Challenges
Bringing an acquired business onto your systems
After an acquisition you run two of everything: Microsoft 365, phone systems, suppliers, security standards. We audit both, keep the numbers customers know, and bring everyone onto one set of systems in stages.
The challenge
The deal has closed and the business you acquired arrives with its own Microsoft 365, its own phone system and numbers, and its own IT supplier. Your staff and theirs work on separate systems, and you pay two suppliers for overlapping services. The clients of the acquired business still call the numbers they know, and those numbers have to keep working.
If it is left
Two of everything is expensive, and the gap between the two estates is the bigger risk. The acquired business's security is whatever its old supplier left: accounts without multi-factor authentication, a backup nobody has tested, a firewall out of support, and a departing owner who still has admin rights. Its staff cannot see your files or calendars, your staff cannot reach their customers' records, and the first joint quote is assembled by email attachment. The longer two estates run side by side, the more the integration costs and the more the acquired team feels like a separate business.
What good looks like
Both estates audited and the acquired one brought to your security standard in the first weeks; the acquired business's numbers ported and ringing in the right place; its users, devices and mailboxes brought onto one Microsoft 365 and one phone system in planned stages; one supplier, one service desk and one monthly report; and the duplicate contracts given notice in the order their dates allow.
What to do first
Before you call anyone
Get the admin credentials on day one
Microsoft 365 global admin, the domain registrar, the phone provider's portal and the old supplier's documentation for the acquired business, transferred to someone in your business. Remove the departing owner's admin rights the same day.
List both businesses' contracts
IT support, phone lines, broadband, licences, domains and software, with end dates and notice periods, for both. The order of integration follows the dates.
Protect what you have just bought
Multi-factor authentication for every acquired user, a check that the acquired backups exist and restore, and endpoint protection on every acquired device. The old supplier's standard is unknown until you look.
Decide which systems win
Usually yours, but not always: the acquired business may have the better phone system or the cleaner Microsoft 365. Decide per system, on evidence, before anyone starts moving data.
Tell the acquired customers nothing changes
The numbers they call and the email addresses they write to must keep working through the move. Write that promise down; it constrains the plan in the right way.
What we would do first
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Audit both businesses
An on-site and remote review of each IT estate: hardware, software, networks, security risks and backup readiness, reported in plain language with a prioritised plan.
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Bring the numbers across
The lines and numbers each business has audited, existing numbers ported from the other provider, and each one routed to the right people and hours.
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Plan the Microsoft 365 and Azure work
Licences reviewed so each user has the right one, Microsoft 365 configured to our security standards, and any Azure workloads moved in planned stages to keep downtime to a minimum.
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Bring every device and user under management
Computers, laptops and servers in both businesses kept secure and up to date, with our service desk as every user's first point of call.
How we approach it
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Audit both estates
A health check of each business: hardware, software, networks, Microsoft 365, security risks and backup readiness, with the two reported side by side and the acquired estate's gaps ranked by risk.
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Secure the acquired estate first
Multi-factor authentication through Entra, Microsoft Defender with Huntress detection and response on every acquired device, backups checked and a restore tested, admin rights reduced to the people who should have them, before anything is merged.
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Keep the numbers and the mail flowing
The acquired business's numbers ported to your phone system, hosted voice or Teams, and routed to the right people; its email domain kept working throughout, with mail routed between the two tenants until the mailboxes move.
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Move users, devices and workloads in stages
Mailboxes and files from one Microsoft 365 tenant to the other in planned stages, each tested before the next; devices re-enrolled in Intune; any Azure or on-site workloads migrated with a rollback at each stage.
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Consolidate and cease
One retainer sized to the combined estate, one service desk for both sets of staff, one monthly report, and the duplicate contracts given notice in the order their end dates allow.
The services that apply
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IT health check
The audit of both estates, side by side, with the acquired business's risks ranked, is the first week's work and the basis of the plan.
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Microsoft and Azure
The licence review across both businesses, the acquired tenant brought to your security standard, and the merged tenant managed afterwards.
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Microsoft Azure consultancy
Where the acquired business runs servers or applications that should move to Azure or our private cloud, the staged migration with a rollback is this service.
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Telephone lines and numbers
The acquired business's numbers audited and ported so its customers keep calling the numbers they know, and its analogue lines retired on the way.
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Hosted voice and SIP
The usual destination for the acquired phone system: hosted voice extensions for the new team on the same system as yours, or Teams through Teams Connect.
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Complete Managed IT
One service desk and one managed service for the combined business, so the acquired staff ring the same number as yours from the first day.
How you would buy it
Every hour we work falls under one of four engagement models. These are the ones that fit this situation; How we work compares all four.
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02
Fixed price
A defined piece of work or project
An integration is a major project with a project manager: the audits, the migrations and the porting are surveyed and priced as a fixed sum before we start, and any overrun is ours.
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03
Retainer
The way most of our clients work with us
The combined estate is then supported from one retainer sized to both businesses' devices and users, replacing two support contracts with one.
Who you would work with
A project manager
Owns the integration plan: the order systems move, the porting dates, the old suppliers' notice periods and the acquired team's communication.
A tech consultant
Runs the two health checks, recommends which systems win and designs the tenant and phone-system moves.
Our engineers
Secure the acquired estate, migrate the mailboxes, devices and workloads and port the numbers, as Odyssey employees.
An account manager
Consolidates the contracts and reviews the combined monthly report with you.
Questions people ask
Where do we start?
With the admin credentials and the contracts on day one, and then an audit of both businesses: an on-site and remote review of each IT estate, hardware, software, networks, security risks and backup readiness, reported side by side with a prioritised plan.
Can we keep the acquired business's phone numbers?
Yes. Numbers can be ported from most providers, so its customers keep calling the numbers they know, routed to the right people on your phone system.
Can you merge two Microsoft 365 tenants?
Yes. We move mailboxes, OneDrive and SharePoint files and users from the acquired tenant into yours in planned stages, with the acquired domain kept working throughout and mail routed between the two tenants until the last mailbox moves.
Are we paying for Microsoft 365 licences we do not need?
Almost certainly, after an acquisition. We review licences across both businesses so each user has the right one, remove the leavers still licensed on the acquired tenant, and you stop paying for features nobody uses.
Will moving systems disrupt the business?
Mailboxes, devices and workloads are moved in planned stages, each tested before moving on and with a rollback, scheduled around both businesses' operations, and the acquired customers' numbers and email keep working throughout.
What if the acquired business's IT is in a worse state than we thought?
The audit finds out in the first weeks, which is why it comes first. The acquired estate is brought to your security standard, multi-factor authentication, endpoint protection and tested backups, before anything is merged, so its problems do not become yours.
Who will the acquired staff call for IT support?
Our service desk, which becomes every user's first point of call in both businesses from the day the acquired estate comes under management. Calls are answered within three rings by a person.
Do we have to use Odyssey for both businesses?
No. The audits and the plan are yours. In practice one supplier for the combined business is the point of the exercise, and if you choose us the integration is priced as a fixed sum from the plan.
Talk to a human about integrating an acquisition
Call and we answer within three rings. Or tell us what you need and we will call you back at any time.