’re evaluating. Your IT department is tasked with championing the development of a data-driven culture within the organization, where employees at all levels leverage data and analytics to drive performance and innovation. Considering solutions that empower other teams to pull reports, for instance, will help your new or existing IT team members focus on larger strategic initiatives, rather than being bogged down with pulling report after report.

Sales and Marketing Teams

The teams that may find the biggest benefit from your tech stack are sales and marketing. They are the key beneficiaries of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, business intelligence (BI), and marketing automation tools. Their input into the decision-making process of these tools is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of your current systems and identifying needed improvements.

For example, a single-point software solution, such as email marketing software, may have worked well for one department. However, as your company grows, these single solutions often lead to data silos and a lack of collaboration between teams. The marketing team can’t fully measure the ROI of email campaigns if you don’t have closed-loop reporting showing how those campaigns contributed to opportunities in your CRM software.

Sales and marketing teams can help identify areas of improvement that can further enhance customer interactions to drive sales. You’ll want to ask how your current systems support the sales and marketing processes to understand what you’ll need to include in the upgraded tech stack. It will be great to learn what features they need to better engage with customers and track performance, assisting them in developing deeper analytical insights and effective marketing campaigns. Achieving revenue synergies through enhanced customer interactions and deeper analytical insights is crucial for long-term value creation.

Executive Leadership

It’s time to discuss these changes with the decision-makers who guide the strategic direction of the merger and the tech transformation. Executives are concerned with achieving operational efficiency, identifying and acting on opportunities for improvements and cost savings, and implementing or refining processes that impact revenue and customer retention.

To best align your tech investments with business objectives, be clear about what your strategic goals are for the merger and how your tech stack can better support these goals. Regardless of how much your team wants these tools, you’ll have to be mindful of what investments executive leadership is willing to make in technology to achieve those objectives. It’s important to evaluate any financial implications, potential ROI of these upgrades, and the long-term scalability and alignment with business goals. Additionally, the impact of deal volume on the strategic direction of the merger and tech transformation should be considered, as high levels of deal volume can influence competition for attractive investment opportunities and the overall attractiveness of a deal to buyers.

Finance Department

Once executive leadership determines their level of investment, you’ll need to keep in mind the budget available for a technology transformation. The finance department will be overseeing the financial aspects of the adoption of these new solutions, including budgeting breakdown and ROI analysis.

Have a clear estimate of the projected costs and savings of the tech stack transformation. This should include the costs for implementation, training, maintenance, and any potential upgrades. Note any savings you may experience from the adoption of each tool in terms of efficiency or elimination of redundancies. Once you have those estimates, the finance department can conduct an ROI assessment using data analytics to determine how any technology updates will impact your financial projections and expected returns.

Customers

While they’re not directly involved in the decision-making process, customers’ needs and expectations can guide the selection of any customer-facing technologies. You’ll want to make sure each customer-facing solution enhances the customer experience and does not take away from it. 

Analyze how your customers interact with your current systems and which aspects of those systems they use most or rarely use at all. With this, you can identify paint points and prioritize improvements based on enhancing their experience and satisfaction. 

Also, evaluate how your systems impact your sales reps’ ability to have informed conversations with customers. Is searching for customer information costing them time? Can you find a better tool that provides reps with customer information at a glance? Consider technology like AI built into a distributor-focused platform that can help your sales team uncover top-related products to recommend to customers for upselling and cross-selling.

Win More With White Cup

Navigating tech stack transformations during distribution M&A requires strategic considerations and stakeholder collaboration to be successful and provide a smooth transition for your team. Embracing digital transformation through the integration of innovative technologies is crucial in this process. Re-evaluating and updating your tech stack to better align with business goals and support your team’s needs can lead to enhanced operational efficiency, improved customer engagement, and a stronger competitive position.

When choosing the right system or technology for your merged company, evaluate how well it can centralize your customer and product data, enable collaboration among sales, marketing, and operations teams, and is built for the unique needs of today’s distribution companies. 

With a powerful CRM that empowers team members to act on their best opportunities faster, business intelligence solutions that transform customer and product data into crystal-clear insights, and precision pricing software, the White Cup Suite helps distributors shift from reactive, siloed customer interactions to proactive, collaborative growth strategies. Join the winner’s circle. Schedule a demo today.