West Monroe Partners
Kevin McCarty
President and CEO
Consulting: As we close out 2015, where is your firm 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 firm'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 specific signs are you seeing that suggest an increase or decrease in demand?
McCarty: One of our biggest markers 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.
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