MB Financial
West Monroe Partners worked with this bank to design and introduce a new intranet portal, complete with collaborative team sites and document management capabilities.
The project:
Over the course of six months, we rolled out the new intranet and document management site, complete with standardized page templates, version control, and collaborative team sites with document management standards.
Developing good working relationships—with each other and with our client colleagues—was a key to this project’s success. This meant we were able to express opinions freely and work through any issues effectively. But, it also translated into an overwhelming level of support for each other, and a level of collaboration that drove us to complete the many simultaneous initiatives that occurred during this project. Working together in our client’s conference room, we developed a real “open door” environment, even with some client employees who were not directly involved with the project. This project definitely felt like a partnership rather than a client-consultant relationship.
The survey feedback we received after the launch was very rewarding. Everyone was impressed with the new site, and we were able to address a good majority of the needs that the bank’s previous intranet site left unsatisfied. It was even more rewarding to see the incredible leap in employee productivity as the direct result of our work.
Kansas City Power & Light
West Monroe Partners provided IT and operational due diligence on behalf of a large Midwestern utility that was acquiring some assets of a regional competitor and merging those with its own operations. Very satisfied with the results of the due diligence work, the utility invited West Monroe Partners back to help it integrate the two companies’ IT organizations. West Monroe Partners established and managed a program management office (PMO) to oversee the more than 100 separate projects involved in the integration process.
The project:
In addition to our role within IT strategy and management and operating the program management office, we were involved in many individual projects as part of our work for this client. To provide the best service possible, we took care to establish the right combination of team members for each task.
Integrating two large organizations is a complex undertaking with many interrelated parts. This project provided a tremendous learning experience—about the industry and about the integration process—particularly for our younger team members. We all assumed significantly higher levels of responsibility for ensuring a successful outcome. And, we all really came to appreciate the level of talent in our organization.
We established a mutual respect for one another through our hard work, dedication, and shared goals for the engagement. From the outset, we made an effort to engage our client colleagues and get to know them—whether that meant joining them for lunch or organizing outings to basketball games.
Working on the road for an extended period of months—on average, our team members traveled weekly for about 10 months—is certainly not typical in our firm, but every once and awhile we do have significant client projects that require it. And, as we found out on this project, while these require a bit of short-term sacrifice, they can provide great longer-term development opportunities. We balanced the demands of travel by continually reinforcing a strong sense of teamwork and camaraderie. It definitely made the time go much more quickly.
All told, though, the most fun we had was actually on the “cut-over” weekend—the point where our client went from being two companies to one. It was rewarding to see everything come together and it served as a real bonding experience.
Canadian Commercial Corporation
West Monroe Partners implemented Agresso enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC), a Crown corporation of the Government of Canada that acts as the government’s international contracting and procurement agency.
The project:
This project provided an excellent example of West Monroe Partners’ diverse areas of expertise—coordinated in a way that helped the client navigate a complex ERP implementation process. Our project team managed the critical process of defining new business processes that would be required to use the new system, and then worked closely with the executive team to ensure that all groups of users understood—and accepted—the new system, as well as new ways of working. In addition, we worked hard to ensure that the client’s data migrated accurately and completely from the old system to the new one.
Working with a multi-cultural, international team was challenging at times, but it was rewarding and excellent experience. Although we had many bridges to cross during the course of the project, in the end, we had an uneventful “go live.” That’s what our work is all about.
We also managed to have some fun while working on site—with team curling outings serving as our chief way of unwinding.