General partners and deal partners should see For PE General Partners.
Technology oversight across every portco, scored the same way.
Operating partners apply rigor to commercial, operational, and financial workstreams. Technology often gets less of the same treatment. Technical debt identified at acquisition can compound during the hold, cost more to address by exit than at entry, and weigh on the multiple. The Portfolio Technology Diagnostic gives you a comparable read of every portco on the same seven axes. Per-portco Initiatives size and plan the fix for each gap the Diagnostic flags.
Where you sit today
What an operating partner sees across the portfolio.
Three situations a PE operating partner may recognize.
Technology problems surface post-acquisition, not during diligence
Financial QofE and commercial diligence are standard. IT diligence is often a generalist checklist. Gaps a buyer finds at exit may already have been there at close.
IT is an EBITDA drag without a consistent way to address it
Vendor sprawl, license waste, infrastructure scaled for historical peak. Across the portfolio, the cumulative impact can be material relative to the value creation plan.
There is no portfolio-wide view of technology risk
Every other operational metric (revenue, EBITDA, margin) is visible and comparable across companies. Technology is a black box per portco.
What changes with Preside
Three changes to portfolio technology oversight.
Same scoring framework across every portco
The Portfolio Technology Diagnostic scores every portco on seven axes: tech spend trajectory, architecture documentation, cybersecurity posture, SaaS rationalization, AI exposure, AI data foundation, IT leadership continuity. Six to ten weeks initially, with a quarterly refresh cadence after that.
Per-portco Initiatives size and plan the fix for each flagged gap
The Diagnostic surfaces priority portcos and priority axes. Ten fixed-scope Initiatives then cover the gaps, such as Architecture Review, Cost Optimization, and Security Posture. IT Due Diligence applies to deals under review. Same methodology at every portco.
A fund-level package for IC and LP materials
Fund-level dashboard, priority-portco list ranked by exit-window risk, and a partner-meeting deck. It fits into the existing operating-partner cadence with no separate reporting. By portco three the IC pre-reads can carry a comparable technology view.
The first 100 days
The first 100 days, in your value creation plan
A sample sequence for a newly acquired company. The first baseline comes from a one-to-two-week Portco Technology Review. Later steps use per-portco Initiatives and the Technology Operating Partner Program as the company needs. The sequence slots into your existing operating model and gives you a baseline to review at the first board meeting.
Baseline assessment
Inventory of technology environment, vendor stack, contract calendar, and key personnel. Initial spend mapped against revenue. Quick-win opportunities sized with confidence ranges. First risk register draft.
Quick wins sized and handed off
Preside sizes the vendor consolidation and license rightsizing items that need no functional change. The company's team and its vendors carry them out.
Value creation plan integration
Technology workstream formally added to the company's value creation plan. Named owners. Quarterly milestones. Financial impact projections tied to specific actions, not aspirations. First quarterly board pre-read drafted.
Fund-level rollup live
This portco's view added to your portfolio-wide technology dashboard. Comparable to peer portcos on spend efficiency, risk posture, and value creation track. First IC pre-read covering this acquisition produced in the standard fund format.
What you commission
What you commission from Preside.
Operating partners commission portfolio-wide work and per-portco Initiatives. General partners can commission IT Due Diligence on a deal, or a Portco Technology Review on one company, directly.
Portfolio Technology Diagnostic
Every portco scored on the same seven technology axes. Output is a fund-level dashboard, per-portco red-flag list ranked by exit-window risk, and a partner-meeting deck. Quarterly refresh option after the initial.
Scoped per portco with a fund-level rollup. A Diagnostic can begin as a Portco Technology Review on one portco where the GP has a technology question, and scale from there.
See the Diagnostic →
The Initiative catalog
Ten fixed-scope Initiatives that size and plan the fix for the gaps the Diagnostic flags at a specific portco. Architecture Review, Cost Optimization, Security Posture, IT Due Diligence, Vendor Rationalization, Change Readiness, Compliance Readiness, AI Technical Readiness, AI Security and Compliance, Board Technology Governance.
Each one produces a written brief the portco keeps.
See the catalog →
When the work becomes recurring
If the per-portco Initiatives and the Diagnostic produce value worth continuing, the Technology Operating Partner Program continues at one of four Program levels, matched to how far the company wants to advance and how complex its challenges are. A fund-wide engagement can start with the Diagnostic, run per-portco Initiatives on the priority portcos, and move steady-state work to Program levels for the portcos where an ongoing relationship fits.
Our view
A fund does not need its own technology team to see technology risk. A standard process gives you comparable scores, a regular report, and the same set of Initiatives at every company.
What operating partners ask first
The four questions before the engagement.
Why not just rely on the company's existing IT director?
The IT director runs technology at the company level and keeps authority. Preside works alongside and adds a view across the portfolio: comparable scores, shared vendors, and common renewal calendars. Where a portco has no CIO or IT director, Preside covers the leadership layer and manages specialists. It does not run day-to-day IT operations.
How does this fit with my value creation plan cadence?
We fit into your existing review meetings and pre-reads. We add no separate reporting. The output appears in your existing operating partner pre-reads.
How does this scale across the portfolio?
The Portfolio Technology Diagnostic uses the same seven-axis scoring on every portco, with the same quarterly rollup format and the same set of Initiatives available at every portco. Every portco is scored the same way, so you can compare them.
What's my time commitment?
The bulk of the work happens with the portco IT lead and CFO. You see the rollup, sign off on direction, and step in only where a company's progress falls below the fund-level threshold you set.
Start with a Portco Technology Review. Scale to the Diagnostic if it fits.
One to two weeks on one portco. Seven-axis scoring. IC-readable snapshot plus backup deck. If you scope the Diagnostic within three months, the Review's work carries over.
Prefer a personalized portfolio brief? Use the four-question Find Your Path tool.