Certified Acquisition Integration Manager – AMAA Benefit

Certified Acquisition Integration Manager logo

AMAA members and their clients receive a 20% discount

Learn how to Successfully Integrate Acquired Businesses

The Certified Acquisition Integration Managers (CAIM™) designation shows readiness to deliver the value of your M&A deals. Build your in-house competencies

Your People. Our Expertise

Solve the poor operational performance of your acquired businesses

Build successful In-House acquisition integration teams through training and certification

It is said that 70% of acquisitions fail. This is not completely accurate; it is the integration of the businesses that fails. Delivering what was envisioned when the deal was put together is difficult and prone to failure.

Businesses that do not successfully integrate acquisitions waste the opportunity of value creation. With every subsequent acquisition, the pain of not integrating becomes greater, as the burden of multiple processes, tools and operational methods prevents growth.

Lower-mid and mid-size businesses are often torn: they know they need external expertise, but want to retain the skills within their teams. 

Businesses need to develop in-house teams that can integrate current and future acquired businesses.

Intista has training and certification solutions to address these and other problems associated with acquisition integrations. Learn more below.

Certified Acquisition Integration Manager (CAIM)

  • Online training takes you through the entire integration process, from the reasons for acquiring to the execution and delivery of integration projects
  • Certification testing that ensures understanding and reinforces learning
  • Integration Mastermind sessions, where you get the opportunity to ask the experts anything related to acquisition integrations
  • Enroll now. AM&AA members get a 20% discount!

    Get Recognized as an Expert

    Demonstrate that you have the knowledge to be an acquisition integration manager

    • Managers and colleagues recognition of your certification
    • Gaining the knowledge and skills of acquisition integration increases your value to your employer
    • Helps build your case for workplace compensation or promotion
    Career Development

    Transferable skills for your next career move

    • Transfer your competence to future career contacts
    • Helps you stand out from other applicants to future hiring managers
    Digital Badges

    Certified Acquisition Integration Manager (CAIM) badges are Open Badges compliant

    • Digitally verifiable
    • Can be shared on social media and with your community
    Renewable Certification

    Intista certifications have a two-year lifespan

    • Recertification demonstrates your experience and understanding of acquisition integrations
    • Find out more about the recertification, here

    What Lessons are in the CAIM™ training?

    Training contains 10 lessons of self-paced on demand content, compatible with all mobile devices. 

    View topics in detail

    Lesson 1: Getting off the Ground

    We disclose important considerations before acquiring,  discuss 6 myths about integrations, and differentiate between the priorities of the acquisition team and the integration team.

    Lesson 2: Different Ways to Integrate

    We look at four broad-category approaches to integrating an acquired small or mid-size business, along with the “Keep Separate” strategy (an approach where no integration takes place).

    Lesson 3: The Integration Organization

    We explore the teams that plan, manage and deliver the integration. We explain how this temporary organization is structured, within this hierarchy of teams. We describe the roles of the teams, the roles of members, and the qualifications/qualities of the ideal candidates for each role.

    Lesson 4: Integration Objectives

    Integration Objectives are the initiatives that define the emphasis, or focus areas, for the journey ahead. We learn how to identify those objectives, starting with the reasons for acquiring, formulating the Mission Statement for the journey ahead, and deriving two types of objectives: “Workstream” and “Company-Wide” objectives.

    Lesson 5: Finance in Integrations

    This lesson address the spectrum of needs for lower-mid and mid-size acquisition integrations: three types of cost estimation and the budgeting of your integrations based upon those costs, and the three types of synergy that can (and should) be pursued.

    Lesson 6: Staff Retention after an Acquisition

    We discuss the Cost of Losing Staff, and introduce the Staff Retention Toolbox. We suggest non-financial and financial incentives for retaining staff. 

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    Lesson 7: Onboarding Acquired Staff

    We discuss and review the Onboarding Team and explain how to onboard acquired staff. We outline how to plan a successful program and provide tips for its success.

    Preparing for Day 1
    Lesson 8: Preparing for Day 1

    We proposed how to prepare for the acquisition announcement, known as "Day 1" by formulating a checklist of priorities to be addressed. We discuss the logistics of the announcement, and strategic topics to answer the questions that arise at kick-off and continue to come up.

    Lesson 9: Communication During Integrations

    We explain how communication is critical to the success of an integration. We show you how to identify and communicate with each of your audiences, and how to message to them.

    Topics include how to prepare for the "Day 1" announcement, as well as how communication changes and must be sustained through challenging times.

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    Lesson 10: Creating Acquisition Integration Projects

    We discuss how to create and run the hierarchy of projects that will merge together the operations, processes, and technologies of the businesses. 

    We explain how to combine the reasons for acquiring with Intista's templates, to create projects used to integrate the businesses together. 

