After the Deal Closes: Classes Discovered in M&A Cybersecurity

October 27, 2023

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Jason Button leads the Cisco Safety and Belief Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) group. He was previously the director of IT at Duo Safety, an organization Cisco acquired in 2018, making him uniquely positioned to lend his experience to the M&A course of. This weblog is the continuation of a sequence centered on M&A cybersecurity listed on the finish of this publish.

This newest weblog publish will revisit the subject of Transferring Left to Proper: Cybersecurity Practices and Outcomes in M&A Due Diligence and classes realized from implementing Cisco’s M&A Cybersecurity Framework final 12 months.

Measurement Issues

On this 12 months alone, Cisco has made ten acquisition bulletins, starting from small, agile start-ups to well-established, publicly traded firms. The various measurement and complexity of the businesses we’re trying to purchase entail that we establish, assess, and modify for threat otherwise.

Our M&A Cybersecurity Framework has allowed us to scale and streamline our discovery and threat evaluation processes to higher align with the extent of safety threat a deal poses. Utilizing customary safety guardrails, tooling, techniques info, and different automated processes to display and assess non-integrated dangers, we will draft a Discovery Threat Evaluation earlier, thereby releasing up groups to concentrate on assessing extra complicated acquisitions and doubtlessly larger safety dangers.

Accelerating Integration

Proper-sizing your threat evaluation strategy has further advantages, together with the power to establish areas of integration threat to speed up integration after the deal closes. An instance is the Valtix acquisition earlier this 12 months, the place we performed an aggressive and thorough discovery investigation to shut the deal earlier than the tip of April. The driving issue was the chance to debut an important product integration demonstration in early June at Cisco Reside, our flagship buyer occasion.

To fulfill this timeline, we would have liked to make sure that the safety threat was manageable and that we had stakeholder buy-in. We labored intently with cross-functional groups to establish and prioritize threat mitigation in order that we may meet our dedication. By having a strong framework in place, we had been in a position to speed up the mixing course of whereas enabling the Valtix group to be simpler and productive in a brief period of time.

One other lesson we’ve realized is prioritizing visibility into the acquired infrastructure earlier within the course of. Deploying instruments like Wiz.io and JuniperOne helps educate us about new environments and permits us to establish dangers sooner. That is vital when triaging and prioritizing efforts between the corporate being acquired and the enterprise it is going to be absorbed into. For the Armorblox and SamKnows acquisitions, we had been in a position to concentrate on high-priority dangers and spend much less time spreading efforts throughout a number of work streams. Having a framework that helps us prioritize dangers is what’s most necessary and in the end makes for higher, safer merchandise.

Wanting Again to Energy Ahead

One other necessary lesson realized this 12 months was the way to apply the M&A framework to re-visit earlier acquisitions to evaluate and perceive threat. Going by means of this course of with out time constraints or diligence pressures allowed us to hone our investigative strategies and refine our practices. For instance, we labored with the Meraki group, a mature group that was acquired over ten years in the past and a major contributor to Cisco’s portfolio. We combed by means of a decade’s value of knowledge to tell how we may simplify and streamline key areas of our integration framework and enhance our general safety stance.

Securely Enabling Enterprise Progress

One of many driving components for Cisco to accumulate firms is to establish and spend money on new improvements that can enhance the safety and efficiency of our resolution portfolio. The M&A Cybersecurity group works intently with Cisco’s Company Growth Integration group to evaluate and handle threat all through the invention, diligence, and integration course of.

The M&A Cybersecurity Framework has been a helpful device to make sure that enterprise, engineering, and operations leaders align and concentrate on integration effectively earlier than the deal closes. Operational alignment with IT, Safety, and different features has helped floor necessary points, similar to addressing workflows and person and buyer identities earlier than the mixing course of. We’ve additionally discovered that by elevating safety early within the M&A course of, we’re serving to the enterprise take away obstacles that would get in the best way of enterprise targets and obtain its worth drivers sooner, which ends up in accelerated enterprise development.

Incomes and Sustaining Belief

Management knowledgeable Simon Sinek has ceaselessly acknowledged, “A group just isn’t a gaggle of people that work collectively.  A group is a gaggle of people that belief one another.”

Our M&A Cybersecurity Framework is a helpful device to assist securely allow the mergers and acquisition course of. Nonetheless, you’ll be able to’t underestimate the non-public components wanted to make it a hit. Constructing belief throughout a group takes time and requires specializing in growing relationships, being empathetic, and demonstrating respect for a corporation’s tradition.

The press launch saying Cisco’s intention to accumulate Splunk cited one of many key worth propositions: “Unites two “Nice Locations to Work” with comparable values, sturdy cultures, and gifted groups.” The M&A course of is way more than the mental property and expertise being acquired; the human capital and cultural strengths are sometimes probably the most helpful belongings.

Wanting again this 12 months, my colleague Mo Iqbal summed it up finest, “We are able to’t perceive the applied sciences till we perceive the folks and tradition that enabled them to be so profitable.”

If you’re inquisitive about studying extra, please learn Greater than an Asset: The Individuals Aspect of Mergers & Acquisitions.