How it affects you largely depends on the type of the merger or acquisition and it can be a very positive experience.  However, for many, it throws into question whether the newly formed company is still the right fit, or even if the product/service you bought is going to be part of the portfolio in future.

In the first stage, the new company will be looking inwardly - how to integrate different teams and working cultures, whether or not financial targets and due diligence were completed fully, legal and shareholder consequences, and so on. To the outside world, nothing's really changed other than the logo.

In this article, we look at the implications of mergers, and particularly acquisitions, on the customers of businesses which have been acquired, and the impact it can have on their own business.

Firstly:  Making your choice

Good companies put a lot of work into evaluating, selecting and procuring the right products and services for their IT portfolio.

Time scoping and writing your specific requirements in an RFP, searching the market for the available vendors and tools, requesting and receiving demos, free trial evaluations, and then in making your final choice and negotiating price.

And that’s all before the installation, rollout and training takes place to use the tool, assuming everything runs smoothly.

After all this, even if it’s a good few months or even a year down the road, it can be a little disheartening to open up the news to see that your chosen vendor has been acquired by a much bigger vendor – and maybe one whose solution you declined during the selection process.

Secondly:  Change without choice

While there’s the legitimate argument that perspective is required to sit back and evaluate how these things turn out, it’s not a good feeling. And when respected publications such as the Harvard Business Review have this to say - “I just took my company through an acquisition and found that even the smallest operational change can have a significant negative impact on both employees and customers”, -  it’s probably time for a little vigilance as a customer.

So, while there is the chance that things will go smoothly and everyone gets along just fine, there’s also the chance that the acquisition will have some negative implications for your business as their customer.

Thirdly:  The impact of change

Some considerations to be made...

1. Will new contracts required?
2. Will there be price changes?
3. Product prioritisation: Was the vendor acquired for the customer base or product set?
4. What is the future for your product? Is the incumbent development team still in place?
5. How will streamlining of resources such as support, affect you?
6. Will there be further sell-offs?

It’s a slightly rudimentary way of looking at things, but in the event that your vendor is acquired by a bigger company, it has fundamentally changed as a business.

Almost overnight, it has gone from an independently managed and funded standalone business that puts all its emphasis on a smaller suite of products, to a product line (or at the very least a business division) of a much bigger organisation. That's assuming the assimilation into the new parent organisation is fast, efficient and seamless (spoiler alert – it often isn’t).

This is where uncertainty starts for you as the customer. As you're figuring out what the motivation for the bigger company’s acquisition of the smaller company is, you make your plans accordingly.

There can be a number of reasons for acquisitions and for balance, there could be positives such as the bigger vendor wanting to fill a gap in its email security portfolio and wants to grow and innovate your product even more.

However, it could also mean that your original product was a threat to something the larger vendor was developing, and the acquisition was to remove it from the market. The acquisition could also be due to the larger organisation buying growth through the smaller vendor’s customer base and routes to market, and/or access to its staff and product developers.

Implications for customers

In short, there’s a long list of reasons why the merger or acquisition might not be in the best interests of customers.

Fundamentally, there would have been a number of compelling reasons you made the decision to go with your original vendor. Whether it was a pure product decision, the support and services on offer, or the personal relationships you were able to build, the likelihood is that the experience won’t remain the same. Support people and account managers may be laid off, and your account may go to a call centre-based model. Product engineers that made your chosen product into what it is may simply not stay around. And processes and communications will almost certainly change.

Get a Plan B

In the event one of your vendors has been acquired, the first step is to have your legal team look over the contract agreement and summarise the implications in this scenario. There'll likely be a ‘material change of control’ clause in the contract which would be applicable in this kind of case, and this gives you the opportunity to reassess the agreement in this kind of situation.

And whilst it may be advisable to speak to the acquiring vendor, do be aware that in the early days and weeks of acquisition (and in some cases even months or years), the answers they’re able to provide may not be fully accurate. This isn’t to say that anyone is being untruthful, but the real truth is assurances are difficult to give at this stage, even with the best intentions.

Ready to test the field?

If you’ve done some background digging and are unsure what the future may bring, it's time to formulate a back-up plan and see what other options are open to you.

Where do the other Email Security products fail?

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Are you 100% sure that your employees, brand and business are protected against email threats?

The table above indicates where security vendors have failed in protecting against the 15 applied threats

Libraesva’s Email Security Tester has been run against many security vendors to give you an idea of the results you might see when running the test on your own email server, but why not try it yourself?