    Build, Don't Buy, your Integration Team

    You will need a team to integrate your current and future integrations so that everyone has:

    • A common understanding of integration approaches
    • A common terminology, which improves communication within your business
    • Organizational understanding of the hierarchy and duties of everyone involved
    • Ways to learn how to integrate, hands-on and in real-time
    • After completing the course, students have access to our Integration Mastermind meetings, to exchange best practices and discuss integration related topics

    5 Reasons why businesses want Certified Integration Managers

    1.  A successful integration team delivers the value defined by the Deal Team

    • Incomplete integrations are missed opportunities to realize the value envisioned by the deal-makers
    • Integration of the two businesses, not the purchase, is what delivers value

    2.  In-house expertise, which is transferred between successive acquisition integrations

    • Create an in-house acquisition integration team, using the knowledge of established experts
    • Invest in your team, and transfer experiences between successive acquisition integrations

    3.  Control the cost of getting external integration expertise

    • Know the cost of the training and certification, up front

    4.  Improve the way that you approach and deliver integrations in the future. If you already acquire and integrate, avoid the cost of inefficient methods in:

    • Staff retention 
    • Faster onboarding 
    • Improved productivity 
    • Staff engagement

    5.  Trained employees are happier employees

    • Certified employees perform faster, are more engaged, and have better work outcomes*
    • Organizations that invest in employee training demonstrate that they have faith in that employee and morale improves
    • Improved morale creates more engaged employees, which makes them more productive

    AM&AA members receive a 20% discount. Get a bigger discount with multiple purchases

    Non-members of the Alliance of M&A Advisors can become members here

    Autumn 2024 Cohort Class details

    This training and certification is 100% online, self-paced study, with weekly review meetings..

    • The course contains 10 lessons
    • Students will be asked to study between 1 and 3 lessons per week, which should take between 1.5 to 3.5 hours of self-paced learning
    • Student should complete the assessment at the end of each lesson

    Self-study should begin on, or around, October 25th, 2024.

    • On Fridays, students will meet for 45 minutes to review and discuss what they have learned in that week's lessons. Discussions will go into details on areas that the students have questions about. Meetings will be held: 
      • Kick Off: Friday October 25th, 10am EDT/3pm BST
        • Welcome and kickoff
      • Friday November 1st, 11am EDT/3pm GMT, Week 1 review
        • (Lesson 1: Getting off the Ground, Lesson 2: Different Ways to Integrate, & Lesson 3: The Integration Organization)
        • Note a difference in the USA start time, due to a difference in summertime between USA and Europe
      • Friday November 8th, 10am EST/3pm GMT, Week 2 review
        • ( Lesson 4: Integration Objectives & Lesson 5: Finance in Integrations)
      • Friday November 22nd, 10am EST/3pm GMT, Week 3 review
        • (Lesson 6: Staff Retention after an Acquisition & Lesson 7: Onboarding Acquired Staff)
      • Friday December 6th, 10am EST/3pm GMT, Week 4 review
        • (Lesson 8: Preparing for Day 1 & Lesson 9: Communication During Integrations)
      • Friday December 13th, 10am EST/3pm GMT, Week 5 review and Final Assessment
        • (Lesson 10: Creating Acquisition Integration Projects & the Final Assessment)
    • After registering, you will receive a calendar invitation to the weekly review meetings

    $1,995 Year 1

    $250 Renewals

    including recertification

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    • Immediate access to 12 month of online, self-paced training
    • Weekly meetings to discuss the topics just learned 
    • Templates and checklists to use on  your integrations
    • CAIM™ certification, after passing the final assessment
    • Access to Intista's Integration Mastermind meetings

    Upon registration, your affiliation with the AM&AA is verified to be either:

    • A current member of the AMAA
    • The client of a current member

    Thinking about confidential discussions?

    • Learn about our Private Classes
    • Available in 3 delivery formats, including classroom learning

    Ask Us About Bulk Discounting!

    Frequently Asked Questions

    This class is Self Paced, online, why do students meet?

    This special class works in a group activity to reinforce the learning and discuss areas in detail. The objective is to understand the practicalities of delivering acquisition integrations.

    Students will study 2 lessons per week and meet on a Friday morning to discuss. The 5 meeting will discuss 1 lesson and the Final Exam, which is a scenario-based quiz.

    When I pass the certification, can I put the badge on LinkedIn?

    Yes. You will be able to show your digital badge, with 3rd party authentication that validates you are a Certified Acquisition Integration Manager

    What is the value of the Integration Mastermind?

    During Mastermind you will have the opportunity to learning from other professionals who are (or have) gone through similar processes on their own. Traditionally, skills in the profession were accumulated through experience gained over a series of integrations.  

    The Integration Mastermind is an online opportunity for integration managers of all levels to pass on their knowledge through discussion topics, anecdotes, and lessons that they have learned over the years. Most of the daily work of an acquisition integration manager is very specific to each integration, but the skills and methods are valuable to colleagues.

    How do I qualify as a Certified Acquisition Integration Manager?

    Each lesson has an assessment that tests you on topics taught within that module.  You must pass each of these to get access to the Final Assessment. This assessment poses realistic scenarios that an Acquisition Integration Manager could be asked to resolve in practice. 

    Do I have to attend the Integration Masterminds? 

    No. However, to recertify as an Acquisition Integration Manager, you must demonstrate continued experience or learning in the M&A integration field.  Attend Mastermind sessions can be part of that.

    See here for the Recertification Process.

    Are you good at multitasking? 

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