William,
Depends on how you're establishing the VPN and the configuration of the PIX. Your consultant may be correct based on the current setup - but that doesn't mean the current setup needs to stay the same.
If you're using a Windows PPTP connection, when the link is established a default route with a better metric is inserted into the host's routing table - this means that the user can no longer send traffic via their normal default route (e.g. to the Internet). There's no admin option available by default to avoid this. One way around it is to use the connection manager admin kit (a win2k3 server optional component) to update the route table on connect - I've found this works quite well in those situations where IPSec can't be used,
If you're using the VPN client (IMHO the better method to use) the PIX needs to be configured with split tunneling and within the profile of the Cisco client needs the option "Allow local LAN access" needs to be selected. If you have Smartnet on your PIX you should be able to download the client for free, if not then you'll need to buy it from a reseller.
HTH,
Colin
