Company Name: West Monroe Partners
Executive Name: Anwer Khan
Title: Health care practice director
Product/Service: Business and technology consulting and solutions
Company Size: $25 to $50 million
Web Site: http://www.westmonroepartners.com

ITA: In about 10 words, what problem does West Monroe Partners solve for your clients?
Anwer Khan: We improve operational and IT effectiveness through tactical services and solutions.

ITA: What motivated you to join West Monroe Partners?
AK: I joined because of the people and the solution-based approach to consulting.

ITA: How does West Monroe Partners differentiate from its competitors?
AK: We’re focused on solutions that help solve today’s problems with immediately measurable results.

ITA: What is the prime source of income for West Monroe Partners?
AK: Professional services.

ITA: How has your business sector evolved over the last five years?
AK: We have seen a significant increase in the focus, investment, strategic collaborations and recruiting of subject-matter experts given the current dynamics of the health care industry and West Monroe’s growth in the number of its health care clients and development of its industry-specific solutions.

ITA: How is West Monroe Partners funded?
AK: West Monroe Partners is privately held and is funded through client-based fees.

ITA: What are the biggest challenges you face as an Illinois-based IT company?
AK: Aside from the economy, which is a concern of every business, one of our critical and ongoing challenges is access to a continuous supply of talent to fuel our business growth.

While our business relies on technology expertise, we ultimately apply technology to solve business problems. Finding skilled technologists who also have broad business perspective is vital.

ITA: What are your thoughts in general related to the Illinois IT community?
AK: Though the economy presents some challenges, Illinois continues to have a vibrant IT community. I am continually impressed by the innovation and forward thinking I see coming from organizations in our area.

Having the concentration of companies, vendors and consultants that we do in this region enables more learning and collaboration opportunities. That’s good for all of us.

ITA: How do you respond to clients who want to keep current with Web 2.0 or 3.0?
AK: Go for it!

ITA: What trends do you see heading into 2009 that are relevant to the industry and your company?
AK: Health care constituents – i.e. members and patients, employers, brokers and producers, providers, pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, life sciences and medical research concerns as well as government agencies – are collectively driving the need to change the way each constituent interacts as a group and individually.

They are demanding products and services that depend on deeper clinical and operational content and by extension greater analytic decision support capabilities across the ecosystem.

West Monroe’s information-driven solutions and related strengths in technology implementation and process design and optimization are well positioned to help clients face the industry challenges.