Eze Castle Integration

Eze Castle Integration
Private
Industry IT infrastructure and services
Founded 1995
Headquarters Boston
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people

John Cahaly, CEO & Chairman
Sean McLaughlin, Co-Founder
Bill Tan, CCO & CSO

Steve Schoener, CTO
Number of employees
 380
Website www.eci.com

Eze Castle Integration (ECI) is an IT services, technology and consulting firm focused on serving the hedge fund sector of the financial services industry. The firm was founded when Eze (pronounced: [ɛːz]) Castle Consulting split into two independent entities. It employs 380 people, with offices in Singapore, London, Hong Kong and eight US locations. The company’s products span most common IT needs of hedge funds such as technology support, cloud services, disaster recovery, archiving, and voice. Much of its revenue comes from managed and cloud services while its clients are smaller hedge funds.

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]

Corporate

Business

95 percent of Eze Castle Integration’s clients are hedge funds and 80 percent of Eze Castle Integration clients have 10-50 staff. In 2011 over 35 percent of the company’s new clients were startups.[15] Eighty percent of the company’s new business revenue was from cloud related services.[10][11]

Company culture

Eze Castle Integration is regularly recognized as a best places to work.[16][17] .[16] 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[18] Archiving, backup, disaster recovery;[19] business continuity;[3] private cloud services; integration and support consulting,[19] and the archiving of email, instant messaging and other communications[3][20] including voice [21]

Some of the firm's products[22] are hosted cloud-based applications from other vendors.[9] The company also has a software bundle with basic email, file and BlackBerry services intended for hedge funds.[23] In 2008, the company created Eze Managed Suites, a hedge fund hotel in New York City.[3][24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Stuart, Anne (March–April 2004). "Of Software and Apples". Harvard Magazine. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "CEO Interview: Eze Castle Integration". The Wall Street Transcript. February 9, 2004.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 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. 1 2 3 "Eze Castle launches London office". Boston Journal. November 12, 2007. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  6. ↑ Multiple Press Releases
  7. 1 2 Schmerken, Ivy (May 2011). "Cover Story: The Great Busienss 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. 1 2 Schmerken, Ivy (May 10, 2011). "Tradar Partners with Eze Castle Integration on Cloud-Based Offering". Wall Street & Technology. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  10. 1 2 Wainewright, Will (July 12, 2011). "Eze Castle Expands as Asia Demand Grows". HFM Week. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  11. 1 2 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 Englarges 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. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  15. ↑ Chandler, Beverly (November 30, 2011). "Eze Castle enjoys busy year in and out of the hedge fund cloud". Opalesque. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  16. 1 2 "Best Places to Work 2011". Crain’s New York Business. 2011. Retrieved March 12, 2012.
  17. ↑ Hollmer, Mark (June 9, 2003). "Best Places to Work". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  18. ↑ Jaworski, Alexa (November 3, 2008). "Partnering with SunGard, Eze Castle Integration Offers Bundled Connectivity". Securities Industry News. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  19. 1 2 Marlin, Steve (August 15, 2011). "Hedge Funds Reach for the Cloud" (PDF). Markets Media. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  20. ↑ Curtis, Carol (November 12, 2009). Over the Web and Under the Radar 11-2-09.pdf "Over the Web and Under the Radar: Brokers are saying too much and firms are capturing too little" Check |url= value (help) (PDF). Securities Industry News. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  21. ↑ Fieldhouse, Stuart (March 17, 2009). technology.com "Eze Castle Integration's Bob Guilbert talks to Fund-Technology.com" Check |url= value (help). Fund Technology. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  22. ↑ Steinert-Threlkeld, Tom (May 10, 2011). "Order Management Heads into Cloud". Securities Technology Monitor. Retrieved February 1, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Comprehensive alternative IT system for smaller fund managers". Hedge Funds Review. January 12, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  24. ↑ Speizer, Irwin (September 23, 2008). Renting Rooms 09-2008.pdf "Fully equipped "hotel" facilities beckon start-ups" Check |url= value (help) (PDF). Alpha Magazine. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
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