Backing up company data is important on a daily basis, but ensuring vital company data is preserved during a merger is absolutely vital as management, development teams, and corporate projects change hands. Making the transition from one company structure to another is tough enough to do as it is, packing boxes, moving furniture, switching logos, ordering replacement business cards, etc. However, companies should not lose sight of protecting what is quickly becoming one of the most important asset a company could own–its data.
More often than not, the acquiring company, perceived as the “winner” takes for granted their position, ignoring or, even worse, discarding important data from the company to be acquired. This is unfortunate, as many times the acquiring company has beneficial data that could quite possibly be superior to that of the acquiring one. Improper data backups can lead to delays, failure to employ the proper project accounting software, neglect, or even permanent data loss. Here are a few tips to consider when developing your data backup strategy during a company merger:
1. Make a data assessment. If your company uses Quickbooks inventory software, there will be some stringent analyzing of finances and tasks to re-evaluate. Companies cannot effectively back up their data if they are not aware of what they have. What data do both the acquiring and acquired exactly have? What data is the most sensitive? What data is the highest priority to preserve and protect? What data policies exist between the two companies, and how will they effectively be combined? What differences exist between the two companies’ data strategies and how will they be addressed?
2. Eliminate data strategy differences. Once a complete assessment has been made between the two companies, work towards bridging the gaps between the two data strategies they have. Identify what data exists, has it been stored in a virtual data room or not, and how it will be combined. Consult subject matter experts and data owners from both companies to obtain accurate answers to these questions. Business users, software engineers, designers, QA staff, etc. know best when it comes to what data is important to their business units.
3. Evaluate backup and recovery plans. Backup and recovery plans really should be evaluated on a regular basis and not just when mergers occur. Unfortunately, just like dentist appointments, backup and recovery plans are often forgotten, postponed, or never scheduled to begin with. Tooth decay is bad, losing millions of customer records because someone dropped the hard disk they were on during an office move is much worse. Although there is a difference in scale between large and small companies, the basic question is valid for them all, “Is all the data backed up?” Trickle this question down the chain of command until everyone answers in the affirmative.
Your company is off to a great start in backing up data during its merger if it can successfully complete these first three steps.
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