Favorite Tools for Integration Planning & Execution
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My organization has been acquiring smaller companies at a fairly steady pace over the past three years. We have recently begun to ramp up our activities to have multiple acquisitions running concurrently but are still using existing tools to do so. Specifically, Box.com for externally shared data rooms, SmartSheet for integration project planning and execution (internal and external) and SharePoint/OneDrive/Teams as our internal collaboration space for shared documents and messaging. Any suggestions for M&A specific tools, or similar, that you recommend we consider instead?
It’s great to hear your organization is scaling its M&A activity — managing multiple concurrent acquisitions definitely puts new pressure on existing tools. Based on what you’ve described, your current setup (Box, SmartSheet, SharePoint/Teams) covers the basics but may start to show strain at higher deal volumes, especially around version control, cross-deal visibility, and risk management.
If you’re looking to optimize, here are a few M&A-specific platforms and enhancements you might want to consider:
1) DealRoom
– Purpose-built for M&A workflows, combining data room functionality, project management, and diligence tracking in a single platform.
– Particularly strong for integration planning and live dashboards across multiple deals.
– Reduces reliance on fragmented toolsets (like using separate Box and SmartSheet instances).2) Midaxo
– Designed for high-volume corporate acquirers.
– Provides end-to-end pipeline, diligence, integration, and synergy tracking — all in one platform.
– Helpful if you want structured templates and repeatable playbooks across concurrent acquisitions.3) Ansarada
– Primarily a VDR (Virtual Data Room) provider, but they’ve expanded into integrated deal management.
– Strength in AI-driven risk scoring and compliance tracking, particularly useful for more regulated industries.4) Asana for M&A Integration
– I’ve leveraged a number of tools for integration planning and project management (e.g. SmartSheet, MS Project, Teamwork, etc.) but have a preference for this platform
– Highly effective for building detailed workstream plans, cross-functional and automation-driven task management, and keeping track of dependencies across deals
– With templates and portfolio views, Asana scales well when running multiple integrations concurrently — especially when paired with reporting tools like Asana + Power BI or Tableau to automate status dashboards.5) Enhancements to Current Tools (if staying on your current platforms for now):
– Add Power Automate/Power BI on top of SharePoint/SmartSheet to automate integration status reporting across multiple deals.
– Set-up M&A Playbook Templates in SmartSheet (or migrate integration management to Microsoft Project for better cross-project dependency tracking if deal volume grows)
– Use Box Shield (if continuing to use Box.com) to strengthen document governance / security at scale.General Tip:
As deal volume increases, platforms that combine diligence, integration, collaboration, and reporting into a single view will reduce operational risk and increase efficiency. Otherwise, managing across fragmented tools (Box + SmartSheet + Teams) can become increasingly manual and error-prone as activity grows.Happy to recommend further depending on your volume, deal types, and whether your IT environment leans more toward SaaS flexibility or full enterprise-grade platforms.
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