Recently, I began to think about Business Integration Strategy in the, well — business — sense of the word. In my world, as a Mule Whisperer, I think of integration as helping companies to:

• digitally connect their systems
•  collaborate with
  • customers
  • suppliers
  • partners
  • service vendors, and
• communicate with players across the supply chain

However, I acknowledge that the average company director may well think of business integration more in terms of their company:

• Acquiring competitors in the same industry to
  • increase size
  • diversify products / services
  • achieve economies of scale and
  • gain access to new markets

… or … 

•  Acquiring companies that operate in the production process of its industry to
  • Strengthen its supply chain
  • Reduce production costs or
  • Access new distribution channels

In one sense, these two views are worlds apart; in another, they are inextricably entwined. This is because it is almost impossible to envision Business Integration, in the corporate sense, without also considering the Digital Integration challenges that any new acquisition presents.

As a corporate executive, looking to expand a company through strategic business integration (i.e. acquisition), an accompanying Digital Integration Strategy is not optional; it is essential!

A Digital Integration Strategy is the enabler that makes onboarding a new acquisition as seamless as possible. Any acquisition will bring with it a host of legacy systems along with valuable new digital assets that need to be integrated with existing business systems both quickly and efficiently.

It turns out that the two views of Business Integration Strategy (Corporate vs Digital) are not so wholly unrelated as one might think.