Word has it that a busy merger and acquisition season could soon be upon us. Experts foresee considerable consolidation in the tech industry, and a recent survey of tech CFOs found that 78 percent expect an increase in M&A this year. Global M&A had its busiest first month this year since 2001, reaching a reported $309.6 billion by Feb. 4--most of the activity having taken place in the financial, materials and energy industries. For CIOs, mergers within their companies and mergers among their vendors create two sets of daunting challenges.

Leadership in IT can be instrumental in helping unify diverse corporate cultures and smooth transitions, or it can be a divisive force in such taxing times. The challenges of merging different infrastructures, networks and applications are complicated by the challenges of uniting cultures, people and processes. I spoke last week to Larry Herrmann, manager of Global IT Customer Support at DJO Global, a maker of orthopedic devices, who has had considerable experience addressing these challenges.

When Herrmann was brought on board about four years ago, DJO had just acquired six companies, and it was his job to manage IT support for facilities from Tunisia, to Germany, to North America--to name just a few. The acquired companies were accustomed to operating independently, and they used a wide variety of IT support tools and procedures. At one site users were in the habit of knocking on the support staff's door when they needed help, while other sites had a more formal process complete with a self-service portal.

"Part of my job was to realize that not only were they dealing with a new support system but also a whole new corporate culture," Herrmann told me. "We have to realize that through any kind of M&A activity, it's not just IT that's being integrated."

The first technology-related move for Herrmann's team was to bring all sites and remote users on to the ticketing system that DJO already had in place. Then they implemented a remote control tool to reach all of the users and provide central monitoring and reporting. The technology deployment went relatively quickly and easily, he said, but when it came to people, it was important to allow enough time for adjustment.

"Part of the corporate culture is always push-back and resistance to change. We were trying to walk softly and not force things," he said. "I would take monthly trips to work with other teams. A lot of it was old-fashioned face-to-face [communication], the art of persuasion."

Mergers among IT vendors present a different set of challenges for enterprise CIOs. Customers are not always the top priority, and when employees are pushed out as a result of a merger, companies lose knowledge. If your vendor is bought by another, as a customer you may be left wondering if you will receive the level of support you expect. This was a concern voiced by some Sun Microsystems customers when Sun was bought by Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) last year.

Whether you're dealing with a merger in your own organization or a merger among your vendors, long-term success is sure to depend largely on the people. - Caron