The arrangement helps employees feel like they're contributing to the team, and because they have such intimate knowledge of the services they provide, the entire West Monroe workforce has become essentially "500 salespeople," Ulery said.

The benefits of this arrangement reach beyond the bottom line, too. Being its own IT provider allows West Monroe "to test new services and capabilities before taking them to market," Ulery said. In the last year, the firm has launched app management and client relationship management services.

West Monroe does a lot of work around mergers and acquisitions. For example, a company that's being acquired by a private equity firm may be split off from a larger parent company with none of its previous IT infrastructure intact.

West Monroe, which has about 550 employees and does about $100 million in annual revenue, is often hired by PE firms to do IT for the companies they acquire.

Ulery is confident that many service providers could find success with the West Monroe model. "We test (services) as a 'friendly client," Ulery said. "If you're an MSP, there's definitely something to be said for eating your own dog food."