Dexter Siglin

Jul. 21,2026 | Procurement, CIO, IT Services, IT Insights

There was a time when the technology advisory market had a healthy population of independent specialists.

These firms focused on a specific mission: helping clients select technology, optimize licensing, benchmark pricing, negotiate agreements and manage supplier relationships. They did not necessarily want to implement the system, resell the software, manage the environment or turn the initial project into a five-year transformation program.

They were paid to advise the client and or save them money.

Increasingly, those firms are disappearing into larger consulting, outsourcing, software-resale and technology-services organizations. Some of the names and experts may remain, but the economic structure around them changes.

That matters because independence is not a nostalgic preference for smaller companies. It is an important commercial safeguard.

The market is consolidating

The consolidation is visible across consulting and technology services.

Accenture has acquired multiple specialist sourcing and procurement firms in recent years, including ClearEdge Partners, Impendi and Insight Sourcing. Its public announcements describe these acquisitions as ways to strengthen sourcing, procurement, technology-spend management and private-equity capabilities within Accenture’s broader service portfolio.

Bain & Company acquired procurement and supply-chain consultancy Proxima in 2022. Proxima now describes itself as part of the “Bain procurement ecosystem,” reflecting how a formerly independent specialist can become integrated into a much larger consulting platform.

In the software and cloud market, SoftwareOne completed its acquisition of Crayon in July 2025, combining two global providers of software and cloud solutions into an organization with approximately 13,000 employees across 70 countries.

These transactions can produce genuine advantages. Acquired firms may gain access to more capital, broader geographic coverage, larger delivery teams and deeper analytical resources.

But they can also create a question that clients should not ignore:

Is independent advice still the product, or has it become the first step toward selling something else?

The people may not change, but the incentives can

An acquisition does not suddenly make experienced consultants less capable or less ethical. Many acquired specialists continue doing excellent work.

The larger issue is structural.

An independent advisory firm may have a relatively simple way to succeed financially: deliver a strong result for the client.

A global consultancy or technology-services company may have many additional revenue opportunities surrounding the same engagement:

• Strategy and transformation consulting
• Software implementation
• Cloud migration
• Procurement outsourcing
• Managed services
• Application support
• Software resale
• Data modernization
• Cybersecurity services
• Post-merger integration

None of those services is inherently problematic. Clients often need them.

The concern arises when the company providing the supposedly objective advice can also profit from the recommendation that follows.

A technology assessment might conclude that the client needs a new platform. The advisor’s parent company may be able to implement it.

A sourcing review might identify operating-model weaknesses. Another division may offer procurement outsourcing.

A cloud optimization project might lead to migration, architecture and managed-services opportunities.

Perhaps those are the right recommendations. But the client should understand that the advisor is no longer economically indifferent to the outcome.

The consultant sitting in the meeting may still be focused entirely on the client. The organization behind the consultant may have an account plan, alliance objectives and several other practices hoping for an introduction.

That does not prove the advice is compromised. It does mean the potential conflict exists.

Follow the money

The word “independent” is used loosely throughout the technology industry.

A firm may describe its advice as independent while receiving software-resale margins, supplier incentives, referral fees or implementation revenue. Another may have formal partnerships with the same suppliers it is helping clients evaluate.

The best way to test independence is not to read the mission statement. It is to examine the business model.

Clients should ask:

• Does the advisor receive any direct or indirect revenue from suppliers?
• Does the firm resell the software or cloud services it evaluates?
• Can another division implement the recommended solution?
• Are consultants rewarded for introducing additional services?
• Does the firm have alliance relationships with the suppliers under review?
• Can it recommend that the client buy less, delay the project or make no purchase at all?
• What happens financially to the advisor when the client spends less?

That final question is particularly useful.

Many companies in the technology ecosystem benefit when spending increases. Software publishers benefit. Resellers benefit. Integrators benefit. Managed-services firms benefit. Even large consultancies can benefit when a technology decision leads to a broader transformation program.

The ability to tell a client, “You do not need this,” is therefore more unusual than it should be.

A 20 percent discount on the wrong product is still a bad deal

This is where independent optimization advice becomes especially important.

A client may enter a negotiation believing the primary objective is securing a better discount. But price is only one part of the economic result.

The larger questions are often:

• Is the organization buying the correct product?
• Does it need every module in the proposed bundle?
• Are license quantities aligned with deployment and usage?
• Is the commitment flexible enough to accommodate business change?
• Are AI, cloud or consumption assumptions realistic?
• Is the proposed architecture creating avoidable supplier lock-in?
• Are the contract terms protecting future value?

A supplier may offer an impressive discount on a package the client does not fully need. A reseller may secure favorable pricing while still benefiting from the transaction. An implementation firm may optimize the deployment while naturally preferring a project that proceeds.

An independent advisor should be able to challenge the entire premise of the purchase.

Sometimes the best negotiation strategy is not negotiating harder. It is buying differently.

The NET(net) difference

NET(net) has deliberately maintained a client-only economic model.

We do not sell software. We do not receive revenue, sponsorship or commissions from technology suppliers. We do not need an implementation engagement, managed-services contract or resale transaction to make our work successful.

Our role is to help clients make better technology decisions through Right-Buying, Right-Licensing and Right-Pricing. That means evaluating the requirement, optimizing the commercial structure, negotiating the agreement and helping preserve value after signature.

NET(net) has also executed client engagements across more than 30 countries and five continents. Independence does not have to mean limited reach or narrow experience.

It means the client remains the only economic constituency that matters.

Independence is tested when the answer is “buy less” and or "spend less"

Large organizations can bring enormous capability to a client. The issue is not large versus small, or global versus boutique.

The issue is alignment.

Clients should know whether their advisor can recommend reducing scope, delaying an investment, challenging a preferred supplier or abandoning a transaction without hurting another part of its own business.

Independent advice is not defined by the logo on the presentation or the enthusiasm of the consultant delivering it.

It is defined by what happens when the best answer for the client creates no additional revenue for the advisor.

In a technology market where nearly everyone benefits when customers spend more, the willingness and ability to say “buy less” may be the rarest service of all.

About NET(net)

At NET(net), we don't just optimize IT investments, we weaponize them for competitive advantage. As the world's leading technology investment optimization firm, we've spent over two decades perfecting the art and science of extracting maximum value from technology supply chains while neutralizing vendor pricing manipulation.

Our battle - hardened methodology has influenced trillions of dollars in technology investments, captured hundreds of billions in documented value, and transformed how enterprises approach every facet of IT spend - from emerging technology such as AI, ML, IoT, RPA, Quantum, and Blockchain, to IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, to enterprise hardware and software solutions, and professional services arrangements including strategic outsourcing relationships.

We're not consultants who theorize about optimization, we're the specialists who help you devise and execute your strategy. Our proven frameworks turn vendor pricing chaos into strategic opportunity, licensing complexity into competitive advantage, and cost centers into value engines. Whether you're facing an aggressive vendor audit, navigating a forced migration, or simply refusing to accept runaway IT costs, NET(net) delivers the expertise, experience, and execution you need to dominate rather than merely survive.

Founded in 2002, NET(net) has established itself as the essential strategic partner for enterprises and technology providers who demand performance, not promises. We've mastered every major area of IT optimization because we understand that in today's vendor-hostile environment, half-measures guarantee defeat.

Experience the NET(net) advantage. Contact us at info@netnetweb.com, visit www.netnetweb.com, or call +1 (616) 546-3100 to discover how we can transform your technology investments from cost burden to strategic weapon.

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