Case Study 1: Merged Companies - New Infrastructure. In 1993, the product development and manufacturing portion of the Reston, Virginia headquartered Sprint International merged with the telecom development portion of the French company Alcatel CIT, located in Paris - to form a new entity called Alcatel Data Networks.   As a result of this merger, the company under took the development of an ATM/Frame Relay telecom product with development teams in two different countries, in different time zones, with different languages, using different methodologies, and different tool sets. It was quite amazing that the product was completed and delivered as there was software and hardware being developed in both the US and France. Manufacturing took place in two locations in the US and at least three locations in France.   As head of the US based IT organization, it was my responsibility to Establish [and insure the ongoing stability of] a secured interconnected VPN between the two development centers. Establish an automated Help Desk system, which supported the development environment for both groups. Establish and support common development tools set. Beyond the needs of the development group, help establish and institute a common IT infrastructure to support the rest of the business which included implementing new financial, order entry and manufacturing systems. All of these required a significant amount of diplomacy, since people in all organizations and all cultures become attached to their own way of doing business. Moreover careful planning so that upgrades could occur without impact to the business, was a matter of personal professional survival.