7,000-strong US consultancy Slalom enters Australian market
US consulting firm Slalom has entered the Australian market, with a new office in Melbourne, its 38th globally.
“Expanding into Australia is an exciting step for Slalom. We believe our modern approach to consulting is an ideal fit for the strategy, technology, and business transformation needs of Australian companies, as well as our many international clients with interests in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Troy Johnson, co-founder and Chief Growth Officer of Slalom.
Johnson joined Slalom over 25 years ago (Slalom was founded in 1993) as one of the firm’s first hires. Now, Johnson is tasked with delivering Slalom’s ambitious internationalisation strategy of the 7,000-stong and $1.3 billion company. Currently, the consulting firm has offices in three countries (the US, Canada and the UK), but, “as we look forward into the future, we want to become a 40,000-person company that's in not just three countries, but in 20 or 30+ countries.”
The expansion down under into Australia’s near $6 billion consulting industry marks the firm’s fourth country it is active in. An office has been launched in Melbourne, and according to the company’s website, a second office in Sydney is in the works.
Leading the Australian venture is the Michael Shimota, who brings nearly three decades of consulting experience to the role. He gained this experience during his 28 years at Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) in the US and Australia, most recently serving as a Managing Director in its Australian Communications, Media & High Tech practice and Technology Lead for the APAC region.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to work on some of the most interesting and largest transformation programs across the globe – all over the US, in Germany, Japan, Australia, and throughout Asia Pacific. All these experiences, especially the exposure to diverse cultures, languages, approaches, and styles, have shaped me both personally and professionally,” he said in a Q&A on Slalom’s website.
Confident – but humble
Asked about the ambitions in Australia, Shimota said, “In ten years from now Slalom will be a top consultancy in the market, offering a full suite of modern consulting services to enterprise, government, and mid-market clients. Meanwhile, globally, Slalom will have expanded its footprint to all major markets across the world.”
The new country managing director looks ahead with confidence: “The Slalom model and brand will be successful in Australia. Because it’s innovative, collaborative, and confident – but humble.” Such an approach is key in Australia, he added, “Tall Poppy Syndrome” is a thing in Australia. It means if you get too big for your britches, you will be cut down to size. If you stay humble and produce results, you will succeed.”
Slalom supports clients with strategy, business model development, customer experience, business transformation, process optimisation, agile and lean working, change management, digital strategy, ERP integration, enterprise architecture and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. The Seattle-headquartered consultancy is an AWS premier consulting partner, Google Cloud premier partner and gold Microsoft partner, and has partnerships with Salesforce and Tableau.
