AnswerThink Consulting Group enters market with strong foundation.

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 1997--AnswerThink Consulting Group, a consulting and systems integration company headquartered in Miami, was recently established by industry leaders Ted Fernandez, Allan Frank and Ulysses Knotts. These founders project revenues of $500 million within the next three years.

The company name is derived from the leadership team's belief that there is a finite number of solutions which meet the individual needs and goals of a client's organization. "By leveraging our comprehensive knowledge base, we are able to target those answers, respond with a strategy, and transform our client's business for success. Our teams are always striving for answers to our clients' questions," stated Fernandez.

Venture Capital Support

The venture capital firms of Golder, Thoma, Cressey, Rauner Inc. and Miller Capital Management, Inc. have contributed in excess of $20 million in venture capital to AnswerThink.

"We believe the founders of AnswerThink are among the best in the business," stated Bruce Rauner, Managing Principal at Golder, Thoma, Cressey, Rauner Inc., a Chicago-based venture-capital and buyout firm with more than $1 billion under management. "Our firm specializes in backing outstanding executives to build major companies in growing, fragmented consolidation service industries. The management team at AnswerThink is strong, the best we've ever seen. They're smart, successful, and driven."

Rauner continued that the critical issues his firm considers before investing are potential growth and profitability, along with a reputation for producing outstanding service and high customer satisfaction. "AnswerThink meets all of these criteria. The management team has a proven track record for generating significant revenue and building well recognized and very profitable businesses," he explained.

State of the Industry

"Because of the highly fragmented nature of the industry, and the never-ending supply of new technology, the demand for consulting and systems integration is overwhelming. There is a tremendous need for high quality, insightful, comprehensive service," explained Edmund Miller, Principal of Miller Capital Management, Inc., located in Coconut Grove, Florida. "AnswerThink's potential is enormous."

"The magnitude and depth of AnswerThink's business launch is truly unique," stated Rauner. "New consulting companies pop up occasionally throughout the year; however, very few have the broad expertise to position themselves effectively with the Big Six. AnswerThink's leadership is made up of professionals with a tremendous knowledge base and who have the business acumen to successfully compete in the top echelon of the IT industry."

Building the Vision

To build its business, AnswerThink plans on executing an aggressive strategy which includes recruiting talented and experienced professionals, targeting innovative companies for acquisition, and securing strategic relationships with leading technology vendors.

"We are looking for kindred spirits - people and organizations that identify with the concepts we've formulated," explained Frank.

Holistic Approach 

AnswerThink's leadership believes that their unique holistic approach to delivering IT consulting and integration services will quickly set them apart. "Our approach requires that our delivery teams contribute both business and technology skills. This teaming, coupled with our unique competency focus and our technology-enabled knowledge-sharing environment, allows us to execute end-to-end solutions more effectively," stated Frank.

Knotts added that the AnswerThink approach enables them to see problems upstream that clients may be experiencing downstream. "We have a total solution focus which achieves results more efficiently and quickly for our clients," he said.

AnswerThink Solutions

Services provided include, CFO/solutions: Finance, Administration and HR Services; Customer/solutions: Sales, Marketing and Customer Service; CIO/solutions: Information Technology Strategies and Services; Millennium/solutions: Application Transformation/Year 2000 Services; Package Integration/solutions: Oracle and PeopleSoft Interprise Implementations; Knowledge/solutions: Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital Services; Electronic Commerce/solutions: Internet, Intranet, Extranet, EDI, Interprise Services; Systems/solutions: Systems and Network Integration Services and Support.

David Dungan of CFO/solutions believes the company's value in the marketplace is their ability to comprehensively talk to CFOs. "We seamlessly move clients from concept through implementation by focusing on people, process and technology," he added.

Ken Coppins of Millennium/solutions says that AnswerThink is focusing on the next two waves of the Year 2000 situation: renovation testing and implementation. By assembling a cadre of skilled professionals and configuring an Application Transformation Center, AnswerThink is preparing to help our clients with the remediation work needed to solve their Year 2000 problems," he explained.

According to Lee White of Customer/solutions, AnswerThink focuses on the entire customer relationship drive chain, including marketing, sales, and customer service. "We have a complete vision of what our customers need to accomplish, and we've built the resources to execute it."

David Flaxman of Electronic Commerce/solutions believes that AnswerThink is clearly marrying the functional and technical dimensions to solving problems. "We're striving to help companies truly unlock the potential of the Internet. True business will start to be transacted over the Internet when an `Extranet' is built, enabling companies to be connected to its customers and suppliers," he said.

AnswerThink's Systems/solutions practice, led by Joe James, provides focused implementation solutions that are executed in a timeframe that allows customers to reap the benefits of their IT investment sooner. "We are working to initiate IT in a way that drives customers' business strategies," James explained. "And when the implementation is complete, we have transferred knowledge to our customers so they are capable of managing their IT architectures autonomously."

Setting Sights on the Future

"By building a collaborative team environment which will continue to grow and be productive, the possibilities of what we can accomplish are limitless," shared Fernandez. "The future is very exciting for us."

AnswerThink Consulting Group is a consulting and systems integration company focused on improving business results through technology-enabled transformation. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, AnswerThink currently has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and New York.

CONTACT: AnswerThink Consulting Group

Kristin Friel, 610/992-0889

E-mail: [e-mail]