Private Equity firms thrive on smart investments, efficient operations, and strong returns. But when it comes to cybersecurity, especially across multiple portfolio companies, things can quickly get messy—and costly. One PE firm recently found that out the hard way.

At SASE Advisors, we were brought in after a $2M wake-up call.

The Challenge: Fragmented Security Across Six Operating Companies

This PE firm oversaw six operating companies, all in professional services—specifically, accounting firms. Each had different IT resources, security budgets, and varying levels of cybersecurity maturity. Their environments were wildly diverse: different endpoint protection platforms (EPP), different SIEMs, overlapping SaaS tools, and inconsistent policies.

Standardizing across all six would have taken years. Unfortunately, they didn’t have that kind of time.

In 2024, one operating company was hit by a ransomware attack. The incident quickly spilled into another operating company through interconnected access. Sensitive client data was breached, triggering regulatory reporting and client notifications. The financial cost topped $2 million—but the brand damage and customer churn may have been even worse.

The Turning Point: “We Need Eyes on Everything, Now.”

The PE firm realized that waiting to harmonize tools and processes wasn’t a viable strategy. They needed to protect the entire portfolio today—regardless of what tools each company was using.

That’s when they turned to SASE Advisors.

Step 1: Deep Discovery Across All Operating Companies

Our team began with a comprehensive data-gathering and gap analysis across all six companies. We assessed:

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Current security tools and configurations

Operational capabilities of internal IT teams

Budget flexibility, pain points, and strategic goals

Each company’s SaaS and cloud usage

Cyber insurance requirements and historical claim risk

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This deep dive gave us a real-world view of what could be supported, where the gaps were, and what an ideal solution would need to deliver—not in theory, but in practice.

Step 2: Industry-Wide Vendor Vetting

Armed with this data, SASE Advisors evaluated over 40 vendors across the security operations space. The biggest challenge? Finding a solution that could provide robust, 24/7 enterprise-grade protection agnostic of the disparate tools the operating companies were already using.

We engaged each vendor directly—assessing:

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Compatibility with existing toolsets

Capability to scale across varied environments

Strength of 24/7 monitoring and incident response

Cost structures and indirect channel pricing

Commitment to partnership with in-house IT teams

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We delivered raw analysis and options back to the PE firm, along with our insight into each vendor’s capabilities, strengths, and limitations.

Step 3: Driving Strategic Selection and Cost Efficiency

Together with the PE firm, we down selected to a shortlist of three top-tier solutions. This decision was informed by:

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Our extensive experience and comparative insight

Vendor demos and internal stakeholder feedback

Discussions with the PE firm’s cyber insurance provider

Considerations around speed-to-deploy, pricing, and support

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Then we turned on the sourcing engine. We created a competitive landscape for the finalists—leveraging both indirect channel pricing strategies and the combined buying power of the six companies under the PE umbrella.

The result? The PE firm secured the best-fit solution at the best price, achieving its core objectives of:

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Centralized visibility and 24/7 threat response

Tool-agnostic compatibility across the portfolio

Enhanced cyber insurance positioning

Operational efficiency and team collaboration

Continuous vulnerability assessment and proactive mitigation

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Step 4: A Shared SOC That Protects, Partners, and Scales

The final solution introduced a Shared Security Operations Center (Shared SOC) that provides 24/7 monitoring, incident response, and expert-level forensics across all operating companies. But this wasn’t just a technology lift—it created a partnership.

Each operating company gained access to enterprise-grade cybersecurity without having to rip and replace their existing tools. Their IT teams gained a partner that not only supported them operationally but also engaged them in joint tabletop exercises, ongoing risk assessments, and third-party risk management.

The Shared SOC constantly evaluates each company’s environment, proactively flags risks, and provides recommendations—turning reactive firefighting into proactive resilience.

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Bottom Line: Enterprise-Grade Security Without the Wait

By working with SASE Advisors, this PE firm didn’t just clean up a breach—they architected a future-proof cybersecurity strategy for their portfolio. One that:

✅ Works with the tools already in place
✅ Leverages enterprise expertise across mid-market companies
✅ Enhances cyber insurance outcomes
✅ Lowers risk while optimizing cost

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And perhaps most importantly:
They gained a trusted security partner to keep their most valuable assets—their operating companies—safe and secure.

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