NCSS and its time-sharing competitors primarily sold services to large corporations, at a time when most MIS departments were bogged down on huge COBOL implementation projects (see Brooks's famous "The Mythical Man-Month" for the contemporary mind-set). Because of development backlogs, outside services like NCSS became attractive. Tools like NOMAD made end-users self-sufficient: If they had discretionary budgets, and could get the necessary raw data from their MIS departments, then they could solve their own information problems. Many users were content to answer seemingly simple aggregate reporting questions that baffled the MIS departments of the day – like "rank departments by profitability." Other end-users went beyond basic reporting to build large, mission-critical applications, either by learning the necessary skills, or by hiring their own technicians who didn't report through the MIS hierarchy. NCSS developed a large support infrastructure, including training, consulting, and other services, to foster end-user independence. (Dissatisfaction with traditional MIS methods and resources would later also fuel the personal computer revolution, which in turn would displace time-sharing vendors like NCSS.) "citations are needed to illustrate: MIS departments of the 70s and 80s; the "Information Center" concept and end-user empowerment in the 80s; the timesharing industry and its role in enabling what became known as "Agile Companies" capable of using information as a competitive advantage. These topics were widely discussed in books and media of the day."