IT Services for Private Equity
Claranet is the
Portfolio Operator
for private equity.
The diagnosis is usually right and the plan is usually right. What fails is the execution between Day 100 and exit prep. Claranet is the Portfolio Operator that plans, delivers and runs the technology that turns the value creation plan into run-rate outcomes, at mid-market economics and on private equity timelines.
Technology that protects and creates enterprise value across the hold period
Across the hold period we protect the estate against cyber and resilience risk, release trapped cost into EBITDA, build the operating platform for growth and keep the asset exit ready. Technology becomes a value lever, not a drag on the plan.
Technology Challenges for Private Equity Portfolio Companies
In most portfolio companies the plan is sound. Value is lost in the execution between completion and exit preparation, where the Operating Partner owns the agenda but not the day-to-day capacity to deliver it. Bolt-ons, cyber exposure, cost pressure and AI demands accumulate on the same internal team.
- Cost leakage: Cloud and licence spend drifts above what the business needs and holds back EBITDA. Recoverable spend commonly runs to between 20 and 35 percent.
- Cyber exposure: 80 percent of private equity firms saw a portfolio company disrupted by a cyberattack in the past year, and 26 percent saw an incident reduce a valuation or exit price.
- Integration drags: Each acquisition adds estate, tooling and risk faster than internal teams can absorb it.
- Scale strain: Portfolio-wide pressure meets fixed operating-partner headcount.
An operator, not an adviser
Advisers and boutiques plan and hand the work back. Generic providers keep the lights on. Claranet plans, delivers and runs, across the full hold period, so the value creation plan becomes a run-rate outcome rather than a slide.
- Strategy consultancies author the plan and leave. We deliver and run it.
- Diligence boutiques diagnose and hand off. We diagnose, remediate and operate across the hold.
- Generic managed services providers run tickets. We run the technology against the value creation plan.
We do this at mid-market economics, on private equity timelines, with senior people who speak the language of value creation.
Five levers across the hold period
The Portfolio Operator programme is organised around five levers. Each is live capability and approach.
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Protect
Secure the estate and the deal thesis against cyber and resilience risk across the hold.
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Release
Recover trapped cloud and licence spend and convert it into EBITDA.
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Accelerate
Build the operating platform and integrate bolt-ons so growth can scale.
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Scale
Run managed services consistently across a portfolio, so good practice spreads and the cost to serve falls.
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Evidence
Keep the estate documented, evidenced and ready for diligence, so technology supports the exit rather than dragging it.
How to engage
Most engagements start with one short, fixed-fee diagnostic that produces a board-ready output and a clear next step.
Managed Technology Services for Portfolio Companies
Diagnostics surface the work. Managed services run it. The same teams that find the value stay to deliver and operate it across the hold period, so improvements hold rather than fade after the report.
- Managed FinOps, to recover and keep recovering cloud and licence spend.
- Hold-Period Cyber Operations, including managed detection and response.
- Managed cloud, workplace and networks at mid-market scale.
- Portfolio standardisation, so good practice and economics repeat across assets.
Why Claranet?
Claranet is a privately owned technology services group with growth investment from three private equity firms. Around 30 years' operating, approximately 520 million pounds in annualised group revenue, more than 10,000 business customers and over 3,300 staff, of whom around 85 percent are technical, across eight European countries plus Brazil, the United States and India.
We have made around 40 acquisitions in our own history, so we understand post-deal integration from the inside.
Frequently asked questions
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A set of diagnostics, methodologies and managed services for private equity firms and their portfolio companies, designed to turn the value creation plan into run-rate technology outcomes across the hold period. Claranet is the Portfolio Operator: we plan, deliver and run the technology rather than advising and handing it back.
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Primarily Operating Partners and Value Creation Leads, and secondarily Portfolio Managers and portfolio company CFOs. It is built for mid-market private equity firms that control or majority-own their portfolio companies.
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Consultancies and boutiques plan or diagnose and then hand the work back. Claranet diagnoses, remediates and operates across the hold period, at mid-market economics and on private equity timelines.
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With one short, fixed-fee diagnostic. The Trapped Value Review looks at recoverable cloud and licence spend. The Hold-Period Cyber Baseline assesses cyber posture against a portfolio-wide standard. The 100-Day Technology Value Plan sets the technology agenda for a newly acquired asset. Each produces a board-ready output.
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Protect, Release, Accelerate, Scale and Evidence. They secure the estate, release trapped cost, build the operating platform, standardise across the portfolio, and keep the estate exit-ready.
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Each diagnostic is delivered for a fixed fee, scoped to the asset. Specific fees are agreed in conversation.
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Both. Diagnostics and managed services run at the level of an individual asset, and the same approach can be standardised across a portfolio for repeatable leverage.
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The diagnostic produces a board-ready plan. Where it makes sense, the same teams move into managed services to deliver and run the improvements across the hold, so outcomes hold rather than fade.
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The whole estate. Cyber sits in the Protect lever, alongside cost, integration, portfolio standardisation and exit readiness across cloud, networks and workplace.