To our clients and friends:Increasingly, your business partners, customers, suppliers, and others require access to your network as part of your day-to-day business operation. And, more and more, your employees need to access data and applications from remote sites. But are these connections secure? Is your data safe? In this edition of Best of the West, Nate Ulery shares his observations about potential network security risks and discusses a new set of technologies—known as “network access control” (NAC) or “network access protection” (NAP) tools—designed to help mitigate these risks. We also have addressed several other timely topics: - With a recession looming, few companies are effectively maximizing workforce productivity. Engineered labor standards (ELS) and related labor management techniques are one way to improve productivity, but what are they and how exactly do they benefit the organization? We provide a refresher.
- One of the energy utility industry’s most critical concerns is its aging workforce—and particularly the potential of losing valuable institutional knowledge during a “mass retirement.” How did the industry get to this point, and what can it do to address the concern? We look at a few potential solutions.
- What would happen to top-line revenue if a bank could add just one product to each of its existing middle-market relationships? We look at some of the keys to effective customer relationship expansion for banks.
I’m pleased to share two recent developments in our rapidly growing Seattle practice. In May, we combined operations with Acetta, a Seattle-based consulting firm with a strong reputation for helping companies improve visibility and clarity in their operations by applying leading customer relationship management and business process improvement principles. Christian Aaselund, Acetta’s co-founder, has joined West Monroe Partners as a director in our Seattle office. In addition, Seattle Business Monthly just named West Monroe Partners one of its “Best Places to Work” in Seattle. The publication surveyed more than 3,000 Puget Sound-region businesses, ultimately selecting 54 organizations that offer benefits and work environments that make a real difference in workday lives. One of our goals has been to extend our reputation as an employer to the various markets we serve, and I am very proud of what our Seattle team—now numbering 22 people—has achieved in just over two years. We also have just been named to the Crain’s Fast Fifty, a list of the 50 fastest-growing companies in Chicago published annually by Crain’s Chicago Business. With a four-year growth rate of 871 percent, West Monroe Partners ranked ninth on the list of 50 companies. While we are proud of our growth rate and this recognition, we are even more excited about what this means for our clients. This level of growth has enabled us to add significantly to our team, our capabilities, and our experiences—and that, in turn, adds to the value we can bring in helping you address critical business challenges. This year is moving quickly, and summer is upon us already. I hope that you are able to take some time to spend with family and friends. As always, we are very interested to hear about what’s on your mind. In this issue: |
