Accelerating Innovation Across the Portfolio: Blackstone Collaborates with Microsoft
At Blackstone, we work hand in hand with portfolio companies to improve operating performance and develop business transformation strategies to strengthen our companies for the long term. Blackstone’s Portfolio Operations team plays a pivotal role in helping our companies scale efficiently while also accelerating digital transformation. Bringing together the power of the Microsoft Cloud with Blackstone’s Private Equity portfolio management capabilities can improve operating performance, strategy, and governance. Adopting cloud technologies unlocks new value through building modern, sustainable, and resilient businesses.
Blackstone’s Portfolio Operations Enterprise Technology team has a unique methodology to create value across the portfolio. Standardizing on Microsoft technologies can build additional value by adding new digital capabilities for our portfolio companies as a foundation for digital transformation. Microsoft, one of Blackstone’s preferred technology partners for a number of our portfolio companies, accelerates digital transformation and innovation through industry focused solutions.
One area where we see extensive opportunities for accelerated innovation is in the realm of data analytics. Microsoft’s ecosystem of applications allows for easy consolidation of structured and unstructured data feeds into a centralized data lake. Compiling historically unconnected data streams allows business users and IT organizations to quickly iterate on value creation initiatives across the business.
For example, with Blackstone Portfolio Company, Merlin Entertainments, Microsoft’s platform enabled the rapid evolution of multiple business systems:
“Merlin rapidly built out an Azure based data lake to aggregate, transform and store data from a range of business systems, deployed across its global estate. The agile and scalable platform has allowed Merlin to gain new insight into its business, driving real time business intelligence dashboards using PowerBi and feeding critical transactional data into its ERP and CRM systems. Merlin now has the building blocks to deliver the next generation in theme park guest experience.” Lee Cowie, Chief Technology Officer, Merlin Entertainments
By leveraging Microsoft’s connected eco-system across collaboration, business applications, and intelligent cloud, Blackstone portfolio companies empower their employees to collaborate in new ways, gain insights into their customers, and strengthen their digital capabilities as a competitive differentiator.
“Part of the Blackstone approach to drive growth and digital transformation across the portfolio is to focus on each company’s unique sector while leveraging Blackstone’s broad vantage point to identify optimization opportunities and improvements. We view technology as the underpinning to create value across the portfolio, and Microsoft’s alignment to industry verticals unlocks the potential to accelerate growth in new ways.” Bob Barthelmes, Managing Director, Blackstone Portfolio Operations
