M&A assurance · Between signing and day 100
M&A Technology Integration Assessment: what joining two companies will really take
An independent review between signing and closing, or in the first hundred days: every system, contract and connection both companies run, a keep, merge or retire decision for each, the real cost and timeline, a day one checklist, and the security checks before two networks are connected. The result is a plan with costs, owners and dates the board can hold people to. From £25,000 + VAT, fixed after a scoping call, in four to six weeks.
The assessment at a glance
Definition
What is an M&A technology integration assessment?
An M&A technology integration assessment is an independent review, done between signing and closing or in the first hundred days after a deal, of what joining two companies’ technology will really take. It lists every system, contract and connection both companies run, makes a keep, merge or retire decision for each one, prices the work and the timeline honestly, sets out what must work on day one, and checks the security risks of connecting two networks, because newly bought companies are attacked more often in their first months.
The result is a plan with costs, owners and dates that the board can hold people to, and that you can run with any partner. Intelance delivers the assessment in four to six weeks from £25,000 + VAT, fixed after a scoping call, run by the senior team behind our M&A due diligence work for private equity buyers and corporate acquirers, so nothing learned during the deal is learned twice.
Post merger IT integration is where deal savings are won or quietly lost: two estates still running in parallel two years on is the most expensive outcome available. The wider practice is described under technology, delivery and M&A assurance, with independent verdicts on the Independent Technology Audit page.
Listed honestly
Every system, licence and connection, on both sides.
Decided
Keep, merge or retire, written down for every system.
Day one protected
Payroll, email, logins and customers, working after close.
Networks checked first
Security tested before anything is connected.
The six questions
Six questions we answer about the two companies
Every failed integration left one of these unanswered. Each card says what you hold at the end.
What do both sides run?
Every system, licence and connection on both sides, listed honestly for the first time. Most acquired companies run more than they declared in the data room.
You getOne combined list both IT teams accept as true.Keep, merge or retire?
A decision for every system: which one survives, what moves into it, what gets switched off and when.
You getThe decisions the savings depend on, made and written down.What will it really cost?
The work priced in the open: licences, people, moving data, and running both systems side by side until the merge is done.
You getThe number the deal model guessed at.What must work on day one?
Payroll, email, logins, security access and the things customers see, working the morning after the deal closes.
You getA day one checklist with named owners.Is it safe to connect the networks?
Newly bought companies get attacked more in their first months, and joining two networks opens doors. We check before anything is connected.
You getThe security checks to run before the first connection is made.Who and what can break it?
The people who run things, the contracts that change when ownership changes, and the licences that do not transfer.
You getThe risks named, priced and owned before they surprise you.How it works
What happens in the four to six weeks
Both estates listed, every decision made with the people who must live with it, and a plan the board can hold people to.
Both sides listed
Systems, contracts, licences and connections from both companies, gathered from records and interviews rather than assumptions. The data room checked against reality.
Decisions and costs
Keep, merge or retire decided for every system with both IT teams in the room, and the work priced in the open. Decisions made with the people who must live with them.
Day one and security
The day one checklist built, the security checks for connecting the networks done, and quick wins separated from the long merge.
The plan and the readout
The integration plan with costs, owners and dates, and a board readout that says what the savings really are and when they arrive. From £25,000 + VAT, fixed after the scoping call.
Running the plan
The plan is yours to run with any partner. If you want our help, the next steps are each priced separately. You are never tied to us.
Larger and multi-entity estates take longer, and we say which at scoping. If the deal has not closed yet, due diligence runs first and feeds the assessment directly.
Published fees
Where to go after the assessment
Each route is priced before you choose it, and each stands alone.
M&A Cyber & Tech Due Diligence
The deal itself checked: technology, security and AI claims tested against the price.Best whenThe deal has not closed yet. FeeCore from £35,000 + VAT2 to 3 weeks 02
ProjectEA
Senior architects inside the integration programme, protecting the systems you decided to keep.Best whenThe integration needs an architect on your side. FeeFrom £45,000 + VAT 03Project DG
A senior data lead inside the programme, when the savings depend on data moving cleanly.Best whenThe merge is mostly a data migration. FeeFrom £22,000 + VAT / month 04M&A Technology Assurance Review
Independent proof of integration health for the board, once you own the asset.Best whenThe board wants arm’s length proof it worked. FeeFrom £15,000 + VAT5 to 10 days
The alternatives
How the assessment compares with the alternatives
Three ways buyers handle the joining. The difference is whether the promised savings ever arrive.
