Business Technology

With a wealth of expertise in technology, and a thorough understanding of the EMEA market, we support value creation and optimisation for private equity firms, their portfolio companies and Corporate clients.

About the Business Technology team

As a team of specialized technology consultants, we assist private equity firms, their portfolio companies, and corporate clients in achieving their maximum potential. Our customized technology services offer strategic advice to enhance investments, improve operational efficiency, and promote continuous growth, helping our clients succeed in the dynamic EMEA business landscape.

By partnering with Alvarez & Marsal, you gain access to a team of experts dedicated to turning challenges into opportunities and delivering measurable business impact. Together, we can build a future-ready organization that thrives in the ever-changing digital landscape.

IT Due Diligence IT M&A (Carve-out and Integration) Tech Cost Optimisation Technology Modernisation Services
IT Due Diligence

Our IT Due Diligence service supports both private equity and corporate clients in evaluating the technology posture of a target company during the transaction lifecycle. Whether on the buy side or sell side, our aim is to identify critical technology risks, validate investment assumptions, and highlight opportunities to drive value creation post-deal. We combine deep technical expertise with commercial insight to ensure our clients are equipped with a clear, actionable view of IT’s role in the asset’s performance and scalability.

IT M&A (Carve-out and Integration)

Our IT M&A Carve-Out and Integration offering is designed to support clients through the complex lifecycle of mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures, from due diligence through TSA (Transition Services Agreement) exit. We partner with both private equity and corporate clients—on the buy side and sell side—to provide expert guidance at each critical milestone: pre-sign, sign-to-close, Day 1 readiness, and post-Day 1 execution. Our consultants identify and manage key IT risks, design separation or integration strategies, and ensure smooth transitions with minimal disruption to operations.

Tech Cost Optimisation

Our Tech Cost Optimisation service is designed to help private equity and corporate clients reduce recurring costs across business and IT functions, without compromising performance or growth potential. We work closely with stakeholders to identify areas where technology can either replace inefficient processes or where current IT spend can be streamlined for greater impact. Whether the goal is to enhance EBITDA pre-exit, improve operating margins, or reinvest savings into innovation, our approach is grounded in measurable outcomes and strategic value creation.

Technology Modernisation

In an era where digital transformation is no longer optional, technology modernisation helps businesses to unlock their full potential. By leveraging forward-looking technology and a strategic approach, we enable organizations to achieve their business strategy, streamline operations, drive sustainable growth and modernize the technology landscape.

 

Why clients hire us

Objective and Independent

Without the potential conflicts of public accounting firms and software products to sell, A&M offers objective, credible advice you can trust to be in your best interest, not our own.

Senior Leadership

Our dedicated senior leaders have an average of 20+ years of experience and drive day-to-day work and impact.

Speed, Action and Execution

Our teams deliver business transformation with speed. We focus on tangible results and sustainable, realistic solutions.

Collaborative Approach

We believe integrated teams produce the best results. We partner with our clients to develop innovative, tailored solutions and create buy-in for the changes needed to drive sustained value.

Solving Complex Problems is in our DNA

Our restructuring heritage sharpens our ability to act decisively in the face of complexity. We embrace the hard stuff, roll-up our sleeves and work in the trenches with clients to produce results.

Without the potential conflicts of public accounting firms and software products to sell, A&M offers objective, credible advice you can trust to be in your best interest, not our own.

Our dedicated senior leaders have an average of 20+ years of experience and drive day-to-day work and impact.

Our teams deliver business transformation with speed. We focus on tangible results and sustainable, realistic solutions.

We believe integrated teams produce the best results. We partner with our clients to develop innovative, tailored solutions and create buy-in for the changes needed to drive sustained value.

Our restructuring heritage sharpens our ability to act decisively in the face of complexity. We embrace the hard stuff, roll-up our sleeves and work in the trenches with clients to produce results.

