The concept and characteristics of 1. external brain services

External brain service refers to a mode in which consulting companies provide customers with more professional, flexible and convenient consulting solutions by using external intellectual resources. The core of external brain service is to separate the production and consumption of consulting services, that is, consulting companies no longer complete all consulting projects by themselves, but hand over some or all consulting tasks to third parties to maximize value. The main features of external brain services are the following:

External brain service is a value creation model based on Internet technology. It relies on the support of network platform, big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies to realize the digitization, intelligence and standardization of consulting services.

External brain service is a value creation model based on division of labor and collaboration, which breaks the boundaries of consulting companies, builds an open consulting ecosystem, and realizes the decentralization, diversification and sharing of consulting services.

External brain service is a value creation model based on customer needs. It takes customers as the center and provides customized, personalized and scenario-based consulting solutions according to the different needs of customers, realizing the precision, flexibility and efficiency of consulting services.

Types and Advantages of 2. External Brain Services

Depending on the extent and manner in which consulting firms outsource consulting services, external brain services can be divided into the following three types:

All outsourcing: the consulting company will be the entire consulting project or all aspects of the consulting process to a third party to provide, they are only responsible for communication and coordination with customers, as well as the final consulting results of the presentation and delivery. The advantage of this type of external brain service is that it can significantly reduce the operating costs of the consulting firm and increase the profit margin of the consulting firm, as well as reduce the management burden of the consulting firm and improve the core competitiveness of the consulting firm.

Partial outsourcing: The consulting company will provide part of the consulting project or consulting process to a third party, and retain some key or core links to ensure the quality and effectiveness of the consulting service. The advantage of this type of external brain service is that it can make full use of external intellectual resources, improve the professionalism and innovation of consulting services, and at the same time maintain the brand influence and customer relationship of consulting companies.

Hybrid outsourcing: The consulting company hands over some aspects of the consulting project or consulting process to a third party, and participates in some important or complex aspects with the third party to achieve collaboration and optimization of consulting services. The advantage of this type of external brain service is that it can realize the complementarity and collaboration between consulting companies and third parties, improve the efficiency and quality of consulting services, and at the same time increase the learning and improvement opportunities of consulting companies.

Challenges and Trends of 3. External Brain Services

Although the external brain service has brought new opportunities and choices for consulting companies, it also faces some challenges and risks, mainly as follows:

The quality and safety of external brain services: As the outsourcing of consulting services involves the sensitive information and data of customers, as well as the professional knowledge and experience of consulting companies, how to ensure the quality and safety of external brain services is a problem that consulting companies need to focus on. Consulting companies need to establish and improve the quality control and safety management mechanism of external brain services, including the selection and evaluation of third parties, the supervision and evaluation of external brain services, and the encryption and protection of consulting information and data.

The issue of trust and communication in external brain services: Since the outsourcing of consulting services involves the participation and collaboration of multiple parties, how to establish and maintain trust and communication in external brain services is a key issue that consulting companies need to consider. Consulting companies need to establish and improve the trust and communication mechanism of external brain services, including the solidification, rigidity and homogenization of third-party contracts and resources such as experience, methods and tools, which increases the innovation difficulty, innovation risk and innovation competition of consulting companies, and reduces the innovation motivation and innovation advantage of consulting companies.

Development Trend and Prospect of 3. External Brain Service

As a new value creation model of consulting companies, external brain services are in the stage of rapid development and exploration. There are the following development trends and prospects in the future:

Intelligent. External brain services will further use artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing and other technologies to improve the intelligent level and scope of consulting services, realize the automation, intelligence and humanization of consulting services, and provide more intelligent, convenient and high-quality consulting solutions.

Socializing. External brain services will further use social networks, community platforms, collaboration tools and other technologies to enhance the sociality and collaboration of consulting services, realize the interaction, socialization and collaboration of consulting services, and provide more diverse, rich and interesting consulting experiences.

Ecological. External brain services will further use open platforms, sharing platforms, innovation platforms and other technologies to enhance the ecology and innovation of consulting services, realize the openness, sharing and innovation of consulting services, and provide more extensive, in-depth and continuous consulting value.

