EA Strategy in case of Merger

⭐ EA Strategy in Case of a Merger (M&A)

My EA strategy for a merger focuses on four pillars: discover, decide, integrate, and optimize.The goal is business continuity + synergy + tech consolidation.

✅ 1. Rapid Discovery & Baseline Assessment (Day 0–30)

The first step is visibility.

a. Current Enterprise Landscape Assessment

• Application inventory

• Integration landscape

• Data flows and critical master data

• Tech stack, infra, cloud usage

• Security posture, controls, and vulnerabilities

• Licensing, contracts, vendor dependencies

b. Business Capability Mapping

• Map capabilities of both organizations

• Identify overlaps, gaps, duplications, and unique strengths

• Identify critical business processes that must not fail (payments, finance, HR, order mgmt.)

c. Risk & Compliance Assessment

• Regulatory differences

• Security, privacy, PI/PII rules

• Audit and SOX controls

• Data residency constraints

Outcome: A clear “As-Is EA Baseline” of both organizations.

✅ 2. Strategic Decision Framework (Synergy Model) (Day 30–60)

Once we know the landscape, EA drives strategic choices.

a. Define Integration Strategy (Choose One)

• Absorption Model → One company’s architecture becomes the primary

• Best-of-Breed Consolidation → Keep best systems from each

• Greenfield / New Target Platform → Build a unified new architecture

• Hybrid Integration Path → Integrate in phases, sunset gradually

b. Build vs Buy vs Keep vs Sunset Decisions

Based on:

• Business criticality

• Cost & TCO

• Compliance impact

• Scalability & tech debt

• Vendor lock-in

• Integration complexity

c. Decide Target Architecture Principles

• Cloud-first / multi-cloud / hybrid

• API-first, event-driven

• Zero trust security

• Unified IAM and data architecture

• Standardization of tools & platforms

Outcome: A “To-Be Target Architecture Blueprint” for the merged entity.

✅ 3. Integration Architecture (Day 60–120)

Once decisions are made, focus on how to combine the two ecosystems.

a. MDM & Data Strategy

• Unified customer identity

• Unified product catalog

• Golden source strategy

• Data migration plan

• Data quality, cleansing, deduplication

b. Integration Approach

• API gateway consolidation

• Kafka/event streaming harmonization

• IAM consolidation (Azure AD, Okta, or AD domain consolidation)

• Messaging standards (ISO 20022, REST, event-based)

c. Application Rationalization

• Duplicate CRMs → choose 1

• Duplicate ERPs → choose 1 OR phased replacement

• Legacy systems → modernization or retirement

• Tactical “bridges” to ensure short-term continuity

Outcome: A "Unified Integration Architecture & Migration Plan".

✅ 4. Operational & Governance Framework (First 6 Months)

a. Unified Governance

• Architecture Review Board (ARB)

• EA standards & patterns

• DevOps pipelines standardization

• Cloud governance, tagging, FinOps

• Security policies, zero trust, DLP

b. Organizational Alignment

• Merge architecture teams

• Redefine RACI

• Align product owners, business architects, data stewards

• Define operating model (CoE, federated, hybrid)

c. Change Management

• Stakeholder communication

• Training & onboarding to new systems

• Migration waves & adoption strategy

Outcome: A stable merged environment with controlled operations.

⭐Summary

**“In a merger, my EA strategy is built on four pillars:

1. Rapid discovery, 2) Strategic decisions, 3) Integration architecture, and 4) Governance.I start by assessing both organizations’ landscapes — applications, integrations, data, infra, security, and capabilities. Next, I define the Target Architecture using a structured decision framework: absorption, best-of-breed, greenfield, or hybrid. Then I drive consolidation of MDM, IAM, APIs, event platforms, and critical business systems. Finally, I unify governance, standards, DevOps pipelines, cloud policies, and security models.The objective is business continuity first, then synergy realization, cost optimization, and a scalable unified architecture.”**