Rampant mergers and acquisitions over the past year have put it managers on the defensive. If 2005 is the "Year of the Merger," it's also the year that enterprise customers have had to brace themselves for the unwelcome prospect that one or more of their key vendors may get scooped up. The size and dollar amounts transacted in the recent frenzy prove that almost no entity is untouchable. But with a few important safeguards — including close scrutiny of a potential technology supplier, intimate knowledge of its products, and, after the fact, open lines of communication with the acquiring company — many customers can take these transactions in stride. "I don't know if you can ever predict whether a company will be acquired," says Charles Emery, senior vice president and CIO at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. "But, you can have high contract standards and take into consideration how the vendor will perform, and how broad your use of their product will be."
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