INTERIM IT MANAGEMENT
Running an IT function is not a new role for me
Advertised as: Interim IT Manager · Head of IT (Interim) · IT Manager on a temporary basis
For over fifteen years I took on the head of IT role for mid-sized companies – externally, but in full. Companies with up to 120 employees, up to five engagements in parallel, some clients continuously for more than ten years. There was no internal head of IT to hand anything over to: strategy, budget, operations, service providers, data protection, the seven o'clock call when the server will not come up – it all ran through me.
If your head of IT position is vacant, I am taking on a job I know.
- 15+ years as external head of IT
- up to 120 employees per company
- up to 5 parallel engagements
- 10+ years longest client relationship
What an interim management role is measured by
Are operations running?
At an international food retail group I was responsible for the IT infrastructure of 14 EU distribution centres – live operations at over 99 % availability, while three new builds ran in parallel. An outage in one warehouse means a standstill in the supply chain; tolerance for excuses is low there.
Who leads the people?
On the cloud platform of an international retail group I led interdisciplinary teams from compliance and organisation. My experience is that an interim manager does not restructure the team but stabilises it – and hands the successor a team that is still there.
What does it cost, and is it justified?
Responsibility for budget, schedule and quality in new-build projects, RFI/RFP processes, bid evaluation, performance review and variation negotiations with suppliers. I can explain to a managing director why one investment is due now – and why another can wait.
Will we hold up in an audit?
ISO 27001, BSI C5, GDPR, NIS2. I led the first C5 attestation of a cloud organisation with a Big Four audit firm as auditor, and built ISMS and DSMS frameworks for several mid-sized companies. Compliance is not an appendix for me but part of the management task.
External IT management in the Mittelstand — what that covered in practice
Strategy and planning
IT roadmap aligned with business planning, investment planning and budget responsibility, make-or-buy decisions, system selection and lifecycle planning.
Operations and availability
servers, network, workstations, printers, telephony; monitoring, backup and restore testing, patch and update management, incident resolution and user support. Over 99 % availability under ongoing support.
Infrastructure
network planning and construction, structured cabling, WLAN, virtualisation with Proxmox, Nextcloud, site interconnection and home-office connectivity.
Security
firewalls (Fortinet, Securepoint), VPN and network segmentation, system hardening, endpoint protection with ESET, threat detection with Cynet, mobile device management, role and permission concepts.
Applications and data
ERP and CRM selection, implementation and migration (ERPframe and DOCUframe, ERPnext, Dolibarr, Odoo, Equinox), data modelling and migration, interfaces to web shops and via EDI, document management, time and production data capture.
Data protection and compliance
external data protection officer for several companies over eight years, DSMS and ISMS development, policy frameworks, staff training, audit documentation.
Suppliers and contracts
tendering and bid evaluation, contract negotiation and performance review, management of external service providers and building trades, complaint and rework management.
Organisation
process analysis and reorganisation, digitalisation of manual workflows, workflow automation, user enablement and training.
Two sides of the same job
In the Mittelstand I carried the head of IT role as external full responsibility – broad, hands-on, without a team behind me.
In the corporate world I came to know the other side: infrastructure responsibility for 14 EU distribution centres at over 99 % availability with three new builds in parallel, as well as leading interdisciplinary teams from compliance and organisation, including the organisation's first BSI C5 attestation.
An interim management role needs both: the breadth to know at every point what is being discussed, and the experience to lead a team and an external auditor through a programme.
Typical situations
Vacancy after a resignation
the head of IT has left, the search is under way, day-to-day business is not.
Bridging until the position is filled
the post is filled, the new person arrives in four months. Nothing can be left to slide until then.
A head of IT role for the first time
the company has grown and IT has been run on the side so far. Someone needs to build the structure that the eventual post-holder will take over.
Special situations
setting up a site, carve-out, integration after an acquisition, an acute security or compliance situation.
How I go about it
First two weeks: assessment.
Systems, contracts, service providers, running projects, open risks, the team. During this time I change nothing that is not on fire.
Then: a prioritised list.
What sits on the critical path, what can wait, what should not be done at all. Agreed with the management, not announced to it.
Ongoing: decide rather than administer.
An interim manager who merely maintains the status quo is not worth the money. I make decisions and document why.
At the end: a handover that holds.
Documented systems, the status of projects, open items with an assessment. Your new head of IT should be able to work from day one, not have to reconstruct.
Framework
AVAILABLE
- SCOPE
- By agreement
- DURATION
- From three months
- DEPLOYMENT
- DACH region, remote with regular on-site presence
Where do things stand?
Describe the situation to me. In a first conversation I will tell you whether I am the right person – and if not, why.