Brainshoring! With Martin Tronquit of Infomineo
Infomineo
Derek Gallimore talks with Martin Tronquit, managing partner at Infomineo. Infomineo is the leading brainshoring company that serves clients in most parts of the world
In this episode, Derek and Martin discuss brainshoring, a high-level service that Infomineo provides, and how companies can best utilize it at work.
In this episode, the OA podcast features Martin Tronquit, a managing partner at Infomineo. Founded in Morocco, Infomineo is the leading brainshoring provider for companies in most parts of the world.
What is brainshoring?
Martin explains that brainshoring is a high-level type of service where employees are required to “be creative, think critically, say ‘no’ to clients, have constant dialog [with them],” and other aspects not covered by Knowledge Process Outsourcing (KPO) services.
Martin created the concept of brainshoring since their services “did not correspond to any of the categories of offshoring that existed.”
As the name indicates, clients “are not looking to outsource a process” when brainshoring. Rather, they outsource ‘brains,’ which are the strategies and ideas that can help develop a company further.
Martin recognizes the “[shortage] of talents in [most] developed economies” today. With this, he suggests businesses “leverage the emerging economies” to access people with strong backgrounds from the best schools in their countries.
How companies can use brainshoring at work
Martin agrees that every company “needs to have thinkers” in their organization. Though some firms already have thinkers in their executives, brainshoring requires these thinkers “at the ground level.”
This is since creativity at work mainly comes from the analysts in each team.
At the same time, companies do not simply go to brainshoring companies the same way with traditional outsourcing. Instead, they would first have to “segment [their] needs and go for the high-level, complex work to [a] brainshoring supplier.’
Meanwhile, volume-based, price-driven work goes to KPO providers.
Infomineo and its offerings
Infomineo currently offers three services and will soon launch its fourth.
- Data research. Primarily, Infomineo helps businesses gather robust information relevant to their nature and growth.
- Graphic design. The company also provides design services to properly represent a brand and deliver its message.
- Language services. Instead of outsourced writing, Infomineo teams can help in reviewing and crosschecking papers written in their intended language, especially in English.
- Data analytics. Launching at the end of the year, their data analytics services will help companies make good use of their data and expand their function.
Managing Infomineo for a decade now, Martin says the company had “tremendous help from [the] COVID [pandemic]” in accelerating remote work and outsourcing.
Martin clarifies that Infomineo sells services. They “will get research [or] design done,” but clients cannot choose which staff will do it for them.
This gives them freedom in managing their staff and capabilities, as well as the pressure of having systems and backups in place in case of disruptions.
Per Martin, the cost of delivering brainshoring services is “three times the cost of the person that delivers [it],” including all the aspects needed to be in place.
Infomineo on choosing their locations
Infomineo is founded and headquartered in Morocco, with offices in Egypt, Mexico, and soon in Malaysia.
Michael states that their choice for sourcing locations is “a little different from other offshore activities.” They choose their locations according to the following standards:
- Access to quality talent. Infomineo looks at the number of quality talent produced in a country according to their schools, training durations, skillsets, and culture.
- Level of competition on talents. As much as possible, the company taps on locations where there are “not too many companies that do what [they] do” to help them become stable.
- Costs. At the same time, they still prefer maintaining low costs for their clients. They do not package their services to be “more expensive than if clients do it themselves.”
Martin explains that Morocco is a “perfect location to serve continental Europe” while Egypt covers both Europe and the Middle East.
For their US market, Mexico is the best location due to its time zone and quality talents.
How Infomeo ensures successful handover and learning process
Martin highlights that “[client dialog] is permanent.” They explain to their clients the importance of having them involved in the whole process instead of totally handing them over.
Per Martin, the brainshoring methodology involves three steps: intake, execution, and handover.
Intake is the phase where the company understands the problem their clients want to solve. Once their solution is detailed, they will then proceed with the execution or the actual delivery of work.
Lastly, handover is done to “make sure the client got what [their teams] did,” from its ins and outs to its limitations.
Martin does not see their process as a progression to management consultancy services. He explains that while they get close in several aspects, such as skill sets and sophistication of people, offshoring would not “get a lot of client context” the same way as in management consulting.
Brainshoring in connection with management consultancy
Martin agrees that sales talk is “always a challenge in any business,” especially with Infomineo. They network with a lot of consultancy companies globally, and most of them are “open to hearing about what [the company does].”
According to Martin, there are two elements in differentiating them from a management consultancy. First is with the adamance of workload, where consultants work longer hours.
Martin does not think that the new generation of workforce is still “willing to accept 16 to 18 hours a day” of work.
Another element is the skill set, where people were limited to their tools and resources at work, causing the need to specialize. With the technology nowadays, everyone can “be versatile” and utilize online tools for several functions, including graphic design.
Fortunately, most consultancy firms now are “structuring themselves with strong support functions, internal and outsourced combined.”
Going forward, Infomineo looks forward to expanding its scope and client base. Connect with Martin today via his LinkedIn profile or at [email protected].
Alternatively, interested clients can visit Infomineo’s website at https://infomineo.com/.
Independent
