Fairy tale hour with system jam
The hare sprints — but the hedgehog is already at the finish line. The hare is not only completely out of breath but also beside himself with anger. “I don't mind,” says the hedgehog, “I'm already here.” So the whole game is repeated seventy-three times. But on the seventy-fourth attempt, the hare doesn’t make it to the finish line.
We know the story — it may sound like a fairy tale, but it’s still true, at least according to the Brothers Grimm. There are only a few buy & build cases in which 74 add-ons are actually integrated. But what if IT isn’t the hare this time, but instead takes on the role of the hedgehog?
IT in Buy & Build: The Underestimated Bottleneck
In most cases, IT is not involved from the outset when the target company is turned upside down during the due diligence process — even though IT plays a significant role in value creation, especially in the financial services sector.
How often is IT excluded from management presentations because they ask critical questions? Because they inquire about the budget for IT integration? Because their bulletproof migration plans might delay the entire deal?
Then comes Day One — and there is no plan for IT integration, no budget for the necessary data migration, and no additional capacity to handle the required effort. “That can wait. It's not that urgent.”
A few months later, disillusionment sets in. The acquisition goals have not been achieved. The anticipated cross-selling has failed to materialize. Access to products and customer data remains cumbersome and time-consuming.
Why is that? When interfaces are poorly defined — or not defined at all — the data doesn’t match along the process. Information must be entered twice, three times — or seventy-four times. This becomes a breeding ground for shadow IT.
This isn't just inefficient due to excessive duplication and reduced quality. It also leads to ineffectiveness, missed opportunities for innovation, and delayed product launches. In short: a loss of added value. Welcome to the fairy tale forest of lost integration opportunities.
What IT Could Do If You Let It
Let’s start with a classic no-brainer: data harmonization can begin before closing. No data needs to be exchanged — which is usually prohibited by regulation anyway — but it is possible to align on formats and requirements for the data sets and prepare existing information accordingly.
Starting early not only means being ready sooner, but also results in less duplication of work later on. From the moment of alignment, new data can be entered “correctly” from the start. This immediately frees up capacity for activities that create real value — for example, additional cross-selling activities.
The voice of IT is often critical. That’s true. And the word “unfortunately” is deliberately omitted here. IT is responsible for digitally supporting and automating complex processes — as quickly, smoothly, and error-free as possible.
To achieve this, IT must inevitably pay attention to detail. IT needs a special eye for exceptional situations — even if they rarely occur. But sooner or later they will, usually without warning.
This critical mindset should not be demonized. IT — in the role of advocate diaboli — identifies stumbling blocks. And if you let them, they will develop solutions to remove those obstacles in good time.
An IT department constantly in firefighter mode is busy fixing problems that have arisen and cleaning up afterwards. What’s often missing then is the time to calmly develop viable solutions to complex challenges.
Creative hacks can’t be forced — and certainly not rushed. Sometimes it’s enough to give IT an extra week and the freedom to devise a thoughtful, sustainable solution. In the end, this usually saves both time and money.
If employees are already electronically connected on Day One, this significantly enhances collaboration. Anyone can find and contact anyone — across locations and company boundaries — thanks to email and video conferencing.
The prerequisite, however, is that contact details are easy to find. If you have to hunt for email addresses in the target company, you might not get invited to the meeting at all.
Mutual access to intranets also supports cultural integration. It offers insights into the “others”, allows differences to be perceived and shared values to be discovered.
IT can build bridges between old and new. Much is possible — if you involve them early and give them the necessary freedom they need. So far, this applies to any integration.
Buy & Build Needs Built-to-Buy
Buy & Build can only reach its full potential on a sustainable platform. This requires a powerful organization with efficient, stable processes — which, in turn, depend on a solid IT foundation: a modular, scalable IT application landscape.
This calls for preparation — and, above all, the early integration of IT into the strategic planning of the Buy & Build strategy. If IT is not built-to-buy, this foundation on which everything else depends is missing. Even the most creative platform architect cannot build a resilient structure in this case — only a fragile conglomerate that will eventually collapse.
If the goal goes beyond “more of the same”, scalable processes alone are no longer sufficient. That’s why it’s critical to consider modularity from the very beginning. How can AI agents take over core processes if the underlying data isn’t consistent? For example, if boreholes are measured in centimetres in one company and in inches in another?
IT that is deeply embedded in business processes and has a strong understanding of the business, can unlock additional synergies — not just to boost efficiency, but also to enable growth and innovation.
A built-to-buy IT department knows its application landscape inside out — and also has control over modifications and extensions. If the hedgehog hadn’t known the map, how could it have reached the finish line before the hare?
The Hedgehog Is Not a Know-It-All. He Just Started Earlier
IT is not slow — it is thorough. Who wants an invoice showing the wrong VAT rate or a customer receiving the wrong delivery just because both recipients happen to be named Meyer?
One possible solution for the role of IT in Buy & Build projects lies — quite fabulously — in Buxtehude. The fairy tale “Dat Wettlopen twischen den Hasen un den Swinegel up de lütje Heide bi Buxtehude” (Brothers Grimm, 1843) offers the idea: How can the hedgehog always be at the finish line?
Quite simply: it is in both places at the same time. One part of IT ensures the stable operation of existing systems (“run the platform”), while another part actively develops the platform and is involved in M&A transactions from the very beginning (“build & integrate the platform”).
Regular exchanges between these two teams are essential. Only then can they learn from one another and continuously improve the platform. “...and they both went home happy with each other: and if they didn’t die...”
In Buy & Build Projekten entscheidet nicht die Geschwindigkeit des ersten Zukaufs – sondern die Konsistenz des vierten. Wer bis dahin keine belastbare Plattform aufgebaut hat, rennt zwar mit hoher Geschwindigkeit – aber eben im Kreis. Und bricht irgendwann erschöpft zusammen.
And IT?
They were already there —
if you ask them in time.