Two IT teams told to “work together” after the deal closes, with day jobs to do
Both old systems still running two years later, paying twice for everything
The savings promised in the deal quietly never arrive
Free, then very expensive
A consulting army and an integration office, billed monthly until someone stops it
Slides multiply, the bill grows, and the two old systems still both run
The programme becomes the cost the deal was supposed to remove
Months, then more months
A four to six week check of what joining the two companies will really take, at a fixed fee from £25,000 + VAT
Every system listed, a keep, merge or retire decision for each, the real cost, a day one plan
One fixed fee, a plan you can run with any partner, and no army
4 to 6 weeks, from £25,000 + VAT
Scope
Exactly what the fee covers
You get
One combined list of every system, contract and connection both companies run.
A keep, merge or retire decision for every system, made with both IT teams in the room.
The real cost of the merge: licences, people, data and running both systems side by side.
A day one checklist with named owners, and the security checks before the networks connect.
An integration plan with costs, owners and dates, plus a board readout on when the savings arrive.
This is not
The integration itself. The plan is yours to run with any partner. Help from us is separately priced, never assumed.
A slide programme. Every finding is a decision, a number, an owner or a date.
Due diligence. That tests the deal before you commit. This plans the joining you now own.
Self-assurance. If we help run your integration, the later assurance review goes to a team with no stake in the answer.
Where to start
The calls we usually get
Four situations buyers call us from. If yours is different, the scoping call pins it down.
Why Intelance
The rules this work runs under
The deal team’s method
The same senior team behind our M&A due diligence runs the assessment, so nothing learned during the deal is learned twice.
Firmed up on the scoping call
From £25,000 + VAT, in writing, for four to six weeks of work. Larger estates take longer, and we say which at scoping.
Decisions with the people who live with them
Keep, merge or retire is decided with both IT teams in the room, which is why the plan survives contact with Monday morning.
Nothing to sell afterwards
The plan runs with any partner. No platform, no licences, no commission.
Independence held throughout
If we help run your integration, the later assurance review goes to a team with no stake in the answer.
Who carries out the work
Every assessment is led by a senior reviewer, supported by senior consultants and established delivery partners.
Guides for deal teams
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Tell us what you have acquired
Thirty minutes with the person who would run the assessment: what was bought, what was promised to the board and when day one lands. The scope and fixed fee follow in writing after the call.
FAQs
Questions about the integration assessment
What is an M&A technology integration assessment?
An independent review, run between signing and closing or in the first hundred days, of what joining two companies’ technology will really take: every system listed, a keep, merge or retire decision for each, the real cost, a day one checklist, the security checks before networks connect, and a plan with costs, owners and dates the board can hold people to.
How much does an M&A technology integration assessment cost?
From £25,000 + VAT with Intelance, fixed in writing after a scoping call, for four to six weeks of work. For context, full integration programmes are typically billed monthly by large teams until someone stops them. The assessment gives you the plan and the real number first, so whatever you spend next is spent deliberately.
When should a technology integration assessment be done?
Ideally between signing and closing, so day one is protected and the integration starts with decisions rather than discovery. The first hundred days after closing is the most common window in practice, and a later start still works: the assessment then doubles as an honest reset of a drifting integration.
How is an integration assessment different from technology due diligence?
Due diligence tests the deal before you commit: whether the technology supports the price. The integration assessment plans the joining you now own: what to keep, what to retire, what it costs and what must work on day one. Run together, the diligence findings feed the assessment directly, and the same senior team runs both.
Is it safe to connect two company networks after an acquisition?
Not until it has been checked. Newly acquired companies are attacked more often in their first months, and connecting networks extends every weakness of one estate into the other. The assessment runs the security checks first, so the first connection is a controlled decision rather than a convenience.
What does post merger IT integration usually involve?
Listing what both sides run, deciding keep, merge or retire for every system, migrating data, consolidating licences and contracts, protecting day one services, and switching off what is no longer needed. The savings come almost entirely from the last step, which is why the assessment writes the retirement dates into the plan with owners attached.
Who runs the integration plan afterwards?
You do, with any partner you choose: the plan is written to be runnable without us. Where you want help, ProjectEA puts senior architects inside the programme and Project DG covers the data workstream, each priced separately. You are never tied to us.
What if the integration already happened and something feels wrong?
The M&A Technology Assurance Review from £15,000 + VAT establishes integration health independently in five to ten days: what was merged, what still runs twice and what the board was told against what is true. If we helped run the integration, that review goes to a separate team.