Acquisitions are good. Integrating those Acquisitions is great.

Big News!  The company that developed the cloud software you're using recently acquired (or merged with) another cloud software company.  

Typically, this promises to be something that will bolster the platform and provide substantially more useful functionality over/above what you initially bought.  But before getting too excited, consider some key things as it relates to your existing subscription and the relationship with your current cloud tech partner.  

• Will the acquisition truly help increase the value you get from the solution?  
• Will there be an additional cost to use the acquired companies functionality?
  
• If so, how will this impact your existing relationship (account ownership , services, support, training, renewal etc.)?  
• How will you measure the success of your usage of the acquired technology? 
  

In many cases, depending on how important the acquisition is to your core operations, the conversations you will find yourself in may be very similar to those you had regarding the initial software purchase.  

Here’s the thing though, acquisition announcements are easy, but deeply integrating the acquired company's features with the acquiring company's technology can be hard.  Everything from creating a consistent user interface, connecting data sources, developing new code and features that truly leverage the best of both solutions; all of that takes time.  I’ve been in conversations where customers ask for detailed information about an acquisition that was just announced the previous week.  It’s usually a relatively longer process to see two separate technology companies come together in a meaningful way that doesn’t diminish the overall experience AND adds value.  Patience is the key.

Don’t get allured by marketing-speak that talks about synergy and shared vision etc.  While those are good things, the first question you should ask your partner is, “How does this acquisition add measurable value in relation to the KPI’s that are important to my organization?”.  Until you can get a pretty good answer to this question, don’t be distracted by press releases that only scratch the surface of the go-forward plan.  It’s great that your cloud software partner is growing through strategic acquisitions, but unless these provide you some measure of usefulness within the course of your existing subscription, parking lot it until more definitive info can be shared.