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Cloud and managed IT: a buyer's guide
What we list in this category, where each entry came from, and the questions worth pressing on before you commit.
Every entry below was recorded from a page we opened, and each carries the source we read. Where we could not establish something it is left blank rather than guessed. Read how this site works if you want the detail.
What we list
Every product we hold in this category, in one list. A supplier that has run in production for twenty years and one that launched last year appear together and carry the same fields, because that is the comparison a buyer has to make. Each entry's founding year and owner are on its company page where the company states them, and both bear on continuity: long service is evidence a supplier will still be there, and a young supplier may offer capability and pricing the incumbents do not while carrying fewer references at your size.
- AbacusFlex — A tiered multi-cloud managed IT and cybersecurity subscription for regulated financial firms, sold to hedge funds, private credit, venture capital and asset managers. source
- Align IT Suite — A Microsoft public cloud based managed services suite for alternative investment firms and RIAs, with a companion Align Guardian cybersecurity and archiving offering; the vendor states over 35 years in business. source
- Atlas — Managed trading infrastructure and connectivity platform for financial firms; trade press lists Options among FIX connectivity providers, though the pages I read describe market data and trading connectivity without naming FIX. source
- Atlas Technica Outsourced IT — Outsourced IT, cloud and cybersecurity built for hedge funds, private equity, family offices and boutique managers; the vendor reports 225+ clients and 4,500+ supported users across US, UK, Hong Kong and Singapore offices. source
- Coretelligent Managed IT and Cloud Services — Managed IT, private cloud and compliance services (branded Core360, CoreCloud, CoreArmor and CoreComply) for hedge funds, private equity, family offices and wealth managers, grown through eight MSP acquisitions since 2019. source
- Drawbridge Cyber Risk Intelligence — A cyber risk scoring platform plus managed cybersecurity services sold only to hedge funds, private equity firms and their portfolio companies; the vendor reports serving 1,200+ funds. source
- ECI Managed Cloud Services — Managed cloud, network and cybersecurity operations for hedge funds, private equity and asset managers; the firm was previously branded Eze Castle Integration and states 30 years in business and 15 global offices. source
- ELLA — A controlled large language model application ECI launched in November 2023 so alternative investment firms can use AI inside their compliance and permission rules. source
- LPAssure — A small specialist MSP whose flagship program pairs managed IT with a named virtual CISO, allocator due diligence questionnaire library and SEC and Form PF compliance artefacts for emerging SEC-registered managers. source
- Linedata Technology Services — Public cloud migration, 24/7 managed services and the Linedata Protect security offering, sold by an asset management software vendor that describes itself as a buy-side MSP for over 25 years. source
- Netrio Managed IT and Cybersecurity Services — Managed IT, security operations and cloud services for financial services and private equity; Netrio acquired the New York financial services MSP Agio in 2025 and agio.com now redirects to netrio.com. source
- Omega Care — Bundled managed IT support (Omega Care), managed security (Omega Shield) and a SOC 2 private cloud for hedge funds, RIAs, family offices and private equity firms; the hedge fund MSP ACE IT Solutions is now part of Omega. source
- Pico Market Services — Managed trading infrastructure, colocation, connectivity and market data across 55+ data centres, with Corvil Analytics for packet-level monitoring, used by hedge funds and asset managers. source
- Proximity Cloud — Fully managed low-latency compute, colocation and connectivity for trading firms and asset managers, alongside Exchange Cloud for venues and Beeks Analytics; the group is a publicly listed plc. source
- SS&C Middle Office Services — Outsourced middle-office service covering trade capture, reconciliation and portfolio valuation for asset managers, hedge funds and private markets firms. source
- Thrive Managed IT and Cybersecurity Services — Managed IT, managed detection and response, cloud and compliance services sold to private equity firms, hedge funds, family offices and emerging managers, with SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001 attestations. source
- Vector — Data management product for alternative asset managers, sold with Archon for security and reference master and XtractIQ for private markets extraction. source
What to ask
These come from the same question bank our request-for-proposal process uses, so a guide and an RFP never drift apart. The four sections below carry the most weight in that bank.
Functional fit
Whether the system does the job for YOUR instruments, markets and volumes — not for the demonstration portfolio. The questions separate what runs in production today from what is on the roadmap, because that distinction disappears in a sales meeting and reappears during implementation. It also asks what still has to be typed in by hand, which every system has and few volunteer.
- Which asset classes does the product support in production today?
- Is there a full audit trail of who changed what and when, and can it be exported?
- Does the system enforce segregation of duties between front and back office?
- Is maker-checker approval supported on material actions, and is it configurable by action type?
- Can a valuation be sourced and approved independently of the people who trade?
Security and resilience
Whether the vendor's security is independently attested or merely asserted. The questions ask for certifications you can read, penetration tests you can see the summary of, and recovery objectives that are written down. Incident history is asked directly, because a vendor that has handled a breach well is often a safer choice than one that has never been tested.
- Which independent attestations do you hold currently?
- Will you provide the most recent report under a non-disclosure agreement?
- Is data encrypted in transit and at rest?
- Is single sign-on supported, and is multi-factor authentication enforced?
- Can your own staff see our data, and is that access logged and reviewable by us?
Compliance and regulatory
Whether the system stands up to your regulator and your auditor. Covers the reporting regimes the product supports directly, whether it can evidence who saw or changed a record, how long records are retained, and where in the world your data physically sits — which is a hard constraint for many firms rather than a preference.
- Can the system evidence to an auditor who saw or changed a given record, and when?
- In which jurisdictions is our data stored and processed?
- Are there any pending criminal matters or debarment proceedings involving the firm, its officers or its managers?
- Which regulatory reporting regimes does the product support directly?
- When a regime changes, is the update included in the licence or charged separately?
Clients and references
Whether they have done this for a firm like yours, and whether those firms stayed. Vendors present client counts and logos readily; they present ATTRITION reluctantly, which is why this section asks for clients lost and migrations completed as separate questions from clients won. Size fit decides more failed implementations than feature lists do, so it is asked directly.
- How many client firms use this product in production today?
- How many of those are of a similar type to our firm?
- How many are within our assets-under-management band?
- How many clients did you LOSE in each of the last three years?
- How many implementations begun in the last three years were abandoned before go-live?
You can send all 167 of these questions to the vendors you choose, and get every answer back side by side. Run an RFP — it is free to you and free to them.