Why We're Not Calling Every New Tool 'Game-Changing'

The IT industry runs on hype cycles. We watch them. We try not to amplify them. Here's our current take on what's oversold and what's actually worth paying attention to.

Currently oversold

AI feature bolt-ons. Every SaaS now has "AI." Most are thin wrappers around a single API call — and separating the load-bearing ones from the marketing is the bulk of our AI consulting work. The test: if you removed the AI feature, would your business still work fine? If yes, the AI isn't load-bearing — it's marketing. Don't pay extra for it.

Cybersecurity tooling promising "complete protection." Real security is layered, mostly boring, and mostly process. Any vendor selling you a single product that "stops all threats" is selling you a vibe.

Vendor consolidation deals. "Buy five modules from us and get 30% off" sounds great until you try to leave. Lock-in is real and compounding. Re-negotiate every three years; threaten to leave; mean it.

What we're watching closely

Microsoft Copilot enterprise integration. This one has matured past the demo stage. The Microsoft Graph integration — where Copilot can read your files, emails, and Teams chats with proper permissions — is genuine productivity gain for knowledge workers. We're seeing 30-45 minutes saved per employee per day in real deployments.

Passkeys becoming mainstream. Apple, Google, and Microsoft are aligning on the same standard. In three to five years, passkeys will largely replace passwords. Start preparing now: make sure your identity provider (Entra ID, Okta, Google Workspace) supports them, and start enrolling users for low-risk apps so the muscle memory is there when the high-risk apps catch up.

Cloud egress pricing wars. AWS, Azure, and GCP have started cutting egress fees in response to pressure from regulators and customers. For the first time, "multi-cloud" is starting to look economically viable for SMBs. Watch your invoice for changes.

What we're not watching

Most blockchain integrations into SMB tooling. Most metaverse-adjacent business cases. Most "AI-first" startups whose entire moat is a prompt.

Our bias

We're vendor-neutral. We don't take referral commissions from the products we recommend. We make money by being right about what works — and when we're wrong, our reputation is the cost.

Curious about a specific product, vendor, or trend? Email us or book IT consulting. We'll give you the straight take, even when it's "yes, we use it ourselves" or "no, it's not worth the line item."