In some organizations the IT staff is an expense in others they are an investment. So the process of justifying the staff for an IT manager can be a protracted. I have managed both kinds of teams, internal IT and consultants. In the 1st scenario the Corp managers in a company looking to slim up their expenses will look at the IT manager and ask, What have you done for me lately? The IT manager then has to explain the value of each member o the team and what they do daily to ensure the company runs well with the lubricant IT solutions apply to the corporate engine. In the 2nd scenario the manager has to show less time on the bench and many happy client faces. The salary paid to an IT person in the 1st example comes from a company, in most cases, that does not sell IT but another widget. In the 2nd the company sells the grey matter and panache of the IT person. This IT person has more control over their destiny in most cases. A good consultant can draw more business and increase profits and can impact the client relationship more than the sales team can. That consultant can ask for a raise easier because he can quantify his argument with billable hours as a factor.
Who is asking for the raise? Who is on the chopping block? We are in a fickle world here in the US IT field and I wager for or against none!
The value of people gets lost in the P+L statement, bottom line.