Day 1 Information Technology M&A Plan

Covers all IT pre-close and Day 1 / Week 1 activities.  The accompanying reports (Day 1 Checklist, Risk Register, Next 14 Days, and Executive Dashboard) show progress against the plan as of T-0 (the day of the close). See the rest of the integration plan at 100-Day IT Post-Merger Integration Plan.

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Day 1 Information Technology M&A Plan
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There are over 70 tasks in this IT integration plan to prepare for and execute on Day 1. These are 10 of the more critical ones:

  1. Complete device provisioning for all acquired employees — laptops and hardware ready to go so no one shows up on Day 1 without a working machine.
  2. Establish the secure network interconnect and confirm connectivity between acquirer and target offices — the plumbing everything else on Day 1 depends on.
  3. Stand up the IT service desk and command center — combined-coverage help desk with defined escalation paths, plus a war room to handle Day 1 incidents in real time.
  4. Run a Day 1 IT war-room dry run — rehearse the full team before go-live so the command center isn't improvising when real issues hit.
  5. Clear the IT Day 1 Readiness Gate — the formal checkpoint confirming systems are tested, communications are ready, and no unresolved blockers remain.
  6. Enable unified email and calendar and verify Minimum Viable Access for all acquired employees — email, HR portal, and primary line-of-business apps working on Day 1, with full access rolling out in waves through Week 1.
  7. Confirm all office network connectivity is live and stable at open of business — the first thing that has to be true before anyone can work.
  8. Extend security monitoring to the acquired environment on Day 1 — bring all endpoints and network segments under unified SIEM and threat detection, and validate that IT controls are active across the combined environment.
  9. Establish interim directory and DNS connectivity for Day 1 — enough trust and connectivity to operate immediately, with full Active Directory and DNS unification to follow in a controlled migration by Day 30.
  10. Deploy the unified collaboration platform and orient acquired employees — roll out combined collaboration tools with access and licensing confirmed, and run end-user IT orientation sessions so people can actually use the new environment.

These tasks comprise IT's core Day 1 job: make sure everyone can log in, connect, and communicate on a network that's secure from the first minute.