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// EDITOR’ S QUESTION //
Every month, we pose industry experts a question pertinent to the issues of the day. This month....
WHAT’ S YOUR APPROACH TO MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS – WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY VS. BUILD?
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Paul DeMott, Chief Technology Officer, Helium SEO
WE CONDUCTED EXTERNAL INVESTIGATIONS UNTIL WE LOCATED A SMALL AGILE TEAM IMPLEMENTING THE IDENTICAL SOLUTION WE NEEDED FOR OUR PROBLEM.
ERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
M are a big deal for SMEs. It can change the whole outlook of a small company. But when is the right time to make changes? Four experts share their viewpoints, starting with Paul DeMott, Chief Technology Officer of Helium SEO.
For M & A decisions the most significant indicator to proceed with the purchase is achieving faster outcomes compared to maintaining maximum control and strategically creating internal solutions becomes too slow.
Speed takes precedence for me since I normally choose to build rather than acquire. Within my software engineering discipline writing code and mastering the entire stack remains an internalised perspective. At Helium SEO rapid expansion reaches a point where the best internal team cannot fulfil both growth goals and market requirement changes. Acquisitions become the ideal solution in such cases.
The acquisition of a development agency specialising in marketing automation tools happened at Helium recently. Our company had intended to build its own platform enhancement capabilities from scratch. We had drawn an initial design which then moved into scoping before kicking off our first development sprints. A few months showed that the necessary feature set could not materialise without reallocating resources from our core projects. The sales team held onto opportunities
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SPEED TAKES PRECEDENCE FOR ME SINCE I NORMALLY CHOOSE TO BUILD RATHER THAN ACQUIRE.
which needed those particular features our development had not yet completed.
We conducted external investigations until we located a small agile team implementing the identical solution we needed for our problem. The solutions and organisational values between the two businesses were compatible. We integrated the acquired services rapidly which allowed us to provide new solutions to our clients in just weeks. We completed the deal which reduced our project schedule by nine months. The goal extended beyond acquiring new technology because we needed faster project completion combined with reduced delays.
We conducted external investigations until we located a small agile team implementing the identical solution we needed for our problem. The solutions and organisational values between the two businesses were compatible. We integrated the acquired services rapidly which allowed us to provide new solutions to our clients in just weeks. We completed the deal which reduced our project schedule by nine months. The goal extended beyond acquiring new technology because we needed faster project completion combined with reduced delays.
20 Intelligent SME. tech