There is a less obvious cost to the tech supply chain, and it is not financial. It is the stress that comes from making significant purchasing decisions you cannot fully defend if questioned.
Most IT leaders are good stewards of corporate resources. They take the responsibility seriously. When they sign a contract, they want to know they chose well. That the product is right for the need, that the price is reasonable, that the relationship is sound. The problem is that in the current system, several of those questions cannot be answered with confidence.
Is the price reasonable? Reasonable compared to what? You saw three quotes. They clustered. You picked the middle one. But you do not know what the provider’s floor is. You do not know what incentive layers are funding the reseller’s compensation on this deal. You do not know whether an enterprise at the same volume would be paying half of what you are paying. You picked the middle of the quotes you got, which is not the same thing as picking a fair price.
Is the product right? You think so. Your reseller helped you evaluate alternatives. But your reseller is paid differently depending on which provider you choose. You don’t know how differently. You don’t know if their recommendation would have been the same if the incentives were reversed. You are acting on advice that was shaped by forces outside your visibility.
Is the relationship sound? The reseller is responsive, the service is adequate, the renewal cycles are predictable. But the relationship is structured so that their financial interests and yours are not aligned. You know this intellectually, even if the day-to-day interactions are pleasant.
None of these questions have clean answers inside the current system. And for a conscientious buyer, the absence of clean answers is itself a cost. You sign the contract. You move on. But underneath there is an unresolved question: did I actually do well here, or did I do well enough to not get questioned?
Intelligence (the kind that shows you what the provider’s floor actually is, what the incentives actually look like, what your real alternatives actually are) doesn’t just save money. It replaces stress with confidence. The decision becomes defensible because you can see it clearly. The contract becomes signable because you can point at the evidence behind every line.