Professionals assigned to these Industries will carry all kinds of tasks within companies operating in that industry and are expected to become industry specialists. Industry verticals are identified and then what can be done to help business with in these verticals is identified. Almost all business want to solve their manpower, operational, technology, process, growth problems. Hence, they require these expertise and a lot of the times similar concepts are used by application of first principles across Industry verticals. If the problem is too complex then you are looking for Subject matter experts and various specializations.

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In the day to day work, there is a clear overlap between verticals & horizontals - a team implementing a CRM tool for an energy supplier will usually consist of consultants from the CRM service line & consultants from the Utilities practice.

The process of identifying your company’s core competencies helps you define your company’s positioning and competitive advantage. A core competency is a proficiency in an area that is not easily replicated by competitors. It allows your company to deliver unique value to customers, thus giving the company a “leg up” on the competition. One example is how the employees and unique culture of Southwest Airlines allows them to provide better customer service and faster turnaround times for planes.

Consultants are often lateral thinkers, think about accuracy more than precision, and crave ambiguity. An engineer typically is a linear thinkers, like precision, dislike ambiguity As a result, each type of person is well suited for different kinds of problems. Also consultants develop a more generalist mindset and tend to consider the big picture when approaching a problem. At some point, they can and have to specialize in one industry and/or function (operations, IT...) but they are not required to reach the level of technical competence and specialization of engineers. Engineers also often seemed to work in their fields of study while consultants had all kinds of backgrounds (mostly business).

Generally the purpose of subject matter experts is to provide information and details on their subject. Scientists and engineers don’t always know the particulars of an industry or process so the subject matter experts (SMEs) can shed light on this. For example, SMEs can give insight into how data is collected so an engineer can see the impact that will have on analysis. Additionally, when relationships have been found within the data the SME can inform of why those relationships might exists or inform of underlying variables that could be influencing the process. In short, SMEs provide a lot of well needed ‘context’ to interpret and analyze the information that engineers and scientists deal with across various industries.

An agency provides talented individuals to address the client's problem. A consultancy provides a solution to the client's problem, which will include a talented team (or individual) employing a best-practice delivery method and framework (templates, accelerators, tools, etc.).

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The primary difference is largely about how the client's actual problem is solved (beyond needing people, which is a means to an end) and the amount of the client's money / time that is required to achieve this.

By engaging an agency, you will be provided with talented people but will have to direct and/or manage the project yourself like providing a method and framework that your organization has already; task the hired agency to create a new framework; or just allow the agency to do their own thing. All of these options have drawbacks, principally time - it would take additional time for the agency to learn or create a framework. The last option would likely have a serious impact on the timely resolution of the problem, unless it is non-trivial.

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In contrast, a good consultancy will largely self-manage its team to solve the end-problem, managing stakeholder expectations and requesting input as required. They will also bring with them a delivery method, known to the team members in advance, and a framework of assets that accelerate the delivery. An agency provides talented individuals to address the client's problem. A consultancy provides a solution to the client's problem, which will include a talented team (or individual) employing a best-practice delivery method and framework (templates, accelerators, tools, etc.).

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The primary difference is largely about how your actual problem is solved.