I worked at a major consultancy and this is definitely true. The major parties in a large enterprise IT project are (in shit-rolls-downhill order): 1: The enter

I worked at a major consultancy and this is definitely true. The major parties in a large enterprise IT project are (in shit-rolls-downhill order): 1: The enterprise itself 2: Strategic advisors (consultancy) 3: Integrators (often the same company as #2, or a competitor) 4: Software vendors (note the plural) 5: Third-party QA All but #1 have a structural incentive to make projects bigger the same way a mechanic has a structural incentive to "find new problems." The client always has final say, but people underestimate how hard it is to keep saying "no" to multiple reputable firms all warning you against going too small. That said, this kind of swindling is far from ubiquitous. There's a philosophy that blindly upping scope is shortsighted, and you do better in the long run by actually representing your client's best interest. Where I worked, I found it pretty easy to surround myself with people who thought this way.