Data and System Integration Is Essential in Mergers and Acquisitions

When companies come together through mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the focus is usually on financial synergies, customer portfolios, and tangible assets. However, there is a decisive factor that can turn a good deal into a failure: data and system integration. Without a well-designed plan, the operation risks losing customers, suffering operational disruptions, and wasting the expected value of the transaction.

System and data integration ensures that sales, customer service, finance, production, and marketing can ‘talk’ to each other. In practice, this means consolidating ERPs, customer databases, master data, logistics systems, and CRM platforms to provide a single, reliable view of operations.

Without this integration, financial reports become inconsistent (impacting compliance and financial consolidation), operational processes are disrupted (delays in deliveries, billing, and support), and duplicated or low-quality data undermines strategic decision-making. Integration is therefore essential to realize the synergies promised in the business model.

When data and system integration is well executed in an M&A process, several advantages emerge, such as operational agility (integrated systems reduce rework and automate cross-functional workflows), a single customer view (a consolidated CRM improves cross-selling, retention, and customer experience), cost and risk reduction (data migration and cleansing prevent recurring costs from manual workarounds and failures), and compliance and governance (unified security and privacy policies reduce regulatory risk).

Lack of Data and System Integration: The Risks
Companies that fail to prioritize data and system integration face real problems: revenue loss due to duplicated or incorrect billing; dissatisfied customers caused by inconsistent information; fines due to non-compliance in tax and regulatory reporting; endless IT projects that exceed budget and timelines. Moreover, strategic decisions based on fragmented data can undermine acquisitions entirely.

So how can this integration be optimized? Plan during the due diligence phase (validate data quality, system architecture, and licensing contracts before closing the deal), define quick wins and MVPs (prioritize integrations with immediate impact, such as billing and customer master data consolidation), conduct a full application and data inventory (map systems, data catalogs, flows, APIs, and dependencies), establish governance and standards (define a data governance model, a Data Loss Prevention—DLP—plan, and access policies), define a migration strategy (choose between coexistence, incremental migration, or full migration), perform testing and reconciliation validation (create before-and-after comparison baselines to ensure data integrity), manage communication and organizational change (training users and communicating changes reduces resistance), and maintain post–go-live monitoring (data quality KPIs, SLAs, and operational dashboards are essential).

M&A: A Growing Trend in Brazil
The Brazilian M&A market remained highly active between 2024 and 2025, with multiple sources indicating strong volumes. According to KPMG, in the fourth quarter of 2024 alone, Brazil recorded 1,582 M&A transactions, an increase of approximately 5% compared to the previous year (2023). Domestic transactions (between Brazilian companies) accounted for 981 deals, followed by around 394 majority foreign-capital transactions.

In 2024, the total value of disclosed M&A deals above R$ 50 million exceeded R$ 178 billion, signaling a market recovery. There was also strong growth in the photovoltaic solar energy sector: in 2024, mergers and acquisitions of solar plants increased by 76% compared to 2023.

Specialized Consulting: Invest to Avoid Losing Time
Relying on an integration consultancy—with experience in post-merger integration, IT architecture, and data governance—reduces risks, accelerates the roadmap, and prevents costly mistakes. Consultancies bring proven methodologies for technology due diligence, migration planning, and governance, as well as teams already trained in critical tools such as iPaaS, MDM, and ERPs.

Data and system integration is not “just a technical detail” in mergers and acquisitions—it is a foundation for success. Planning from due diligence onward, prioritizing governance, using the right tools, and engaging specialized consulting transforms risks into competitive advantages. In active M&A markets like Brazil, executing integration with quality means protecting value, accelerating synergies, and ensuring that the deal’s promise becomes reality.

#dataintegration #systemintegration #ma #mergersandacquisitions #datamigration #datagovernance