Personalization. External brain services will further use big data, data mining, data analysis and other technologies to enhance the personalization and precision of consulting services, realize the customization, personalization and precision of consulting services, and provide more suitable, satisfactory and loyal consulting customers.

4. Shangpu Consulting Company's External Brain Service Practice Case

Shangpu Consulting Company (Shangpu Consulting) is a consulting company specializing in strategic consulting, management consulting, technical consulting and other fields. It has rich consulting experience and excellent consulting team, and has served many well-known enterprises and institutions. In 2010, Shangpu Consulting Company began to try the mode of external brain service. By establishing its own external brain service platform, it provides customers with various types of external brain service modules, including:

Strategic analysis module. This module provides a variety of strategic analysis methods and tools, such as PEST analysis, SWOT analysis, five-force analysis, value chain analysis, VRIO analysis, etc., to help customers analyze their own and external strategic environment, and develop appropriate strategic objectives and strategic plans.

Manage diagnostic modules. This module provides a variety of management diagnostic methods and tools, such as balanced scorecard, six sigma, lean management, agile management, etc., to help customers diagnose their own management problems and propose improved management measures and management solutions.

Technology assessment module. This module provides a variety of technology assessment methods and tools, such as technology maturity model, technology innovation curve, technology life cycle, technology S-curve, etc., to help customers assess their own technical level, select the appropriate technical direction and technical solutions.

The operation process of the external brain service platform of Shangpu Consulting is as follows:

Register to log in. Through the website or mobile phone application, customers register and log in to the external brain service platform of Shangpu Consulting Company, fill in basic personal information and enterprise information, as well as consulting needs and consulting objectives.

Select the module. Through the external brain service platform, customers browse and select the external brain service module suitable for their own needs. They can compare and screen according to the type, content, price, evaluation and other information of the module, and can also select and customize according to the intelligent recommend of the platform.

Payment of expenses. Through the external brain service platform, customers pay the corresponding fees according to the number, scale, frequency, duration and other indicators of the selected external brain service modules. They can make online payments through online banking, Alipay, WeChat, etc., or through invoices, Contracts, agreements, etc., make offline payments.

Use the module. Through the external brain service platform, customers can use the selected external brain service module to obtain and use the content, methods, tools and other resources of the module in the form of web pages, videos, audio, documents, etc., and can also communicate and collaborate with the provider of the module through chat, telephone, email, etc.

Evaluation module. Customers can evaluate the selected external brain service module through the external brain service platform, and can evaluate and make suggestions on the quality, efficiency, satisfaction, influence and other indicators of the module by means of stars, comments, feedback, and so on. it can also be disseminated and promoted by sharing, recommend, forwarding, and so on.

The effect of the external brain service platform of Champu Consulting is as follows:

Improve efficiency. Through the external brain service platform, Shangpu Consulting Company has realized the digitization, platformization and modularization of consulting services, greatly reducing the cost and time of consulting services, greatly improving the efficiency and profit of consulting services, saving about 40% of the cost and improving the efficiency by about 60%.

Expand the market. Through the external brain service platform, Shangpu Consulting Company has realized the expansion of the coverage and influence of consulting services, greatly increased the potential customers and target customers of consulting services, greatly expanded the scale and depth of the consulting market, increased about 50% of customers, and expanded about 30% of the market.

Increase customers. Through the external brain service platform, Shangpu Consulting Company has realized the on-demand, quantification and efficiency of consulting services, which greatly meets the diversified, personalized and intelligent needs of customers, greatly improves the participation, satisfaction and loyalty of customers, increases the stickiness of customers by about 70%, and increases the re-purchase rate of customers by about 80%.

Innovative services. Through the external brain service platform, Shangpu Consulting Company has realized the flexible combination, rapid adjustment and continuous optimization of consulting services, greatly improved the innovation ability and competitiveness of consulting services, greatly increased the differentiation and superiority of consulting services, increased about 60% of service innovation, and increased about 70% of service advantages.