18 JANUARY 2016 Consulting®
CONSULTING: As we close out 2015,
where is your ;rm today?
POWERS: Data and the protection
of data are driving forces for our
consulting practices along with ev-
er-increasing regulatory compliance
needs. We're focused on being deep-
ly specialized in our target industries
and markets, investing heavily in
specialized applications for enter-
prise IT systems and in the use of
data analytics to streamline informa-
tion follow-up and improved decision
making. The pace of the change and
expansion in the risk areas was sur-
prising—even more than anticipated.
CONSULTING: How would you describe
your ;rm’s outlook for 2016?
POWERS: We’re projecting growth
overall, and in many of our practice
areas, we’re expecting double-dig-
it growth over the prior year. Our
biggest industries by revenue are
financial services, manufacturing
West Monroe Pa;ners
Kevin McCa;y
PRESIDENT AND CEO
Crowe Horwath
Jim Powers
CEO
CONSULTING: As we close out 2015,
where is your ;rm today?
MCCARTY: For West Monroe Partners, 2015 will be another year of
solid, double-digit growth. It was
also a year of significant investments in our business. We completed a major acquisition, expanded our
office network and space, extended
our shared-services infrastructure
into all of our offices, and refreshed
our branding—all part of our effort
to create a platform that will support strong growth over the coming
years. Accomplishing all this while
serving clients and sustaining solid
growth required tremendous time
and energy on the part of our entire team. Given what we undertook
this year, I consider our 15 percent
growth rate outstanding. It leaves us
in a good position entering 2016.
CONSULTING: How would you describe
your ;rm’s outlook for 2016?
MCCARTY: Based on the current economic outlook, our trajectory, and
the anticipated impact of our 2015
acquisition of Etherios, we expect
strong growth in 2016—greater than
20 percent and ahead of the market
for a firm of our size or larger. Certainly the sizzling merger and acquisition market has played a key part
in our growth over the past couple
of years. Other key areas of opportunity will continue to be the rapidly
evolving healthcare, energy and utilities, and insurance sectors, as well
as demand for customer experience
and advanced analytics solutions.
CONSULTING: What speci;c signs are
you seeing that suggest an increase or
decrease in demand?
MCCARTY: One of our biggest mark-
ers of future demand is the number of
unsolicited leads we receive. In part,
this is the result of our growth in size
and brand stature, but it also reflects a
healthy demand.
CONSULTING: How do you see the profession evolving in 2016?
MCCARTY: I see less focus on delivering resources and more on asset-based
consulting—that is, the blending of
traditional consulting skills with intellectual property, software, accelerators
and methods to provide greater value.
Companies are looking at asset-based
consulting not only to increase the
speed to market for new solutions but
also to justify consulting fees.
CONSULTING: What do you see as the
biggest opportunities in 2016?
MCCARTY: Over the past few years,
we’ve invested significantly in a
platform of governance, leadership,
branding, infrastructure, and skills
that can facilitate our growth. Our
biggest opportunity, simply stated,
is to now use this platform to its full
potential to drive new growth.
