Man, that ThoughtWorks/big consulting companies stuff sounds horrible. Is there any truth to it? Is this a norm with these types of companies? Or are they outliers/extreme cases?
There's some truth to it. I am encumbered so I couldn't give specifics if I wanted to, but more than one of my clients in the past has hired me because they needed somebody to unscrew the devops/platform work done by one of those Real Big Consulting Companies.
