Middle management is worthless. They are completely out of touch with the actual consultant projects. Its like no one ever heard of the "management by walking around" theory. It reminded me of being in high school and having to kiss ass to be approved by someone (who adds no value to the project work) just so you can get through your day.
I've heard that Appirio recently changed their policy, but when I was there you could have tons of billable hours, and great client reviews, but only get a small portion of your expected bonus because the total billable "company" hours wasn't high enough. So, Appirio bills your work out at $250/hr, they pay you ~$70/hr and management and a bunch of leeches make $180/hr for each hour you work. That's a ripoff. Especially if middle management ignores the fact that you have great client reviews for the valuable work you have done for the billable client.
Lots of Kool-Aid at Appirio. Appirio culture is all about talking about how amazing they are. "We are all ROCKSTARS!" (You mean like the drunk/high/messed up in the head kind?) Yes, there are some really good people (stick with the tech people), but there are also a bunch of mgmt favorites who dial it in and just collect checks. Some of the engagement managers at Appirio were excellent at this scam. They brought no value to the project but collected their checks regardless.
Appirio seems to forget that Accenture could train 1% of their workforce and be 5x larger than Appirio is within a 6 month window. Thats good for senior management because they will make good money when Appirio sells out, but worker bees will get jacked in the deal. And, this market will consolidate. It always happens.
ADVICE: If you get hired by Appirio, its decent experience and you can meet some great tech people in this space. However, make sure you build good relationships with upper management, because middle management is a liability that currently isn't bringing any value to the project teams or the upper management team.
