Global private equity player scales its business with hybrid cloud solution from Linedata Technology Services

Hybrid cloud: enabling growth for a global private equity player

Linedata's client is a rapidly expanding boutique private equity (PE) firm with $7B AUM and offices in New York, London and Hong Kong. The firm's leadership believes passionately in public cloud’s power to deliver cost, performance and scalability benefits. With a technology refresh looming, they decided to adopt a ‘hybrid’ cloud model: public and private cloud, underpinned by managed services.

Putting privacy, confidentiality and data protection first

Like all PE firms, our client puts a premium on privacy, confidentiality and data protection. This business ethos is underscored by intense regulatory focus on cybersecurity and data protection.

There were also more practical concerns. Moving to Office 365 meant surrendering control over software upgrades, with the potential for compatibility issues with office hardware and devices. And cloud-based email SLAs allow longer delivery times, while PE counts on near-instantaneous message delivery.

But the biggest adjustment was moving from an on-premises / private cloud setup – with control and visibility over software installation and physical security – to full reliance on public cloud and managed services providers.

The choice of a trusted partner: Linedata

The firm conducted a thorough review to find a trusted partner to lead its move to the public cloud.

“Our client wanted to test the boundaries of private cloud, using leading-edge, future-proofed architecture while remaining agnostic in terms of technology,” explains Jed Gardner, SVP, Linedata Technology Services. “They needed a partner with global legal and compliance expertise to ensure all regulations were followed during migration and that appropriate control frameworks were in place moving forward. They chose Linedata because they trusted our ability to deliver a comprehensive solution that fully addressed their complex requirements using best-in-class technology from a global toolkit.”

Delivering a cutting-edge, custom-built solution

Proper planning is as critical to public cloud success as actual implementation. The 18-month migration project kicked off with Linedata-led workshopping to develop a strategic roadmap that articulated the CTO’s vision and enabled him to sell it to the firm’s leadership. Solution design followed, along with development of a migration strategy that mitigated risk and minimised potential disruption to daily business.

Office 365 integration posed a particular challenge. Linedata designed an SaaS solution that delivers an intuitive user experience while respecting complex data privacy and storage requirements in the US, Hong Kong and the UK.

And roll-back mechanisms allowed reversion to the existing private cloud / on-premises deployment in case of problems during the move into production.

Future-proofing with a 'public cloud first' strategy

The multi-cloud solution design incorporates best-in-breed technologies, from Microsoft Azure, Citrix and Mimecast to Office 365. The year-long migration will position the firm to control costs, respond nimbly to market changes, and optimise compliance and risk management.

“With Gartner and other industry experts expecting public cloud adoption to surpass $330B by 2022, forward-thinking firms are thinking ‘public cloud first,’” Gardner explains. “Our focus on getting the fundamentals right puts us in a position of trust to deliver on the promise of public cloud for firms in asset management, hedge fund and private equity, and beyond.”