For 29 years, I sat on one side of the table. As a buyer. As the person evaluating vendors, signing off on sourcing strategies, and asking hard questions of the partners who wanted a piece of our delivery budget. I built a 40+ partner network across the US, EU, Middle East, and APAC. I consolidated it down to 8 when "more vendors" stopped meaning "more capability." I sat through more RFP responses than I can count, and I learned to tell the difference between a partner who un
