It’s not surprising investors are often drawn to the allure and value of SaaS products, innovative codebases, and sleek customer-facing platforms. Those are critical to sustainable and trackable growth. But there’s another foundational layer that quietly holds everything together: Enterprise IT infrastructure.
Also known as enterprise IT or business IT systems, this is the behind-the-scenes tech stack that keeps your organisation operational. We’re talking about the essentials: email systems, file sharing platforms, collaboration tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, Office 365 environments, accounting software, onboarding systems, and internal workflows. Ignore this layer, and you’re building on sand.
Core IT Is Not a Cost Centre—It’s Your Operational Backbone
At our technology due diligence firm, we frequently encounter a common pattern: investors and leadership teams hyper-focus on product features, growth metrics, and customer experience tools. But core IT infrastructure rarely gets the same scrutiny—until it becomes a problem.
Take one fintech firm we reviewed: brilliant product, strong revenue, great market fit. But under the hood? Laptops that hadn’t been replaced in years, no functioning webcams, execs reverting to pen and paper. Internal collaboration was chaos. IT issues became blockers to productivity, communication, and scaling.
Operational IT risk doesn’t always show up in financial statements—but it hits hard in real life.
Strong IT = Strong Culture and Collaboration
The healthiest, most scalable environments we’ve assessed share a common trait: leadership that values internal IT systems. That doesn’t just mean buying expensive hardware. It means building a culture where collaboration, uptime, and tech hygiene are taken seriously.
In these companies, you’ll find:
- Up-to-date devices and secure endpoints.
- Employees who can collaborate without friction.
- Seamless onboarding experiences.
- Confidence in data privacy and continuity.
These aren’t just “IT things”—they’re business enablers.
Why Investors Should Care About Core IT
If you’re an investor or board member, this matters to you too. The next time you’ve comiissioned an IT due diligence process, ask about the basics:
- Are endpoints updated and secure?
- How do teams collaborate day-to-day?
- Is there a scalable system for onboarding and offboarding?
- How much operational risk is lurking in the infrastructure?
Revenue-generating platforms may drive growth, but it’s core IT that sustains it. When ignored, you’re not just risking inconvenience—you’re risking real value erosion.
Collaboration
Your enterprise IT isn’t just the plumbing. It’s the foundation that supports your people, your product, and your profitability. Ignore it at your peril.
And I want you to use one word to frame and remember Enterprise IT: “Collaboration”. Collaboration is essential for employees, customers, and investors to work together. Collaboration is esepcially vital for M&A and mergers.
Enterprise IT powers collaboration.
So don’t skimp on assessing and investing in it.
