This morning I read an article in the Swedish IT newspaper Computer Sweden that described how the security-company Securitas currently invests in internal social networking, blogs and wikis to integrate their workforce around the globe (40 countries). According to the CEO Alf Göransson, one of their major challenges  is that they acquire new companies on a monthly basis, something which makes it virtually impossible - and definitely not feasible from a cost perspective - to consolidate or integrate all their information systems. Instead, they let each company they acquire keep most of their existing systems. What have kept the company together are a common mail system and an accounting system. Soon, social software will provide additional (social) glue.

 

Securitas reasoning is that even if all information systems are not being integrated, there is a strong need to find ways to exchange knowledge across organizations and locations. That’s also the main reason why they are now developing a new "My Securitas" intranet for their 18 000 knowledge workers, such as sales people. The remaining part of the 260 000 employee strong workforce might get access to "My Securitas" later, but that is a later concern for them since there are security issues to deal with before they are willing to let their field workers into "My Securitas".

 

Atilla Habip and Karen Ayas outlines five key challenges in post merger integration, with lack of communication being one of them:

 

After a merger or acquisition, being able to quickly integrate the workforce is likely more important than standardizing all processes (which integration and consolidation of IT systems often is about). It is also feasible to assume that social software actually can play an important role after mergers and acquisitions, as these provides means for richer, more frequent two-way communication both employee-to-employee and business-to-employee. Yet, it seems to be very rare that a CEO chooses such a strategy. Alf Göransson, the CEO at Securitas, has obviously also made the connection between Lewis E. Platt's KM vision from the 90ies and the new wave of social (Enterprise 2.0) technologies: