Meet Jenny
As Head of Office at Expedition Growth Capital, a venture capital and private equity
investment firm with teams in London and Boston, Jenny is responsible for IT and security, despite not having a technical background.
For over a year, she worked with a managed service provider (MSP) that was well known in the investment industry. While expectations were high, the experience proved challenging. Administrative issues such as billing were difficult to resolve, and over time it became clear that the service was largely reactive rather than proactive.
38%
The reduction of IT costs
20
Number of staff covered
1
Turnaround in days of due diligance questionaires (which used to take a week)
"What used to take two hours now takes minutes."
Operational friction was common. When members of the investment team scheduled
Microsoft Teams calls to screen-share and resolve technical issues, support processes did
not always align with how the team worked. This sometimes resulted in senior team
members setting aside limited time only to experience delays or misaligned communication. More concerning was the lack of visibility. Jenny had no straightforward way to answer basic questions such as which devices were assigned to which employees, what applications were installed, or whether security updates were being consistently applied. Although the MSP had provisioned the devices, there was no clear reporting or centralized view of controls, making it difficult to manage risk or implement improvements confidently.
A Turning Point
The tipping point came during a weekend outage that affected multiple systems, including Microsoft access and SharePoint. With no access to work accounts, team members resorted to emailing from personal addresses to explain the situation. While emergency contact details had been shared previously, communication was slow and the firm remained partially offline for much of the weekend.
At that point, Expedition decided it was time for a different approach.
The Impact of Moving to ThreatSpike
From the outset of working with ThreatSpike, the difference was noticeable. Rather than
simply providing helpdesk support, ThreatSpike paired a structured security and IT
management platform with consistently responsive, hands-on service, giving Expedition
both immediate visibility into its environment and confidence that expert support was
always available when needed.
Jenny gained access to detailed, real-time reporting across users, devices, and systems. She could see which users were logged into which devices, understand the security posture of each endpoint, and review applied updates, browser extensions, and installed applications across the firm. This level of transparency made it possible to actively manage risk rather than react to issues after the fact.
This stronger control framework had a direct impact on investor operations. Information
required for Due Diligence Questionnaires (DDQs), which had previously taken several days to compile, could now be produced within a single working day, supported by consistent data and documented controls.
ThreatSpike’s monitoring and policy enforcement capabilities also extended to modern
collaboration and AI tools. The focus was on safeguarding sensitive information and
reinforcing internal data-handling policies, while helping employees understand
appropriate use as new technologies emerged.
Although website management sits with a separate provider, ThreatSpike’s broader
monitoring meant they identified service issues proactively, including on weekends, and
alerted Expedition ahead of other vendors. This early visibility helped the firm respond
faster and limit disruption.
When new FCA-related guidance was announced, Jenny raised questions around potential operational impact. Within days, ThreatSpike delivered a detailed analysis from an IT and security perspective, outlining what was relevant to Expedition and providing clear, actionable implementation considerations with timelines.
Measurable Results
The operational improvements were tangible. Tasks that previously required hours of
coordination and manual effort could now be completed far more efficiently.
“Everything’s in one place. What used to take two hours now takes minutes. When you
duplicate that across the team, it’s been a massive time saver.”
From a cost perspective, Expedition reduced its monthly IT spend by 38 percent, while
materially increasing the depth, consistency, and reliability of its IT and security coverage.
“You’re always very responsive and helpful, which I didn’t have previously. Having that expert support is invaluable when you don’t have technical expertise in-house.”
A Better Fit for Investment Firms
For alternative investment firms with lean teams, IT responsibility often sits with
operational leaders rather than dedicated technical staff. The challenge is finding a solution that delivers enterprise-grade security and compliance capabilities appropriate for sophisticated investment organisations, without adding unnecessary complexity.
For Expedition, the shift to ThreatSpike replaced uncertainty and reactive support with
clarity, responsiveness, and a genuine sense of partnership. The firm now operates with stronger visibility into its systems, more robust security controls, and greater confidence that risks and issues will be identified and addressed promptly.
Expedition runs leaner, with lower costs and better insight than before. Sometimes the most effective technical solution is simply one that recognises the people using it are focused on doing their jobs well.
