Smarsh: Post-acquisition stack live on schedule

Engagement context

Smarsh operates in compliance and archiving — a domain where post-acquisition stack mistakes create regulatory and customer trust risk. Foundation5 joined during diligence on a Micro Focus business unit: the target’s Salesforce, MuleSoft, and NetSuite estate had to be scored for risk, cost, and Day-100 feasibility before close.

After signing, the same findings had to become a migration the combined entity could run without disrupting compliance operations. The headline result — post-acquisition stack live on schedule — required diligence that connected to execution, not a red-flag memo left on the table.

From diligence findings to Day-100 cutover

We delivered a ranked assessment: integration debt, key-person dependency, data quality, and remediation cost ranges investment committees could price. Post-close, Salesforce and NetSuite moved in waves with MuleSoft as the integration backbone, tied to an operating plan internal owners could maintain.

Training and runbooks were part of delivery. Continuity between diligence and integration avoided the common failure mode where a new SI rediscovers the same issues in month three. See our technical due diligence checklist approach and related article on what PE technical due diligence should cover.

• Diligence completed in time for investment decisions
• Salesforce and NetSuite migrated on the post-close plan
• Integration architecture documented for ongoing releases
• Internal owners trained to run the combined stack

Lessons for acquirers and portfolio companies

Comparable compliance and SaaS acquisitions succeed when diligence ranks severity with cost ranges, Day-100 workstreams have named owners, and CRM/ERP data quality is treated as synergy risk — not an IT footnote. If your deal calendar is compressed, contact Foundation5 early enough to shape access and artifact requests.