M&A Archives - 180Systems

When Technology Due Diligence Doesn’t Move the Needle (1)

When Tech Due Diligence Doesn’t Move the Needle

March 23, 2026 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

Most Technology Due Diligence reports are thorough. Painfully thorough. They catalogue systems, they map infrastructure, they inventory applications with the enthusiasm of someone counting grains of sand on a beach. And yet, after all that work, many of them do not actually change the deal decision. So, I ran a poll in the Forbes Leadership Think Tank community asking a simple question: Where does Tech Due Diligence most often fall short? Results were interesting… None of these surprised me, what surprised me was how evenly they reinforce the same underlying problem. Technology Due Diligence often answers the wrong question because […]

AI in M&A: Useful Intern, Terrible Deal Lead

March 18, 2026 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

AI is having a moment in M&A advisory. Depending on who you ask, it is either quietly transforming how M&A advisory firms operate or about to replace half the diligence ecosystem. Both statements are wrong, but one sells better. The truth sits somewhere in the middle. AI is helpful in M&A. It is not decisive. And it certainly is not accountable. Right now, AI shows up best as an extremely fast, extremely literal intern inside the M&A advisory process. It reads everything. It flags patterns. It never gets tired. It also has absolutely no idea why something matters. That distinction […]

Green Does Not Mean Safe in Technology Due Diligence

February 24, 2026 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

A green technology due diligence report does not mean low integration risk. In this short video, Amanda, Senior Consultant at 180 Systems, explains why stable systems do not guarantee stable dependencies – and why integration lives between teams, not platforms. [/vc_row] […]

The Break-Up Before V-Day: How M&A Advisory Teams Carve Out a Business Without Tech Damage

February 11, 2026 | 0 Comments | Amanda David

While some relationships are solidified over Valentine’s Day, others are meant to end. Some end quietly. Some end loudly. And some end with a carefully negotiated carve-out, multiple lawyers on speed dial, and a shared ERP that refuses to let go. For M&A Advisory firms, carve-outs are the corporate equivalent of a grown-up breakup. Everyone agrees it is for the best. Everyone promises to stay professional. And then technology gets involved and reminds both sides why this was complicated in the first place. From an M&A Advisory and execution standpoint, carve-outs are not about separation alone. They are about survival. […]

The January Reality Check: Technology and the First 100 Days After a Merger

January 6, 2026 | 6 Comments | Amanda David

January has a way of sobering everyone up. The decorations come down, inboxes refill, and that ambitious end-of-year deal suddenly becomes very real. The contracts are signed, the announcements are out, and now someone has to make the merger actually work. This is where the first 100 days quietly decide whether the deal settles in nicely or becomes the thing everyone politely avoids talking about by March. Post-merger integration is often framed as a people and process exercise, but technology is the backbone holding the whole plan upright. You can have alignment workshops, leadership town halls, and beautifully worded vision […]

Why Technology Due Diligence Matters Before a Merger (3)

The Holiday Surprise You Do Not Want: Why Technology Due Diligence Matters Before a Merger

December 11, 2025 | 14 Comments | Amanda David

Mergers often feel like the corporate version of the holidays. There is excitement, anticipation, big plans, and the optimistic belief that everything will come together beautifully. But just like the holidays, the part that looks magical on the outside usually hides a fair amount of scrambling behind the scenes. And while leaders gather around the deal table making lists and checking them twice, technology due diligence somehow gets treated like the last-minute gift someone remembers on the way to the party. A quick stop, a rushed decision, and a hope that everything works out. Spoiler alert: it usually does not. […]

M&A Without the Migraine

November 18, 2025 | 3 Comments | Amanda David

Everyone loves a merger until someone opens the shared drive. Suddenly, the spreadsheets do not match, half the files are named “final_v7,” and the CFO is wondering why there are three versions of the customer database. The headlines make mergers and acquisitions sound glamorous, but anyone who has lived through one knows it is more caffeine than champagne. The part that rarely makes the press release is the operational reality. The systems, data, and processes that quietly keep businesses running do not always get along. Integration becomes the invisible risk that can turn an impressive deal into a slow-motion headache. […]