“Disruption will be an opportunity to tap into the market.”

Mike Kiersey is director, global technology, EMEA at Boomi. He agrees that after a period of quiet, enforced by widespread economic disruption and uncertainty, M&A activity is on the rise.

“Many solution providers will be turning to private equity to keep their business afloat, whilst others will be buying to complement and expand their tech stack,” he said.

Kiersey says this is especially true with the continued rise of cloud-based solutions needed for the new normal.

“For some, disruption will be an opportunity to tap into the market in a way that they have been previously incapable,” he said.

He points out that the challenges involved in M&A across the channel are many. Planning will be key.

“The need for business to merge at speed is essential as competitors will send out mixed messages via social channels,”he said. “[They will focus] on the internal disruption, lack of clear strategy, it will be a while before you see harmonised products and road maps, etc. This doesn’t need to be case. Successful planning to deliver M&A from day zero to day 100 is critical in aligning the new business.

“The ingestion of people, technology, processes, culture and most importantly ‘business data’ being both the opportunity and the challenge. This is all possible at speed and lower risk, enabling businesses to truly see the value of a new-co or a merger,” he added.