[intrasight]

Consultants resell the products from Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. The client will know that the reseller is getting a cut. It's not a "kickback". I would doubt that these cloud vendors could even offer a "kickback" (but then again, I could be naive).

But I do get your point. There are several types of IT consultants:

1. Those that help choose a vendor. They should be independent.

2. Those that hold a vendor's feet to the fire. I would claim that a good reseller could still do that.

3. Those that are really just outsourced warm bodies of the vendor. Don't expect much if any independent thinking.