Consultants' 'independent' cloud advice is tilted by reseller margins, referral fees, and partner-tier incentives
DavidLinthicum · x · 2026-10-05
Cloud consultant David Linthicum argues that "independent" enterprise technology advice is rarely neutral. Big consultancies and SIs earn reseller margins, referral fees, co-sell commissions, and bundled advisory revenue from cloud and AI vendor alliances. The same firm can collect a vendor payout, win the implementation engagement, and climb the partner tier for steering you one way — while getting nothing for recommending the objectively best but unpartnered alternative. He says this has played out for decades and is intensifying as hyperscalers and AI providers pour money into partner channels.
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