Your friend texts you: “Did you hear? Your CMS vendor just got acquired.” In disbelief, you text back, "Wow, that's surprising." It’s OK, it happens, as our infographic on CMS vendor acquisitions shows.

If you ask Cathy McKnight (@CathyMcKnight), Industry Analyst and Founding Partner at Digital Clarity Group, she’ll tell you not to panic. Recently, Cathy presented a webinar titled, “Your CMS Vendor Got Acquired. Don’t Panic, This is a Good Thing!”

There’s a lot of things to do if your CMS vendor got acquired. In her webinar, Cathy suggests that customers start with three steps.

Step 1: Get Answers to Your Questions

You’re bound to have questions. In fact, these sorts of questions are common when any technology vendor is acquired. Questions that Cathy often hears from her clients:

1. How does this affect my licensing?
2. Who will manage my account?
3. What does this do to roadmap?
4. Where do I turn to for support?
5. When will the products be integrated?
6. Why me!!!

You’re also probably wondering: why did my friend hear the news before me?

To get answers to your questions, first contact your account executive. When the news first breaks, they’ll often have limited information to share: they may have heard the news the same time you did. Over time, however, your account executive will provide information on customer support, changes in points of contact and the plan going forward.

If you work with agencies, systems integrators or analyst firms, reach out to them, too. When news broke in January 2015 of the Ektron-EPiServer merger, integrators, agencies and analyst firms published blog posts and articles with their take on the news (example: Digital Clarity Group's blog post on the merger).

Step 2: Use This Opportunity to Take a Hard Look at Your CMS

If your CMS vendor got acquired, Cathy recommends that you use this as opportunity to look inward. Ask yourself questions like these:

1. Has our business evolved/changed?
2. Have our CMS requirements/needs changed?
3. Is our current CMS meeting our needs?
4. Does our technology implementation model still make sense?
5. Is our current agency/SI still able to support you?

Don’t cut this process short. It should take days (if not weeks), rather than hours. The exercise will be well worth it, since your answers will help guide your next steps. You may stay with your current vendor, or you may look for a new CMS vendor. You may decide to find a new agency or systems integrator, too.

Step 3: Plan Well to Make a Smooth Transition

Whether you stay with your current CMS vendor or move to a new one, there will be a transition. A transition is about moving from one place to another. Instead of moving sideways, use the transition as an opportunity to move up. To move ahead. Steps that Cathy suggests:

1. Align with new objectives
2. Improve processes
3. Update content
4. Educate
5. Bring in fresh blood
6. Find a new partner

View the Webinar and Slides

View the on-demand replay of Cathy’s webinar at any time. In addition, we’ve shared Cathy’s slides below.

What to Do if Your CMS Vendor Got Acquired from DNN