Like many companies, MAPICS has pursued a strategy of growth through acquisition in recent years. At the same time, the company has traditionally leveraged a significant number of outside contractors to produce their commercial software products. During the merger process, MAPICS has taken a practical approach to blending these three groups of contributors into a cohesive workforce. Jim Lenard describes the obstacles and successes that they encountered during this process and discusses their plans going forward. In particular, he focuses on the additional challenges associated with blending offshore resources and telecommuting employees into the mix.