A big reason companies need outside help is because they don't share data and results - if something works at company A and saves them a lot of money, that info

A big reason companies need outside help is because they don't share data and results - if something works at company A and saves them a lot of money, that information isn't passed to company B and thus you have everyone trying to re-invent the wheel. A third party that works with many companies builds up a vocabulary of techniques, data sets, and experience that allow them to enter a new environment and be 10 times as effective as any internal team of analysts. Don't know if anyone has heard of Lattice Engines (http://www.lattice-engines.com/ http://www.lattice-engines.com/) but they are today integrating external data with internal cross-functional data to extract insights that are saving large companies (that I'm sure already have teams of very talented analysts) millions of dollars.