Cognitive evaluation of acquisition candidates

A computer program product comprising one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• initiating, by a cloud-based acquisition management system responsive to an application programming interface (API) request from a client device, a search engine to conduct a first search of a data resource for information associated with a first acquisition candidate using search criteria provided via a user interface of the acquisition management system;
• storing, by the acquisition management system in a database, a first search result from the search engine comprising an information dataset associated with the acquisition candidate;
• generating, by the acquisition management system using the first search result stored in the database, a candidate rating for the first acquisition candidate indicative of a performance metric for the first acquisition candidate relative to a second acquisition candidate;
• generating, by the acquisition management system responsive to receiving a selection of the acquisition candidate from the client device, a due-diligence checklist that includes a due-diligence task from a repository of predefined task templates;
• initiating, by the acquisition management system, the search engine to conduct a second search of the data resource for information associated with the first acquisition candidate using search criteria extracted from the information dataset stored in the database associated with the acquisition candidate;
• receiving, by the acquisition management system, a second search result from the search engine comprising due-diligence data associated with the due-diligence task of the due-diligence checklist;
• generating, by a parsing module of the acquisition management system, using a data parsing technique, identified data by identifying a data type of data in the second search result;
• providing, by the parsing module, the identified data to a cognitive processing engine of the acquisition management system;
• associating, by the cognitive processing engine, the identified data with one of a plurality of cognitive analyses based on the identified data type;
• analyzing, by the cognitive processing engine, the identified data using the associated one of the plurality of cognitive analyses;
• calculating, by the acquisition management system, an updated candidate rating for the first acquisition candidate based on the cognitive analysis of the due-diligence data;
• and
• presenting, via the user interface, a recommendation regarding the first acquisition candidate, wherein the recommendation is based on the updated candidate rating and a return-on-investment analysis associated with acquiring the first acquisition candidate.

A computer system comprising a processor and one or more computer readable storage media, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions executable by the processor to cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• initiating, by a cloud-based acquisition management system responsive to an application programming interface (API) request from a client device, a search engine to conduct a first search of a data resource for information associated with a first acquisition candidate using search criteria provided via a user interface of the acquisition management system;
• storing, by the acquisition management system in a database, a first search result from the search engine comprising an information dataset associated with the acquisition candidate;
• generating, by the acquisition management system using the first search result stored in the database, a candidate rating for the first acquisition candidate indicative of a performance metric for the first acquisition candidate relative to a second acquisition candidate;
• generating, by the acquisition management system responsive to receiving a selection of the acquisition candidate from the client device, a due-diligence checklist that includes a due-diligence task from a repository of predefined task templates;
• initiating, by the acquisition management system, the search engine to conduct a second search of the data resource for information associated with the first acquisition candidate using search criteria extracted from the information dataset stored in the database associated with the acquisition candidate;
• receiving, by the acquisition management system, a second search result from the search engine comprising due-diligence data associated with the due-diligence task of the due-diligence checklist;
• generating, by a parsing module of the acquisition management system, using a data parsing technique, identified data by identifying a data type of data in the second search result;
• providing, by the parsing module, the identified data to a cognitive processing engine of the acquisition management system;
• associating, by the cognitive processing engine, the identified data with one of a plurality of cognitive analyses based on the identified data type;
• analyzing, by the cognitive processing engine, the identified data using the associated one of the plurality of cognitive analyses;
• calculating, by the acquisition management system, an updated candidate rating for the first acquisition candidate based on the cognitive analysis of the due-diligence data;
• and
• presenting, via the user interface, a recommendation regarding the first acquisition candidate, wherein the recommendation is based on the updated candidate rating and a return-on-investment analysis associated with acquiring the first acquisition candidate.