Has anyone joined a company just acquired

kp10tang

How was your experience?
Did you a lot of lay off?
Is this a good thing for IT? You can do a lot of domain join, route redistribution, voip convergence stuff that you would never do.
How long merge takes time?

UncleB

The company I work for is going through a 3 way merger at the moment - bought by a US company a year ago but made to wait due to competition constraints (by a government regulator) which is now passed, but as we get to synch with the parent company, they are merging with a new company of the same size, so plans are all up in the air.

The works in this sort of situation is seriously hampered by politics, lack of strategy and staff who keep knowledge close to them to avoid losing their jobs (in their mind anyway).

It is rarely well planned and without trouble, but the best way to survive is to try to enjoy all the change, keep a close eye on any groups planning technology merger issues and try to get in to that group if you can. The company will most likely lose staff from redundancies and unhappy people (most staff don't cope well with change) so if you can endure, you can end up in a much stronger situation.

The technologies chosen often come down to what has already been bought and can be reused rather than what is best for the requirement.

Every merger will be different so I don't think we can answer your question clearly. Sorry

Iain

kohr-ah

I've done two kinds.

Company going through a merger and my department got offered to worm for the outsource as that was the path chosen. Not bad. Still work that account. Good benefits and a hell of lot of experience.

Now I work for a company that is splitting because they are took big. Fortune 250 is becoming 3 companies. So far it is stressful but this will allow me to write my own ticket.

All I can say is if you work for one. Grab the horns and enjoy the ride. The skills you learn can be greatly beneficiary. Once it feels like it is time to go then if you need to go do so but in the mean time treat it like every other day.

bgold87

M&A's are stressful, but they are a lot of fun. Yes, you will get to do things that typically only get done when something is first setup, but there's always the feeling of uneasy. I agree with Kohr-ah, take it all in and enjoy the ride. It's great resume fodder.

markulous

I started with VMware about a couple weeks before they were acquired by EMC. There were quite a few layoffs (over 800 IIRC) but unfortunately it lessened my opportunities there rather than expanded them since I was in a specific support group. I would have joined them even if I had known beforehand, but definitely something to consider when hiring on somewhere.

DPG

markulous wrote: »

I started with VMware about a couple weeks before they were acquired by EMC. There were quite a few layoffs (over 800 IIRC) but unfortunately it lessened my opportunities there rather than expanded them since I was in a specific support group. I would have joined them even if I had known beforehand, but definitely something to consider when hiring on somewhere.

You've been working for VMware since 2004?!

I'm guessing you probably meant Dell which acquired EMC (which owns ~81% of VMware) recently.

markulous

DPG wrote: »

You've been working for VMware since 2004?!

I'm guessing you probably meant Dell which acquired EMC (which owns ~81% of VMware) recently.

Yeah I meant the merger from last year of course.

TechGromit

kp10tang wrote: »

How was your experience?

I joined a company several years after the merger. Locations that didn't meet the standard IT model experienced layoffs.

kp10tang wrote: »

Did you a lot of lay off?

Generally yes, when you combine companies that are in the same line of business, your going to have redundant staff.

kp10tang wrote: »

Is this a good thing for IT?

No and yes. Chances are there is going to be at least some layoffs, but for those that survive the layoffs, a bigger company usually provides more opportunities to move within the company.

kp10tang wrote: »

How long merge takes time?

Could take several years, but usually staffing levels are dealt with within the first year. It's been 5 years since our last merger and some applications still haven't been switched over one way of the other.