A wide range of enterprises have created or supported internal groups that provide professional services of a consultative nature for the enterprise itself. Although the service offerings vary widely, internal groups share important characteristics; they are oftentimes considered “internal consulting organizations” by the enterprise and their clients. Internal consulting groups provide many services that are comparable to those offered by external consulting organizations. Nevertheless, generally speaking, widely accepted operating models and business strategies of external consultancies are not relevant to many of the concerns of internal consulting groups. Additionally, due to their focus on the company they serve, internal groups often have few opportunities to develop relationships with their counterparts working in similar organizations within other companies. This leaves an experiential knowledge gap that, if harnessed, could be leveraged to optimize the internal consulting groups‟ value.
