CASE STUDY

Navigating acquisition complexity with strategic project management

June 2, 2025

Services: Project Management, Advisory Industries: Technology

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When a marketing technology company undertook a complex acquisition while simultaneously upgrading its ERP system, it faced significant operational challenges amid leadership turnovers. BPM’s Project Management and Advisory teams delivered a scalable solution that ensured successful implementation, despite constant organizational flux. 

Challenge 

A marketing technology company that provides comprehensive advertising data to customers was undergoing both an ERP system upgrade and a corporate acquisition simultaneously. The company serves various customers, including marketing professionals and businesses that subscribe to access advertising trend data, spending patterns, and insights across different media channels. 

The client faced multiple challenges during this transition: 

• Limited senior accounting staff to support the ERP implementation due to headcount changes from the acquisition 
• Constantly rotating leadership, including outgoing and incoming CFOs and Controllers 
• Multiple consulting teams working in parallel with inadequate coordination 
• Complex integration requirements between systems, including ADP payroll integration, Ramp AP, and Salesforce CRM 
• Need for new workflows and process documentation for incoming team members 
• Fixed go-live dates despite organizational turbulence by Private Equity to move from costly TSA agreement with seller
• Concurrent audit by outside accounting firm 

Solution 

BPM was engaged by the private equity firm managing the merger to provide comprehensive support. Our approach centered on agility and scalability to meet the client’s evolving needs: 

Multi-disciplinary expertise deployment: The BPM team quickly expanded from two service lines to eight different work streams, bringing in specialists as needed to support various aspects of the implementation. The team scaled to include up to seven BPM professionals at peak engagement periods, providing services across: 

• Chart of accounts review and optimization 
• NetSuite ERP implementation support 
• Payroll system integration with ADP 
• Ramp implementation as an alternative to the NetSuite AP portal 
• Data migration for historical data, fixed assets including trial balances, prepaids, and AR/AP 
• Workflow and process documentation 
• Audit readiness and support, including disclosures and technical accounting guidance on revenue recognition 

Strategic project management coordination: BPM’s Project Management team served as a crucial liaison between the client’s project manager and outsourced teams, adapting to the client’s reporting requirements while maintaining unified coordination by: 

• Organizing work into defined streams with regular status updates 
• Documenting decisions, action items, and signoffs to maintain accountability 
• Synthesizing meeting notes and information for distribution to relevant team members 
• Managing rapid transitions between key stakeholders as leadership changed 
• Adjusting priorities and resources to maintain momentum toward go-live dates 

Communication bridge across stakeholder groups: As the client adjusted its leadership, the BPM team became the continuity thread between departing and incoming management by: 

• Reporting to private equity stakeholders who engaged BPM 
• Maintaining consistency as the focus shifted to new management teams 
• Facilitating knowledge transfer to new team members 
• Documenting systems and processes for long-term sustainability 
• Attending cross-functional meetings to ensure alignment across workstreams 

Results 

BPM’s Project Management team and other Advisory teams delivered several crucial outcomes: 

Enterprise-wide system implementation: Despite challenges with parallel workstreams, the ERP implementation successfully met go-live dates. The team coordinated data migration, system configuration, and integration points while maintaining momentum despite organizational changes. 

Seamless acquisition support: BPM helped bridge critical gaps during the acquisition, ensuring financial systems merged effectively while maintaining operational continuity. The team’s ability to work with multiple stakeholders helped navigate the complexity of consolidating systems and processes. 

Knowledge continuity during transition: By documenting workflows and processes, BPM created a sustainable foundation for new team members, preserving institutional knowledge despite significant personnel changes. This documentation facilitated effective handoffs as new leaders joined the organization. 

Rapid scalability and adaptability: Perhaps most importantly, BPM demonstrated exceptional agility by quickly scaling resources up or down as requirements evolved, shifting focus across different workstreams as priorities changed. This nimble approach ensured consistent progress despite the constantly changing environment. 

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