Rethinking Managed Services for Alternative Investment

There’s been no shortage of change within technology across the alternative investment industry. Infrastructure’s shifting. Risk’s escalating. Tech is moving faster than talent. 

But one thing that hasn’t kept pace? Managed Services. 

“By 2026, 50% of financial services CIOs will fail to meet digital business expectations due to talent shortages in cloud, AI, and cybersecurity.” – Gartner for Financial services leaders  

While firms invest heavily in digitisation, transformation, and resilience – many of their support models still feel like they belong to a different era. 

Templates dressed as strategy. Platforms that don’t flex. Service desk queues that resolve symptoms, not root causes. And support models designed around provider convenience – not client context. 

It’s not that firms don’t see the gap. They do. But when the pressure’s on and time is tight, switching to something better often takes a backseat. 

Let’s call that what it is: a missed opportunity. 

 

What Clients Are Really Up Against 

It’s not just ‘more of the same’. It’s more complexity, more visibility, and more pressure to stay ahead of both regulators and competitors.   

  • AI & Automation are changing the shape of ops – fast. But most firms don’t have the in-house capability to operationalise them at scale. 
  • Cloud-first strategies are progressing, but often without the right architecture, controls or support structures in place. 
  • Cyber risk isn’t static. It’s becoming more sophisticated – and attackers more persistent. 
  • Regulation is getting sharper, not just broader – especially when it comes to data sovereignty, third-party risk, and operational resilience. 
  • Hybrid working and global footprints mean infrastructure and support needs now span multiple time zones – and service models have to move with them. 

Add to that the growing tech talent shortage, and you’ve got firms with big ambitions being held back by small, slow or rigid support structures. 

 

The Problem Isn’t Just the Platform. It’s the Model. 

The issue isn’t that MSPs aren’t trying – it’s that many of them are working to a blueprint that doesn’t fit anymore. 

  • Multi-tenant platforms make scale easy for the provider – but often dilute the experience for the client. 
  • Pre-packaged tools get sold as tailored solutions – until they don’t quite flex the way you need them to. 
  • ‘Support’ becomes reactive – fixing tickets rather than partnering on prevention. 

It’s a service model built for cost control and margin, not context or agility. 

And the results speak for themselves: delivery delays, knowledge gaps, and internal teams left holding the pieces. 

 

What the Clients Actually Need 

The answer isn’t more tech. It’s more relevance. 

What firms really need is a managed service that adapts to the way they work – not the other way around. 

That means: 

  • Specialists embedded into client environments – not tasks shipped offshore to whoever’s on shift. 
  • Services designed around operating models – not squeezed into existing toolkits. 
  • Capability, not just cover – people who can think, recommend and act. 
  • A model that evolves with regulatory demands – not one that avoids them. 

 

Where Saragossa Deploy Fits In 

We built Deploy to meet the needs of investment firms who know the standard model isn’t enough. 

We work with private equity, hedge funds and specialist asset managers who want more than just support tickets – they want a partner who gets their world, operates with pace, and actually contributes to delivery. 

Here’s how we do it: 

Talent First – We start with people. Not portals. Not dashboards. Experienced engineers, analysts and architects who integrate into your teams and strengthen your capability. 

Deep Buy-Side Familiarity – Our team works exclusively in this space. We know the pressures on CIOs, COOs and Heads of Infrastructure – and we shape our services around those realities. 

Tech That Fits – We’re not tied to a stack. We work with what works – for you. And we make sure it’s deployed and supported by people who understand both the tech and the context. 

Service Designed Around You – Whether you’re scaling, restructuring, or shifting to zero-trust – we shape our engagement to match your roadmap. 

Always-On, Always-Human – Tiered support, yes. But high-touch, always-engaged, and outcome-focused. Not transactional. 

 

So Why Now? 

Because the firms that perform best over the next five years won’t be the ones who simply have access to the latest tools – they’ll be the ones who have the right people, asking the right questions, at the right time. 

Deploy exists to help firms build capability – not just capacity. If your MSP feels like a cost line instead of a partner, maybe it’s time to rethink the model. 

Let’s build something that actually fits the way you work.

If you want to speak about how Deploy can change the way you approach managed IT services, drop me an email here.

 

—Jamie Smith,  Director