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P R E PA R E F O R T H E S O F T WA R E I N T E G R AT I O N
Combining your IT systems with those of a telecoms requires careful planning and execution.
or details about general IT setup during negotiations – especially during the earlier stages. Setting KPIs and goals for value creation will be tied with how and where you add value to the telecoms. Front- end and back-end system and software companies will have different focal points, but a general guideline is to avoid consolidation-first approaches where a buyer insists on your software being fully integrated before revenue starts to count toward benchmark targets. Instead, prioritise agreements for continuous review of targets for revenue and sales (including for cross-selling between departments or as part of bundles with other of the telecoms solutions). Such structures may help incentivise more parties to participate in the onboarding process and increase your senior-level visibility.
addressed during due diligence, where the telecoms’ technical representatives may look at the architecture and code. It may emerge that software solutions from either party need to be architecturally overhauled for the integration to work, which can cost significant time and effort. The IT ecosystem that you will become part of is often large and sprawling. To avoid internal confusion and competition, your software company can conduct an IT ecosystem review of the telecoms to identify any risks for both migration and future product sales and integration. Are there, for example, existing, competing solutions? If so, your products should, hopefully, be clearly and explicitly prioritised. In many cases, the tasks mentioned above will involve some ‘flying blind,’ as neither party will necessarily reveal all code, software,
Following a merger, some software companies must wait for value creation and synergies to manifest themselves. Often, the software integration process – in other words integrating your solutions and systems into the telecoms’ IT ecosystem – is the sticking point. Creating a successful foundation for software integration takes close attention to a wide variety of areas, including your code and software, the telecoms’ existing software and IT-ecosystem, KPIs, and value creation targets. Software integration involves aligning code, solutions, development technologies, migration processes, governance mechanisms, and platforms – to mention just the tip of the iceberg. Developing a strategy for integration early on and ensuring support and collaboration with relevant, technology experts within the telecoms is pivotal. Some of these areas will be
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