Conversion of operational and management needs into technical terms that vendors can understand and deal with is a special skill. Designing a practical training program is essential to success. Consultants get involved in most of these issues at various levels. It is up to the institution to determine the level of support it wants and needs. For example, one approach to compiling an equipment inventory is for the consultant to design an inventory system and for the in-house staff to conduct the inventory itself.
Some consultants have enough staff to perform the whole job.
Typically, vendors supply a certain amount of user training for new systems. The consultant, however, can assist in specifying the nature and extent of training when writing the RFP, and can supervise the vendor's performance. Consultants will generally be most valuable doing those things for which the institution does not have qualified, available in-house staff. While it makes sense to have a consultant assist in strategic planning or system evaluations, it makes little sense to pay that person to count telephones. Some corporations, having developed a sophisticated staff to deal with their own internal problems, have later turned that staff into a new division of the company, selling consulting services to outside users.