What can other network executives learn from your experience handling the IT side of Virginia Powers merger with Consolidated Natural Gas and subsequent acquisition of Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas?
Thinking of the network as strategic and fundamental to the merger is key. It’s the circulatory system of the company, and therefore it has to be solid. So we have to have enough capacity to take on additional companies. We need the reliability and the redundancy to take on critical functions. Certainly, nuclear power plants are critical functions. We have to have the people who know how to do it. We have a couple of key people dedicated to doing due diligence [when we hear about a merger]. They’re evaluating [the network infrastructure], so when the actual deal is done, we’re ahead of the game. We have to understand the applications that run on the network. Standards are key. We don’t spend a lot of time evaluating ‘Are we going to go to Outlook or Notes?’ We know what we’re going to go with, and we implement it. Relationships with vendors [help us] go ahead and interconnect. We lease lines very quickly. We have good relationships with [WorldCom] and Sprint so we can get on the top of
