Technology adds value to your business or drains it. Your leadership team should be able to show which.
We are a Technology Operating Partner for PE-backed and mid-market companies. We own the reporting on technology cost, risk, and direction to the CFO and board. We work alongside your CIO or IT director and the specialists who run day-to-day operations, and we add to what your team already does. The aim is to shorten the Proposal Treadmill™: the cycle in which each new requirement starts months of vendor evaluation and delays the work that matters.
Start from where you sit
CIO / IT Strategy
I took the seat. The documentation did not come with it.
CFO / Finance
I approve technology spend. I cannot prove what it bought.
CISO / Security
I have the mandate, not the firepower or the budget.
CCO / Compliance
Compliance is bolted on at audit time. I want it in the architecture.
COO / Operations
Technology gets handed to ops before ops is ready for it.
All roles →
Boards, CEOs, IT leaders, PE operating partners and general partners.
How engagement unfolds
Initiative first. Program second. Portfolio scale when it fits.
We recommend starting with a fixed-price Initiative. A long commitment on day one is a poor fit for both sides. If the Initiative shows the fit is right, the Program continues the work at one of four levels. Sponsors with several portfolio companies can begin with a Portfolio Diagnostic.
01
Start with an Initiative
Fixed scope, fixed price, two to six weeks. A defined output on an agreed date.
See the catalog →
02
Continue as the Program
Four levels matched to how much you want to advance and how complex your challenges are. The ongoing Technology Operating Partner relationship.
See the levels →
03
Run a Portfolio Diagnostic
Fund-level engagement for general partners and PE operating partners. The same scoring on every portfolio company. Six to ten weeks.
See the Diagnostic →
The problem
Technology often runs without the accountability every other function has.
In many companies, technology is reported through uptime and ticket counts. Sales has a pipeline and Finance has a P&L. Technology often has no equivalent view of cost, risk, and return.
The board cannot see it
Technology is discussed at board meetings, but it is not governed the way finance and risk are. The board is responsible for oversight of risks it cannot see directly.
The CFO cannot measure it
The CFO approves a budget without a way to evaluate the return. Projects often arrive with a technical justification, not a financial one.
The team cannot act on it
The Proposal Treadmill™ can take months from problem to vendor, and the cycle repeats. By the time work starts, the problem may have grown.
What we do
One relationship. Cost, risk, and direction.
A Technology Operating Partner is different from a managed service provider, a fractional CIO, or a project consultant. It owns the reporting on technology cost, risk, and direction to the CFO and board, and works with your CIO or IT director.
The core relationship
Technology Operating Partner
An ongoing relationship with one partner that owns the reporting on technology cost, risk, and direction. Strategy, architecture, security, compliance, and change management are coordinated on one cadence, with one voice to the board, while your CIO, IT director, or managed service provider keeps running day-to-day operations. The financial discipline you apply to every other function in the business, applied to technology.
What we address
The Proposal Treadmill™
When technology work exceeds what your team can do, the usual route is a new vendor search: solicit, evaluate, negotiate, onboard, ramp up. Each new vendor starts without your context, and the institutional memory stays with you. Preside aims to shorten the cycle with one relationship that already has the context, the team, and the cadence.
The outcome
Where the value shows up
Technology affects every organization in three ways: financial impact, risk, and speed of delivery. We size each from your own data and report progress to the board on the same cadence as every other function.
How the Program runs
Three modes. One relationship. Fewer restarts.
A Technology Operating Partner uses all three modes and switches between them as the situation changes.
Prevent
The default state.
Built into your planning cadence, from quarterly to weekly depending on the level, with board reporting at the higher levels. Strategy, architecture, security posture, and vendor performance are reviewed on that cadence. This work aims to avoid the next vendor search.
Resolve Directly
When something arises, we respond.
Work inside Preside's scope needs no new contract, proposal cycle, or vendor search. We already have the context and the history, so the path from problem to resolution runs through one relationship. Which work Preside carries out directly depends on the Program level.
Manage specialists
When the stakes are highest.
Examples: a security incident, a failed audit, an M&A integration, a leadership change, or a compliance escalation. When specialist help is needed, Preside scopes the work, brings in the right specialists, manages them, and reports on the work to the CFO and board. One relationship, one cadence.
Who we serve
Find the page written for your role.
Each role sees a different part of the technology problem. Pick yours to read the page written for it.
For boards and investors
Board / Investor
I oversee technology risk that I cannot see directly.
For general partners
PE / General Partner
I price deals. Technology risk can affect the multiple I get.
For operating partners
PE / Operating Partner
IT is often missing from my 100-day plan.
For CFOs
CFO / Finance
I approve technology spend. I cannot prove what it bought.
For CEOs
CEO / Business Owner
Technology should move the business forward. I need a clear way to tell whether it does.
For COOs
COO / Operations
Technology gets handed to ops before ops is ready for it.
For CISOs
CISO / Security
I have the mandate, not the firepower or the budget.
For CCOs
CCO / Compliance
Compliance is bolted on at audit time. I want it in the architecture.
For IT leaders
IT Leader
My team delivers the work. The board often sees only the cost.
Not sure which to pick? Take the four-question Find Your Path tool. Personalized recommendation, emailed brief, no call required.
From the library
Briefings.
Short reads for executives on the questions they are being asked. Read what fits your role.
What the board should be asking about AI before approving the budget.
Microsoft is promoting Copilot, and other software vendors have AI offers of their own. These reach the board as a budget line. A short list of questions helps the board decide.
Briefing AI · GovernanceAI governance for Microsoft 365: what has to be true before you deploy Copilot.
Copilot respects the permissions you already have. Over-shared SharePoint sites, weak sensitivity labels, and gaps in data loss prevention policies carry straight into what Copilot can surface.
Briefing Compliance · SecurityOld Kerberos encryption (RC4) could create a compliance finding, whatever Microsoft's 2026 dates.
Whether active RC4 usage in Active Directory is a finding depends on which framework applies to you: HIPAA, PCI DSS, SOC 2, NIST 800-53, or CMMC. That did not depend on Microsoft's July 14, 2026 enforcement date.
vs. the alternatives
Where each option fits.
These are different models for different needs. They are not mutually exclusive.
| Full-time CIO or IT director | Fractional CIO | Managed service provider | Project consultants | Preside | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is for | Runs the function and owns the team day to day. | Fills the leadership seat part time. | Operations and support. | A defined project with a start and an end. | Owns the reporting on technology cost, risk, and direction to the CFO and board. |
| Relationship to your CIO or IT director | Keeps authority and the team. Preside works alongside. | The seat itself. Preside does not take it. | Complementary. Preside coordinates cost, risk, and direction around it. | One project at a time. Context can reset between engagements. | Works with the CIO or IT director. Where there is none, Preside covers the leadership layer for cost, risk, and direction and manages specialists, but does not hold the CIO role or run operations. |
| Runs day-to-day IT operations | Yes, through the team | Depends on the engagement | Yes | Not usually | No |
Start here
Start with a Preside Initiative.
Two to six weeks, fixed by Initiative type. Fixed price. Defined output. An Initiative lets you see how we work and what we deliver before any longer commitment. Some Initiatives stand alone. Others lead to the Program.
Start with the Program, or start with an Initiative.
Either way, the first step is a 30-minute call to decide whether a Technology Operating Partner fits your business.