From Change of Pace to Cornering the Market, RedCloud’s Path Based on Integrity and Transparency

“The firm has been recognized as a fastest growing private company in the nation: Brett Clifton & Brett Alston”

RedCloud Consulting provides management-consulting services for businesses of all sizes across sectors including healthcare, technology, retail and financial services. It offers strategic planning, project management, process optimization, IT implementation, sales and marketing, and business intelligence services. Established in 1995, and re-launched in 2015 with a contemporary vision the consulting industry, the company is based in Bellevue, Washington and in May this year opened an office in Boise, Idaho.

Providing a close-knit experience for clients and employees alike, RedCloud was founded on the principles of integrity and transparency, building strong relationships by delivering the highest degree of excellence and a complete dedication to positive and lasting results.

Interview excerpt: Brett Clifton & Brett Alston – Managing Partners,

RedCloud Consulting

Talking to The Silicon Review, Co-Founders Brett Clifton and Brett Alston shared a distinct set of values around how a consulting practice should operate, and a vision for building a new firm. “The firm is being built by applying only the best principles and practices while tossing aside some standard but contradictory systems in consulting. We are focusing on an approach grounded in transparency for consultant and client alike, as well as integrity towards all,” continued Alston.

Going the extra mile

While RedCloud has a 20-year history of Seattle-based business serving the aerospace industry, Alston and Clifton heard from executives across the market about the declining state of the consulting industry. Subsequently, they set out to implement a refreshingly honest approach to the work that continues to boom. “Now more than two years into our resurgence, the market reaction continues to be strong. Our three-year growth rate exceeds 600 percent and former clients and colleagues are reaching out to reconnect and be part of something authentic, transparent and real,” revealed Clifton.

In 2016, RedCloud was recognized as the nation’s fastest growing firm by Consulting magazine, the best company to work for in Washington State by Seattle Business Magazine and the accolades have continued this year.

Multiple media outlets have recognized the firm in 2017 as a fastest growing private company in the nation – including Inc. Magazine’s Inc. 500/5000 list (#754).

“We’re proud to be named the #1 company on the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Eastside Fastest Growing list, and again near the top of the overarching list of Washington State’s Fastest Growing private companies,” confirmed the partners.

“The results speak for themselves. In our first several years since we re-launched in 2015, we have seen an incredible market reaction both from clients and consultants,” said Clifton.

Stay ahead of the curve: Brett Clifton & Brett Alston

Stripping away all the additives and preservatives, the two managing partners Alston and Clifton are creating what they believe is the foundation of a thriving company which can provide high value work and create meaningful professional experiences for their team.

“In order to stay true to ourselves during stages of rapid growth, we have kicked off many ongoing team building and education opportunities including quarterly Town Halls, Practice Area breakfasts, and social get-togethers to build connections across a team of consultants who often are dispersed on client sites,” noted Alston.

Employee empowerment: Transparency builds trust

The team members at RedCloud are given clear, transparent information about the projects they will be on, expectations from the firm’s management, and from their clients. “We hold an ongoing series of events and outreach activities across the entire firm to ensure our team has many opportunities to discuss, debate and participate in our future,” Clifton said.

Laser focus on results: A reason behind our consistent growth

RedCloud’s practice areas combine a suite of best practices in customer and partner engagement, delivery excellence, business transformation, data management and analytics, and managed services that focus on impactful and predictable results.

“We have built our current array of practice areas based precisely on what our clients and the market is telling us is needed. We always keep low risk and high customer satisfaction in mind. This enables the clients to leverage a specialized team of best in class services for each of their engagement needs. Our results are our number one priority and we take pride in ensuring our clients’ experience is always results-driven,” said Alston.

“We expect to be expanding – both in terms of team members and revenue – with a strict adherence to our foundations in integrity and transparency. As strong as the last several years have been for us, we recognize that without a keen eye to stay true to what got us here, the market could easily react and we could lose our edge,” Alston said.

Meet the founders

Brett Alston – Managing Partner, Co-Founder: Alston provides strategic guidance and hands-on leadership around client development, project delivery, and sales and marketing. His career began in IT for the Australian government, then becoming an integral part of Visio’s EMEA operations. Applying his IT acumen with knowledge of global cultures and business, Brett then went on to be Microsoft’s Director of Worldwide Sales and Marketing Operations. Prior to co-founding RedCloud, Alston was a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of a Seattle-area based boutique consulting firm, which he helped build to also become an award-winning, fastest growing company before a successful equity sale.

Brett Clifton – Managing Partner, Co-Founder: Clifton provides strategic leadership for RedCloud’s business infrastructure, future strategy, employee relations and internal operations. Clifton has an extensive background in the consulting industry, having started his career with Arthur Anderson and Hitachi Consulting, specializing in program and project management across financial services, sales, marketing and human resources. Leveraging his ‘Big 4’ experience, Brett then went on to work at several boutique consulting firms in the Pacific Northwest market including as Director of Operations where he led business infrastructure development to support rapid company growth.

“We didn’t reinvent the wheel; but rather went back to the time of an integrity-based, straightforward approach – all based on Quality, Reliability and Capabilities.”