This is far from proprietary, I would say it doesn't even rise to the level of "open secret". It's plain and obvious to anyone in the industry, just not exactly

This is far from proprietary, I would say it doesn't even rise to the level of "open secret". It's plain and obvious to anyone in the industry, just not exactly advertised outside it. Personally, I left the industry in 2006 and it was already very close to what's described in this article. I was working for a tier-1 vendor, sitting in the carrier's offices coordinating field work, and saw every facet of these interactions. (Technically I wasn't even working for the vendor, I was working for a contracting firm that had temped me out to the vendor, so it's even more abstract.) Institutional knowledge was held by project managers on the vendor's side at least as much as by the carrier's own staff. Talk to literally anyone in the industry. I'd be surprised if you can find a single one who says it's not as bad as this article suggests.