Eze Castle Integration

Eze Castle Integration (ECI) is an IT services, technology and consulting firm focused on serving the hedge fund sector and financial services industry. The firm was founded when Eze (pronounced [ɛːz]) Castle Consulting split into two independent entities. It employs 800 people, with offices in Singapore, Europe, Hong Kong, India and eight US locations. The company's products span most common IT needs of the financial sector such as technology support, cloud services, disaster recovery, digital transformation, and voice. Much of its revenue comes from managed and cloud services while its clients are hedge funds and other financial firms.

Eze Castle Integration
TypePrivate
IndustryIT infrastructure and services
Founded1995
HeadquartersBoston
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
John Cahaly, CEO & Chairman

Sean McLaughlin, Co-Founder
Bill Tan, CCO & CSO

Steve Schoener, CTO
Number of employees
800
Websitewww.eci.com

History

Childhood friends Sean McLaughlin and John Cahaly founded Eze Castle Consulting in 1995. Sean previously worked at several investment firms.[1] Eze Castle Consulting was founded in a borrowed apartment above Sean's father's dental practice.[1] The company was named after Èze, a village in the French Riviera.[1] Eze Castle Consulting began supporting early stage funds in the Boston area,[2] then opened up new offices in New York City, San Francisco and Greenwich, Connecticut in the late-1990s.[3]

Eze Castle Integration's headquarters in Boston

In 2000, Eze Castle Consulting was split into two independent companies, Eze Castle Software and Eze Castle Integration;[3] Eze Castle Integration became a systems integration company focused on the financial services sector.[4] During the economic downturn in 2000, the firm downsized and reduced many expenditures while continuing to generate a profit.[2] By 2004 the company had grown to a 120-person staff.[3][5] Throughout the late 2000s, the company introduced Eze Vault, Eze Disaster Recovery, ECI Link and Eze Managed Suites.[6] They also introduced Eze Cloud[7][8] and started selling Tradar's Insight product in a hosted cloud model.[9] Today a growing percentage of the firm's revenue comes from cloud-based products.[10][11]

In the first eight months of 2008 the average hedge fund declined five percent and 170 hedge funds closed their doors due to ongoing financial volatility. Although 95 percent of the firm's clients were hedge funds, it experienced a revenue increase of 26 percent and obtained sixty new clients during the time period.[3]

At the time, the company supported 450 US-based hedge funds, including 81 firms with over $1 billion in management.[5] It opened new offices in Chicago in 2008, and London in 2007.[3][5] In 2010 and 2011 new offices were opened in Singapore and Hong Kong.[12][13] In 2010 an affiliate company, Ledgex Systems LLC, was created to develop and support software for fund of hedge funds to automate and manage investment portfolios.[14]

In 2018, the company received a significant investment from private equity firm H.I.G. Capital.[15] At the time, Eze Castle had roughly 650 customers across the United States, United Kingdom and Asia.

In 2020, Eze Castle Integration acquired Alphaserve Technologies,[16] a provider of infrastructure technology and digital IT services, bringing the company's client base to 800. In November 2020 the company acquired digital transformation firm NorthOut, Inc. The acquisition accelerates Eze Castle Integration's digital transformation offering for the financial and professional services industries.[17] The acquisitions bring the company's client base to over 800 clients globaly.

Corporate

Business

95 percent of Eze Castle Integration's clients are hedge funds and asset management firms with 80 percent of Eze Castle Integration clients having 10-50 staff. In 2011 over 35 percent of the company's new clients were startups.[18] Eighty percent of the company's new business revenue was from cloud and managed IT related services.[10][11]

Company culture

Eze Castle Integration is regularly recognized as one of the best places to work.[19][20] The company's core competency is described as hiring and retaining the best staff.[2]

Products & services
The Eze Managed Suites in New York

Eze Castle Integration provides IT infrastructure and technology services to hedge funds. Their products are branded with “Eze” such as the Eze Private Cloud[7] and include[21] archiving, backup, disaster recovery;[22] business continuity;[3] private cloud services; integration and support consulting,[22] and the archiving of email, instant messaging and other communications[3][23] including voice.[24]