 

Our wide range of services across 4 Business Technology pillars

IT Due Diligence – Uncovering Technology Risks and Value Drivers in Transactions

IT Operating Model & Organisation - We assess the structure, capabilities, and cost of the target’s IT team, including insourcing/outsourcing models, key personnel, and vendor dependencies. The goal is to evaluate whether the IT function is fit for purpose to support current operations and future growth, and identify cost optimisation or upskilling opportunities.

Technology Architecture & Scalability - We review the architecture and infrastructure stack to determine if it is modern, secure, and scalable to support the business plan. This includes cloud maturity, technical debt, and system integration levels—highlighting potential future investment requirements or blockers to transformation.

Application Landscape & Licensing- We perform a deep dive into the core applications, their functionality, interdependencies, vendor relationships, and license models. We look for inefficiencies, risks of obsolescence, or opportunities to consolidate or modernise the portfolio to reduce costs and improve agility.

Cybersecurity & Risk Posture - Security maturity is evaluated across governance, controls, tooling, and incident response. We flag material risks that could impact valuation or deal execution, and identify improvements necessary to meet regulatory or investor expectations—particularly relevant in sectors with sensitive data or operational risk.

IT Financials & Cost Structure - We analyse the run-rate and investment-level IT costs, benchmark against peers, and validate whether the IT spend aligns with the company’s stage and strategy. This includes identifying potential savings, carve-out costs, or post-deal synergies and investments required to scale.

IT M&A Carve-Out and Integration – Delivering Transitions with Strategic Value

During carve-outs, we work hand-in-hand with clients to define target state architectures for standalone entities, balancing speed and cost efficiency with long-term strategic value. We help shape the IT perimeter, establish clean separation plans, and oversee the execution of TSA structures that protect operations while enabling agile exits. For integrations, we identify and capture synergies across people, data, applications, and infrastructure—aligning disparate systems under a unified architecture that accelerates value creation and drives operational efficiency.

Our holistic approach blends technical expertise with transaction-savvy execution to deliver high-impact results. Whether carving out a business unit or integrating a newly acquired asset, we focus on delivering fit-for-purpose IT capabilities that support business growth, innovation, and digital resilience. From rapid Day 1 stand-up through to full TSA exit, our teams act as trusted partners—navigating complexity, minimizing risk, and ensuring that IT becomes a lever for strategic advantage throughout the M&A lifecycle.

An IT Carve-Out involves separating a business unit or entity from a parent organization and establishing it as a fully operational standalone business. This process is often complex, involving disentanglement of shared systems, data, infrastructure, and people. Our role is to help clients—from both the buy and sell side—manage this complexity from due diligence through TSA (Transition Service Agreement) exit, ensuring a clean separation that is cost-efficient, low-risk, and value creation focused.

  1. IT Perimeter Definition
    • Identify systems, infrastructure, data, and processes specific to the carved-out entity.
    • Define what needs to be replicated, migrated, or retired.
  2. Target State Architecture Design
    • Develop an end-state IT model for the standalone business.
    • Balance “Day 1 readiness” with long-term scalability and cost efficiency.
  3. Transition Services Agreement (TSA) Planning
    • Design and negotiate IT-related TSA services with the parent company.
    • Build exit strategies to minimise TSA reliance and ensure rapid separation.
  4. Separation Execution & Program Management
    • Manage the migration of applications, infrastructure, and data to new environments.
    • Coordinate with security, compliance, and business teams to ensure continuity.
  5. Technology Cost Modelling & Business Case
    • Estimate one-off separation costs and recurring post-separation IT spend.
    • Develop a business case for future IT investment, modernisation, or outsourcing.
Tech Cost Optimisation – It's is not just about cutting costs; it’s about reinvesting the savings into strategic initiatives that drive growth and innovation

Leveraging our proven frameworks and tailored methodologies, we conduct comprehensive assessments of technology landscapes and business processes. This includes detailed application portfolio reviews, span & layers, infrastructure efficiency evaluations, and end-to-end IT cost modelling. We help clients understand the true cost of ownership, benchmark against peers, and develop business cases for rationalisation, automation, or system consolidation. Our structured reviews often reveal actionable opportunities to simplify the tech stack, eliminate redundancy, and optimise vendor contracts.

