Private equity firms should be looking at digitalisation within the value creation process more holistically and in an integrated way, industry experts noted at the BVCA Summit on 6 October.

Panellists at the summit noted that a move away from siloed models is needed in order for companies to maximise value from their digital offering, especially when implemented early on in the private equity firm’s holding period.

As well as looking at digital in the pre-deal due diligence phase, short-term tactical measures mentioned by panellists included a rapid review of a business’s digital operations, followed by a 360-degree approach incorporating the end-to-end value chain – which includes technical teams, marketing, external partners, as well as the company’s own digital team – in coming up with key priorities.

Fiona Satchell, operating partner at Three Hills Capital Partners, spoke on the initiatives taken at one of her portfolio companies in moving teams away from a siloed approach, which meant coming together around single calendars, budgets and targets. She said: “We basically brought that together into a single pot, with a single owner, a single goal. So it didn’t actually link to an individual, it linked to a business goal.”

Panellists also noted that a data-led, performance-based approach is important for a digitally integrated business. Centralised datasets help to monitor and manage targets, as well as holding management teams and employees accountable, they said.

“We brought in a grade system where we centralised over 70 data sources," Satchell added. "There was no single view of the truth, so we’ve done the work to centralise this and automate it and that’s what we now work to.”