If you're the deal partner pressure-testing the IC memo or packaging the asset for exit, you want For PE General Partners.
The technology operating partner your portfolio has been carrying without. One scoring framework, every portco.
Operating partners apply rigor to commercial, operational, and financial workstreams. Technology rarely gets the same treatment, which is why tech debt identified at acquisition compounds during the hold rather than getting reduced. By exit it costs more to address than it would have cost at entry, and discounts the multiple. The Portfolio Technology Diagnostic gives you a comparable read across every portco on the same seven axes you already track quarterly; per-portco Initiatives are the work that closes the flagged gaps.
Where you sit today
Three truths from inside your role.
Three patterns recur across PE operating partners who describe the situation above. Not all three may apply to you, but one or two usually will.
Technology problems surface post-acquisition, not during diligence
Commercial QofE is thorough. IT diligence is usually a generalist checklist. The gaps that buyers find in five years' time were already 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 is 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 structural shifts, not three projects.
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 close the gaps the Diagnostic flags
The Diagnostic surfaces priority portcos and priority axes. The 10 Initiatives are the fixed-price, fixed-scope engagements that close each one. Architecture Review, Cost Optimization, Security Posture, IT Due Diligence, and the rest. Same methodology at every portco.
One artifact that lands in IC and LP packets
Fund-level dashboard, priority-portco list ranked by exit-window risk, partner-meeting deck. Designed to drop into the existing operating-partner cadence with no parallel reporting. By portco three the IC pre-reads have a meaningful technology view; by portco six the fund-level lens is rare in mid-market sponsor practice.
A sample of the playbook
The first 100 days, in your VCP cadence
What the technology workstream actually delivers in the first 100 days post-close. Sized to slot into your existing operating model and produce a baseline you can 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-win execution
Vendor consolidations and license rightsizing started on the items that need no functional change. Typically captures 40 to 60% of total year-one savings opportunity in this window with no business disruption.
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
The Operating Partner's two engagements with Preside.
Portfolio-wide work and per-portco Initiatives are commissioned by the Operating Partner. The GP commissions deal-level IT Due Diligence directly when a target needs a real diligence read; everything else lives on your calendar.
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.
From $30K per portco plus a $50K rollup fee. Most Diagnostics begin as a Portco Health Check on one portco the GP wants a sanity read on; the Diagnostic scales when the artifact lands well.
See the Diagnostic →
The Initiative catalog
Ten fixed-price, fixed-scope Initiatives that close 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 & Compliance, Board Technology Governance.
Pricing from $25K to $150K per Initiative depending on type and duration. Each one produces a defensible artifact the portco walks away with.
See the catalog →
When the work becomes recurring
If the per-portco Initiatives and the Diagnostic produce value worth continuing, the Technology Operating Partner relationship continues on quarterly cadence at one of four Program tiers, matched to portco complexity. Most fund-wide engagements start with the Diagnostic, run a few per-portco Initiatives on the priority portcos, and convert the steady-state work into Program tiers for the two or three portcos where the Operating Partner relationship has the most leverage.
What we typically find
PE firms that close the technology gap in their portfolio do not build internal technology teams. They standardize the operating model: same diagnostic framework, same quarterly reporting cadence, same set of sprint plays available across every company. The visibility comes from consistency, not from headcount.
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 is operating at the company level. You need pattern intelligence across the portfolio: what worked at one client, what saved 18% at another, what's the same vendor everyone's overpaying. The IT director cannot see what they have not been exposed to. We have, across 100+ organizations from operator, advisory, and assessment engagements behind our team.
How does this fit with my existing VCP cadence?
Same cadence. Same format. Same review meetings. We slot technology into the workstream rhythm you already run. No new ceremony. No parallel 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 framework on every portco. Same diagnostic, same quarterly rollup format, same set of Initiative plays available at every portco. Cross-comparability is the point. By portco three the IC pre-reads have a meaningful technology view; by portco six the fund-level lens is rare in mid-market sponsor practice.
What's my time commitment?
Four to six hours per portco per quarter, in defined blocks. The bulk of the work happens with the portco IT lead and CFO. You see the rollup, sign off on direction, and intervene only where the company's progress is below the fund-level threshold you set.
Start with a Portco Health Check. Scale to the Diagnostic when the artifact lands.
One to two weeks on one portco. Seven-axis scoring. IC-readable snapshot plus backup deck. From $30K. Credit toward the Portfolio Technology Diagnostic if the engagement scales to the rest of the portfolio.
Prefer to start with a personalized portfolio brief? Run the four-question scoping.