Some of the firm's products[25] are hosted cloud-based applications from other vendors, including Microsoft Office 365 and Azure.[9] The company also has a cloud platform bundle with email, file and security services intended for hedge funds and investment firms.[26]

References
  1. Stuart, Anne (March–April 2004). "Of Software and Apples". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  2. "CEO Interview: Eze Castle Integration". The Wall Street Transcript. February 9, 2004.
  3. Curtis, Carol (September 22, 2008). "Hedge Fund Focus Hasn't Hurt Eze Castle Integration". Securities Industry News. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  4. "Goldman Sachs Invests $20 Million in Eze Castle Software" (Press release). Eze Castle Integration. September 7, 2010. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
  5. "Eze Castle launches London office". Boston Journal. November 12, 2007. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  6. Multiple Press Releases
  7. Schmerken, Ivy (May 2011). "Cover Story: The Great Business Case in the Sky" (PDF). Wall Street & Technology. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  8. Schmerken, Ivy (January 20, 2012). "The Rise of Cloud Computing on Wall Street". Wall Street & Technology. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  9. Schmerken, Ivy (May 10, 2011). "Tradar Partners with Eze Castle Integration on Cloud-Based Offering". Wall Street & Technology. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  10. Wainewright, Will (July 12, 2011). "Eze Castle Expands as Asia Demand Grows". HFM Week. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  11. Groenfeldt, Tom (June 22, 2011). "Stock Exchanges Ain't What They Used To Be". Forbes. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  12. "Eze Castle Integration Expands To Singapore, Geneva". FINalternatives. August 31, 2010. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  13. Lindsay, Margie (August 31, 2010). "Eze Castle Enlarges Presence in Geneva and Singapore". Hedge Funds Review. Retrieved February 2, 2011.
  14. Kentouris, Chris (September 17, 2010). "EZE CASTLE INTEGRATION Houses IT Platform for Alternatives in New Subsidiary". Securities Technology Monitor. Archived from the original on December 21, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  15. Jun 5, Joe Panettieri •; 2018 (2018-06-05). "Private Equity Firm Invests in Eze Castle Integration". ChannelE2E. Retrieved 2020-07-21.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  16. Jul 21, Joe Panettieri •; 2020 (2020-07-21). "MSP Acquired: Eze Castle Integration Buys Alphaserve Technologies". ChannelE2E. Retrieved 2020-07-21.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. Nov 6; 2020 (2020-11-06). "Eze Castle Integration expands financial services offerings with NorthOut acquisition". Private Equity Wire.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  18. Chandler, Beverly (November 30, 2011). "Eze Castle enjoys busy year in and out of the hedge fund cloud". Opalesque. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  19. Hollmer, Mark (June 9, 2003). "Best Places to Work". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  20. "Best Places to Work 2011". Crain’s New York Business. 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  21. Jaworski, Alexa (November 3, 2008). "Partnering with SunGard, Eze Castle Integration Offers Bundled Connectivity". Securities Industry News. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  22. Marlin, Steve (August 15, 2011). "Hedge Funds Reach for the Cloud" (PDF). Markets Media. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  23. Curtis, Carol (November 12, 2009). "Over the Web and Under the Radar: Brokers are saying too much and firms are capturing too little" (PDF). Securities Industry News. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  24. Fieldhouse, Stuart (March 17, 2009). "Eze Castle Integration's Bob Guilbert talks to Fund-Technology.com". Fund Technology. Archived from technology.com the original Check |url= value (help) on January 25, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  25. Steinert-Threlkeld, Tom (May 10, 2011). "Order Management Heads into Cloud". Securities Technology Monitor. Archived from the original on October 21, 2011. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  26. "Comprehensive alternative IT system for smaller fund managers". Hedge Funds Review. January 12, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.