It Starts With Culture

“Culture trumps everything,” Larry Prior, CEO at government solutions provider CSRA told IT Best of Breed recently, just months after his company was born of the merger between SRA International and the government services arm of CSC, No. 8 on CRN’s Solution Provider 500 list.

Prior said the two sides that are coming together in a merger must have a “good discussion around shared values, what you take pride in and the culture of the merged team.”

“And be very purposeful about integrating and getting the best out of that team,” he added.

Another executive who has witnessed his share of mergers is Sunil Misra, president and chief operating officer of Emtec. The Radnor, Pa.-based consulting firm acquired three firms last year. Misra calls culture an “extremely important” that can make or break a deal even before an acquisition is launched.