Beyond diagnostics, we deliver practical solutions—such as application selection and implementation planning, shared services models, and demand management strategies—that embed cost efficiency into day-to-day operations. We work cross-functionally to ensure alignment between technology, finance, and operational leaders, turning cost savings into long-term performance improvements. Whether for portfolio companies in transformation or established enterprises seeking to modernise, Tech Cost Optimisation unlocks the full economic potential of technology.

  1. IT Operating Model Assessment – Evaluate IT org structure, roles, sourcing strategy, and delivery model to identify efficiency and right-shoring opportunities.
  2. Application Portfolio Rationalisation – Review the application landscape to reduce redundancy, optimise licensing, and improve cost-to-value ratio.
  3. Business Process Automation & AI Enablement – Identify and implement automation and AI use cases to reduce manual effort and operational costs across business functions.
  4. Technology Infrastructure Efficiency Review – Assess cloud vs. on-prem mix, storage, compute usage, and network architecture to drive infrastructure cost reduction.
  5. Sourcing & Outsourcing Strategy Review – Re-evaluate vendor relationships, managed services, and location strategy to identify savings through outsourcing or right-shoring.
  6. IT Financial Baseline & Cost Transparency – Build a detailed IT cost model to benchmark spend, uncover hidden costs, and identify optimisation levers.
  7. Demand Management & Governance – Implement controls and policies to align IT demand with business priorities and reduce unnecessary spend.
  8. Tooling & Licensing Optimisation – Review enterprise software licensing models and tooling strategy to eliminate underutilized or overprovisioned assets.
  9. Cloud Cost Control & FinOps Maturity – Establish or improve FinOps practices to better manage variable cloud costs and align usage to business value.
  10. Value Creation Business Case Development – Quantify and prioritise optimisation initiatives into a clear roadmap with ROI-focused implementation plans.
Technology Modernisation Services: Empowering Businesses for the Future

Our Technology Modernisation services are designed to empower businesses to thrive in the digital era by reimagining business processes, IT applications and the infrastructure landscape. Our services are tailored to address the unique challenges and opportunities of each business, ensuring measurable outcomes and long-term value creation.

Key Offerings

  1. Business-Aligned Systems Strategy – We can help you to develop and implement tailored application strategies that align with your business objectives, with systems that are optimised, integrated, and adhere to industry best practices to drive operational excellence.
  2. Application Modernisation – We specialise in upgrading outdated applications into scalable, efficient, and user-friendly solutions. From ERP strategy to implementation, we deliver value-driven modernisation to meet current and future business demands.
  3. IT Infrastructure Modernisation – We can help you rebuild your IT foundation by upgrading legacy systems and integrating advanced technologies like cloud computing, AI, and ML. We create a robust, scalable, and future-ready infrastructure to support your growth.
  4. Cloud Migration and Optimisation – We can seamlessly support the transition to the cloud by optimising cloud environments for cost efficiency, scalability, and operational performance, enabling your business to thrive in a digital-first world.
  5. Advanced Data Analytics and Insights – We leverage cutting-edge tools and techniques to transform data into actionable insights. We empower informed decision-making, enhance customer experience and drive innovation through data-driven strategies.
  6. Cybersecurity and Compliance Solutions – We can help you to safeguard your digital assets with advanced security frameworks to help keep your business protected and compliant with evolving regulatory requirements, leveraging both new and existing technologies.
  7. Transformational Technology-Enabled Change – We can support you in driving innovation and adaptability across your organization. Our holistic change management strategies foster automation, standardization, and a culture of continuous improvement, positioning your business for long-term success.

 

Meet the Business Technology Team