The 2016 Executive Outlook: Joseph Tarantino

Consulting: How would you describe your firm's outlook for 2016?

Tarantino: We are optimistic about our growth prospects for 2016. As a company, we have grown over 20 percent through the first 9 months of this year. Virtually all of our solutions have grown over 15 percent this year. As we head into 2016, we continue to see strong growth potential in all of our solutions, in particular, financial services' risk and compliance and internal audit and controls as well as cyber security. We also recently completed an acquisition of a company in the business intelligence area with a focus on SAP HANA, which we see as an emerging area of growth.

Consulting: What specific signs are you seeing that suggest an increase or decrease in demand?

Tarantino: We conduct surveys and meet frequently with our clients to gauge demand and to learn more about the areas of pain and change taking place in their businesses. Some of the demand indicators are centered around risk assessments that telegraph issues or areas of inherent problems in the business; areas of change such as M& A activity or planned IPOs or new and ongoing regulations such as Dodd Frank in the financial services industry.

Consulting: How do you see the profession evolving in 2016?

Tarantino: We continue to see clients becoming more sophisticated in the way they buy services. They are looking for deep skills with flexible delivery models and attractive price points. Technology will continue to change the way consulting is delivered and the way that firms operate.

Consulting: What do you see as the biggest opportunities in 2016?

Tarantino: We believe that there continue to be opportunities to deepen our market penetration and branding in all of our solution areas. We see an ongoing focus with our clients on managing risk, big data, process and control enhancements, regulatory compliance and cyber security.