I understood the context perfectly. These systems are all alike, if you develop the analysis tools ahead of time, you don’t need to spend weeks on-site.
no, not true. Being a software developer, I know that yes, the protocols are the same, the sniffer can filter low level and present at a higher level, but on top of that is the application and business logic layer of the flow and content of the data - which that guy sounds like he has done for companies but to have specific patterns and data formats for the structures and hierarchical contextual meaning - takes time to learn the pattern. Bringing along an election specialist who designs that type of software would be advantageous. Then, to sit down and go over 37TB of data and map out transactions and flows and then map out the topography and geography - yes, not a few days’ effort.
So, to answer you more specifically - to ‘develop the tools ahead of time’ - you apply common knowledge and then apply detailed specific knowledge. So you’d need software developers with knowledge of the packet structure and the data definitions.