Project plan for IT integration of two aviation companies
Puro, Sami (2023)
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023100827024
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2023100827024
Tiivistelmä
Small businesses may often struggle with project management during major business changes, especially when it comes to mergers and acquisitions that fundamentally change how a company operates. During such times the management of IT processes is traditionally not a key focus for the management, and thus the IT integration planning has not been a key part of the merger agenda.
This thesis is commissioned by a fast-growing Finnish aviation business and a helicopter operator who recently acquired a well-known Finnish flight training organization. The recent acquisition resulted in the need for a full IT integration of the two companies into a new single and modern digital entity, and at the same time gave the perfect opportunity to form a framework for a proper IT management solution for the commissioner. The result of this product-based thesis was the project plan of the IT system and infrastructure integration of the two companies. The outcome of the thesis was directly utilized in the post-merger IT integration process at the commissioner.
During the thesis process the phases of mergers and acquisitions were researched, and a simple timeline model from IT management’s perspective in such cases was constructed. The research highlighted the early inclusion of the IT department to the merger process to ensure better results. This was followed by research on modern IT services and their providers, where a clear trend of move towards cloud-based services could be seen.
In the product design the requirements and operational environment of the commissioner were studied through several interviews of the key staff, and by researching their existing services and systems. The main risks during the merger process, as well as a guideline for budget were also identified and researched. Based on the knowledge gained, an overall IT policy and a project plan with detailed implementation steps were created as the result of this thesis.
Since each IT merger is different, even though the principles are the same, the outcome of this thesis is specifically developed only for this particular case and for these companies. But the key findings from the theorical framework and the overall structure of the thesis’ outcome can serve as guidelines for other similar projects.
This thesis is commissioned by a fast-growing Finnish aviation business and a helicopter operator who recently acquired a well-known Finnish flight training organization. The recent acquisition resulted in the need for a full IT integration of the two companies into a new single and modern digital entity, and at the same time gave the perfect opportunity to form a framework for a proper IT management solution for the commissioner. The result of this product-based thesis was the project plan of the IT system and infrastructure integration of the two companies. The outcome of the thesis was directly utilized in the post-merger IT integration process at the commissioner.
During the thesis process the phases of mergers and acquisitions were researched, and a simple timeline model from IT management’s perspective in such cases was constructed. The research highlighted the early inclusion of the IT department to the merger process to ensure better results. This was followed by research on modern IT services and their providers, where a clear trend of move towards cloud-based services could be seen.
In the product design the requirements and operational environment of the commissioner were studied through several interviews of the key staff, and by researching their existing services and systems. The main risks during the merger process, as well as a guideline for budget were also identified and researched. Based on the knowledge gained, an overall IT policy and a project plan with detailed implementation steps were created as the result of this thesis.
Since each IT merger is different, even though the principles are the same, the outcome of this thesis is specifically developed only for this particular case and for these companies. But the key findings from the theorical framework and the overall structure of the thesis’ outcome can serve as guidelines for other similar projects.