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Triada Networks LLC |
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July 4, 2016 Issue |
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The Most Powerful Name In Corporate News and Information |
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IT Support for Investment Businesses: Private Equity, Venture Capitalists, CLOs and Hedge Funds providing Secure Computers, Mobile Devices and File Sharing, Business Telephone Systems, Compliance, Backup and Disaster Recovery |
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CEO & Founder
Triada Networks LLC
Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published – July 3, 2016
CEOCFO: Mr. Jamgotchian, what is the concept behind Triada? Mr. Jamgotchian: I started Triada Networks in 2008 to fill a need for small independent financial firms that were looking for a cost effective way to run their technology, while meeting the requirements that they needed for regulatory compliance. What we found was during the beginning of the financial down turn in late summer of 2008 and into the fall, a number of investment executives were leaving their large firm positions and starting their own fund. These people needed help to get their businesses off the ground but still have the right controls and protections in place so that they can compete with their bigger cousins but also keep their data and information safe from outside threats. Whether that is a regulatory threats or it is a natural disaster threat or a hacker threat.
CEOCFO: What were some of the challenges in putting together a secure and cost effective solution? Mr. Jamgotchian: When I started working with a mid-tier investment firm in the 90s, the quality of technology that supports mid-tier financial advisors just was not there. That slowly got better as we got to the end of the millennium. By 2008, we were on the verge of having the technology become affordable for smaller firms. The problem is that most business owners really do not know all the things they need to put into place in order to protect what they are doing. Many times, they do not even know what the regulations require of them. We helped those businesses make pragmatic investments. When we look at a business, our first priority is to protect them, whether it’s from human error, from malware, from regulations or other business risks, and also unnecessary expenses. Do they need to spend thousands of dollars on new equipment to do XYZ or can we outsource that function or encapsulate that through an online service?
CEOCFO: How do companies find you? Mr. Jamgotchian: There are a number of companies that work in this industry, hedge funds and private equity firms for example, and they are well known. When you are an investment advisor and you are setting up a new fund; you establish a relationship with a broker dealer or a prime broker and many times, they will say “okay, here are the places you should be looking to get email services, get IT services, etc.” Those are typically the larger players in the field. Where we fit in is that company that wants to be a little bit nimbler, a little bit more flexible about how they are building their funds. They typically find us through word of mouth. Somebody is in a fund today, leaves and starts a new fund and they bring us along with them. The other way companies find us is their Chief Compliance Officer. Maybe we have worked with them before or maybe they heard about us through some compliance symposium. That is how we get the word out on what we do and how we are. That took a long time. It was only until recently, eight years later, that people were searching financial services computer support and we would come up.
CEOCFO: What is involved when you start with a company? What does an implementation of your services look like? Mr. Jamgotchian: A typical implementation takes about 90 days. Usually it is a little bit sooner than that but we like to give ourselves 90 days. The first month is understanding what their current environment is. If they have existing infrastructure, it is understanding what that is, and understanding what their business roles are. Where are all the connection points? Who are their suppliers both on the business side and the technology side? We encapsulate all of that. We document it thoroughly and we compare to best practices that we have built over time. In the second phase, we start looking for areas that we can save them some money. That could be consolidation, or it could be bringing in different services to replace what they have already. Maybe they got into contract early on that is now maybe too expensive. It does not make sense anymore. We will help them negotiate their way out of those things because we end up managing a their vendor relationships especially on the technology side. Then the third month that is when we will start seeing benefits of putting our processes and our support in place. Most of the time, prior to working with us, the company has not had 24 hours support They haven’t been able to call somebody to get help with “how do I fix this presentation?” or “how do I connect to my home office?” while they were traveling. They gain all those benefits so by the time we are into our third month things start smoothing out.
