MHA and Kroll: Coming Together to Move Ahead
The recently announced partnership between MHA Consulting and Kroll is a tremendous win for both firms and their clients. It’s also an exciting milestone for me personally as someone who, twenty-five years ago, started an independent business continuity consultancy with no guarantee of what the future held.
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An Exciting New Partnership
A couple of weeks ago, MHA Consulting issued the announcement of its new partnership with Kroll, the global leader in enterprise risk management, executive security, and cybersecurity services. Based in New York, Kroll has 6,500 employees spread out in over 70 locations around the world.
I am very excited about this partnership, which makes sense on so many levels. I think it’s going to be a win-win-win for the organizations and their clients, present and future.
Filling in the Gaps
The first reason this alliance is a natural is the complementary nature of the two companies’ service offerings.
MHA’s expertise in business continuity management—an expertise demonstrated by our client list, reputation, track record, and global reach—fills a gap in Kroll’s otherwise comprehensive menu of offerings dealing with enterprise risk. By teaming with us, they get a trusted, proven partner to lead their business continuity efforts everywhere around the world. They also gain access to BCMMETRICS, MHA’s proprietary BC tool suite, which has the ability to perform enterprise risk management functions that can aid Kroll in carrying out its core operations.
Meanwhile, Kroll’s preeminence across a wide range of areas in enterprise risk management, including financial risk management, valuation services, executive security, and cybersecurity, will give MHA access to a new universe of world-class talent and services that we will be able to deploy on behalf of our clients.
This is an alliance that will be greater than the sum of its parts.
Shared Values and Mutual Respect
The second reason the partnership between MHA and Kroll is so favorable is that the two firms’ values and culture are in close alignment.
We learned this the hard way since before we became partners we were competitors. Over the course of that rivalry, a lot of mutual respect developed, respect that only deepened when we began discussing the possibility of teaming up.
Critically, both MHA and Kroll believe, above all, in taking care of our customers and exceeding expectations. Matt Dumpert, Kroll’s Managing Director of Global Enterprise Security Risk Management, put it well: “Kroll and MHA are deeply aligned in our core values, methodologies and in providing the absolute best products, services and care for our global clients.”
One-Stop Shopping for Everything Risk
The third reason that MHA’s teaming up with Kroll will be widely beneficial has to do with both companies’ clients. Moving forward, the corporations, agencies, and institutions that turn to either of us for help will have access to an unparalleled breadth of expertise capable of providing seamless enterprise risk management and risk mitigation services. Call it one-stop shopping for everything risk.
A further benefit for customers is that a rate reduction will be extended to clients of either company that turn to the other firm for additional services.
A Personal Milestone
So far I’ve talked about the business advantages the partnership will confer. I’m also deeply gratified about this alliance on a personal level.
Twenty-five years ago, I left a position as a regional vice president for Bank of America, where I was responsible for Business Continuity across the southwest region. I hung out my shingle as an independent business continuity consultant and, eventually, president and CEO of MHA Consulting.
Anyone who’s been in a similar situation will know that the freedom is exhilarating but the pressure relentless. Being in that position can make you feel like the Lone Ranger. Everything rests on your shoulders. I’ve been fortunate to find a lot of good people to fill the ranks at MHA, and we’ve had a lot of great clients. But it’s been a lot of hard work.
Fast forward to last year when I was meeting with the Kroll team in their midtown Manhattan headquarters to discuss our prospective alliance. It was very gratifying to have a career’s worth of decisions validated by an organization of Kroll’s caliber. It is also satisfying to have a capable and reliable partner at your side.
The Same Quality Service and Exciting New Options
The newly formed partnership between MHA Consulting and Kroll creates an entity with strengths across the full range of enterprise risk management, from business continuity and recovery to financial risk, executive security, and cybersecurity. In addition, the alliance is based on a firm foundation of mutual respect and shared values, chiefly exceeding expectations and taking care of our customers.
For me, joining forces with an organization as rightfully esteemed as Kroll is an exciting personal milestone. For the customers of both firms, the partnership offers a continuation of the world-class service they have come to expect with the exciting new option of one-stop shopping for everything related to risk.
Further Reading
Michael Herrera
Michael Herrera is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MHA. In his role, Michael provides global leadership to the entire set of industry practices and horizontal capabilities within MHA. Under his leadership, MHA has become a leading provider of Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery services to organizations on a global level. He is also the founder of BCMMETRICS, a leading cloud based tool designed to assess business continuity compliance and residual risk. Michael is a well-known and sought after speaker on Business Continuity issues at local and national contingency planner chapter meetings and conferences. Prior to founding MHA, he was a Regional VP for Bank of America, where he was responsible for Business Continuity across the southwest region.
