[Laura Impelluso]

In some integration processes, the role of the PMO is mostly directed at coordinating the various departments in bringing the expected integration goals.

What is the minimum knowledge that the PMO should have when analysing data? For instance, should the PMO analyse the details of the financial due diligence and take the final decisions in terms of cost saving or is it always a shared decision among the two departments (PMO and Finance) or should it also involve the Steering Committee?

[Dustin Delewski]

At a minimum the IMO/PMO should be knowledgeable about the following:
• Strategic rationale of the deal and the business processes and integration activities that support those strategies
• Deal synergies (both timing and magnitude) and the business processes and integration activities that support those synergies

The deal executive business sponsor, the finance executive supporting that business, and the business leaders who will actually execute on/own the area of the costs savings should all be involved in making the final decision. The IMO/PMO shares recommendations based on their knowledge of the business and the business processes and based on prior integration lessons learned.

[Cody Eberhardt]

I think this heavily depends on a few factors:
– Size of your company and target company
– What other departments does your company have? If you are a small company PMO may help in all aspects while if you are a very large company the PMO may be mostly integration

In my opinion I think that the best practice is to involve the PMO early on, even if the experience level is low there are things that can be seen from a project managers eye that other don’t think about.

[Shantaram Nadkarni]

I believe PMOs should have good business acumen when dealing with M&A projects. A good understanding of the rationale behind the acquisition is key to driving the objectives. Knowing the data certainly influences the decision process. All decisions are made within the parameters defined and data highlights the risk associated with those.

[Author]

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