CEOCFO: Are their parts of your service that are not getting the traction you would expect? Mr. Jamgotchian: We’ve been a security focused company from the beginning. Like other technologies there are things that are just now available to smaller firms that previously weren’t affordable. Just like business continuity systems started as an add-on service and later became core, we think these security services will be part of our core offering over time. For example, many larger investment firms implement big log monitoring and SEIM (Security Event and Incident Monitoring) systems. This was start as an add-on service. However unlike backup and disaster recovery services, these are a little harder to get behind. A lot of it will be helpful as regulators come knocking and although I don’t believe in compliance for compliance sake, it is a useful tool to put in real security that as an after effect brings compliance. Regulations require them to have a continuity plan and backup system in place. We feel these services will not only be required but will be a core part of dealing with the modern cyber-threat landscape. We’re able to also provide superior network security for small firms without expensive onsite gear. These are all new services that we’ve been successful at deploying but its still early.
CEOCFO: How do you stay ahead of the regulatory issues, which can change over time? Mr. Jamgotchian: That is definitely a hard part. Even as technology is very rapid so we are used to the pace of technology change. Regulatory change does not change that quickly. It tends to be more reactive than proactive. When we see it a head of time, we can prepare for it. I will give you an example. When Congress passed the Omnibus health plan, in the latest release of that in 2013 they required business associates, essentially their suppliers and their providers, to also be under the same kinds of scrutiny and regulation that the doctors were. We saw that as an indication that the regulatory market is moving in that direction where providers like us would also be held accountable for the consequences of our actions. Now fast forward to 2015-2016 we see that the SEC is now looking to do the same thing in the financial services market. We look outside of market to see what is going on. The regulators tend to go after the bigger fish first and then trickle down. That is now happening at a faster pace. They will hit the large banks first and then you will see them drop very quickly to the mid-tier and the smaller tier. We see when that takes place and that is where we start working on putting things in place to be prepared.
CEOCFO: Are you primarily in the New York area? Mr. Jamgotchian: We primarily work in the New York City metro area, North Jersey to Southern Connecticut. We do have clients that fall outside of that but that is our primary focus.
CEOCFO: Are there many new firms that are opening that would be a good place to start for you? Do you find people new to the industry might be more interested or more up to date and so looking for your services? Mr. Jamgotchian: Sometimes. What we actually see is not so much people who are new but a company who may have setup a fund two or three years ago and now they are getting traction and now the regulators are looking at them a little closer. Or perhaps they have to become a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), and there is a process for that and you have to have the right things in place. That tends to be a trigger for them to start looking again. They say “okay I was able to kind of boot strap my technology for the first couple of years but now we really need somebody who understands not only technology but understands how our industry works.”
CEOCFO: How is business these days? Mr. Jamgotchian: Business is really good. 2016 is looking to be our best year ever. I would say 2008, even though it was kind of a struggle in the beginning because of the way the markets were, we were reacting to an immediate need. Things grew quickly in the beginning and then settled off. Then in 2015 and 2016 has really turned to go back in the upward direction. Part of it is people are aware of the security risks that they are seeing in the news every day. Breaches are happening all the time. Investment companies tend to be a little bit ahead of that curve. Even the smaller ones are now saying, “Yeah we need to do stuff the right way.” All those things have helped us move in the right direction.
CEOCFO: What is the take away for our readers? What should they remember about Triada? Mr. Jamgotchian: First of all, look for people who work in your industry, who understand your business processes and chances are they are going to be able to bring in the knowledge that they have gained from working with other similar companies to help you get better. Specifically, if you are an investment firm and you are under 50 employees and you are looking to find a technology provider that understands the financial services business but do not want to pay the large fees or the inflexibility of some of our larger competitors, give us a look. Have us come in and have a conversation with you. |
“When we look at a business, our first priority is to protect them, whether it’s from human error, from malware, from regulations or other business risks, and also unnecessary expenses.” - Raffi Jamgotchian
Triada Networks LLC
Contact: 201-297-7778
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Raffi
Jamgotchian