Here are just some of the things that have made the cloud consulting market treacherous:
Lots of wanna-be vendors from around the world are trying to compete, blowing the bottom out of the market. Unfortunately, with most low-end vendors the client does not get value without an inordinate amount of monitoring and management. But even if you never consider the wanna-be's for your project, they are sucking the margins out of the business for everyone.
In addition, the technology platforms have gotten way more complicated, as cloud vendors innovate like crazy. It is not unusual to have to learn an entirely new toolkit or language every year, which means a lower percentage of the consultants are actually competent with all the latest stuff.
