"One throat to choke" sounds decisive in the boardroom. It's also a fair description of being locked in.
The single-vendor pitch is seductive, and not unreasonably. One platform, one contract, one number to call, one party accountable when something breaks. Against the chaos of integrating a dozen tools that don't quite fit, "one throat to choke" sounds like the grown-up choice.
The phrase is honest about accountability and quiet about the rest. The same single throat sets the price of your renewal. It also decides the roadmap you're now bound to, weak module included, because it's one purchase, not a shopping list. The throat you get to choke also has both hands on the contract.
There's a real trade here, and it deserves to be made on purpose. Consolidation buys simplicity, tighter integration, fewer seams, a cleaner support story. It costs leverage: less room to swap out the one piece that's underperforming without unpicking everything else. Both are real. Neither is free.
What gets sold as obviously sensible is a choice with a bill attached. Simplicity now, room to move later, and you don't get both.
Fewer suppliers is a strategy. It just isn't a free one, and "one throat to choke" is the line that hopes you won't notice the price.