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Interim or Part-Time CIO Services to Leverage Technology for Your Competitive Advantage
InterimExecs has spent over a decade hand picking a team of top technology leaders from around the globe to match with organizations in need of interim, fractional, or virtual CIO expertise.
What is an Interim Chief Information Officer (CIO)?
An Interim Chief Information Officer (CIO) is an experienced technology leader who steps into an organization when fresh thinking is needed or big change is on the horizon.
InterimExecs RED Team includes top IT leaders who stay on the job anywhere from a few months to a few years to assess the company, develop a roadmap, and architect a strategy to use IT to support greater business objectives. They can even help identify the right candidate to become your permanent CIO.
- Drive Digital Innovation
- Align Business and IT Strategy
- Improve Customer Engagement
- Enhance Cybersecurity Protection
- Streamline Your Supply Chain
Your On-Demand Team of Top CIOs Worldwide
“Companies don’t know what they don’t know, so getting an outside set of eyeballs to supplement the CIO, advise the CEO, or advise the CIO can provide a valuable outside viewpoint.”
Kevin RED Team Interim CIO
“Most companies can and do manage their money. And they can and do manage their people. But unfortunately, quite often they abstain from understanding the technology, which is basically the IP of their company.”
David RED Team Interim CIO
“An interim executive has years of experience looking at what’s happening and really telling the organization how to move through a time of change.”
Zeeshan RED Team Interim CIO
“There are many IT issues that come up when you’re trying to transform a business, start a business, sell a business, buy a business. That’s what I do.
Dean RED Team Fractional CIODoes Your Company Have a Powerful Technology Roadmap?
None of us are immune: Every company needs a clear and compelling digital strategy, information technology structure, and way to leverage technology for maximum effect. An Interim CIO is particularly well-set to muscle over the IT hurdles that come with rapid change. By definition, interims are specialists in transition management, with the experience and track record to meet whatever challenge your company faces.
Streamlining processes from finance to HR, operations, sales, supply chain, customer management, even a future IPO, your CIO can be your most strategic player in the C-Suite.
One of the biggest downfalls of organizations, from startups to growing companies, is the failure to have a strategic long-term view into the future. Interim or project based CIOs provide a fresh pair of eyes, question the status quo, then set and implement strategy, going beyond an IT consulting firm to provide hands-on IT leadership.
INTERIM CIO SPECIALTIES:
• Vendor and Software Selection
• Department Re-organization
• Workflow design
• IT governance
• Process Improvement
• Integration
• Supply Chain management
• Process and governance design
• Performance improvement
• Vendor Management
• ERP implementations
• EMR strategies and implementation
• Healthcare information systems
• HIPPA compliance
• Program Management Office (PMO)
• Business & IT Process Outsourcing
People ask, ‘What’s your IT strategy? Well, that’s the wrong question really. The question should be, ‘What’s your business strategy and how’s IT going to enable that?
Rapid Executive Deployment
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CIO Advisory Services
From cyber security, to outsourcing IT, to ERP implementation, our team of CIOs can be engaged on a project basis to help extend the firepower of your global CIO
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Interim CIO
Whether a sudden leadership gap or digital transformation, an Interim CIO advances the organization and ensures a smooth transition to the team or full-time hire.
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Part-time or Virtual CIO
A flexible option for growing companies, a part-time, fractional, or virtual CIO can provide strong technology leadership for far less than the cost of a full-time CIO.
Case Study: $3 Billion CPG Company
“With so many moving parts, the full-time CIO decided to bring in another C-level executive to help run several big projects. Rather than taking the route of a full-time executive right off the bat, the company chose to bring in an interim CIO who was skilled in taking companies through transformation.”
InterimExecs RED Team brings years of experience across a variety of industries and sectors. Our team works to connect you with the exact expertise you need for your biggest leadership challenges and opportunities.
- Hospital & Healthcare
- Medical Device
- Physician Practice
- Pharmaceutical
- Manufacturing
- Distribution
- Logistics
- Retail & Ecommerce
- Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG)
- Clothing
- Food and Beverage
- Media
- SaaS
- Automotive
IT Outsourcing Services
Lack of in-house talent and cost considerations are the main trends driving IT outsourcing. The Asia-Pacific region is a major center for outsourcing, but Eastern Europe is an emerging tech talent market. Broader sourcing strategies, including the use of the gig economy and near sourcing, are also being used to complement outsourcing.
An interim CIO can achieve an optimized outsourcing strategy that lowers IT costs while improving the quality of services. They can also lead the charge on restructuring the internal IT organization and managing migration to a service provider.
ERP Implementation
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software – whether a vendor like Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, or NetSuite – are designed to integrate, standardize, and streamline business processes across departments. While they promote efficiency, better decision-making, agility, and security, ERP systems are a major investment, making it crucial to choose a system that has the right requirements for your organization, both now and as you grow. Deploying and implementing an ERP system has its own set of challenges, especially when merging with, or migrating from legacy systems or between multiple divisions. ERP project failures can easily lead to a company-wide disaster.
An Interim CIO provides a steady and experienced hand during an ERP implementation. A good CIO will identify requirements and pain points prior to roll out, make sure there are adequate time and resources to ensure the success of the ERP project, and have a plan in place to maintain and improve the ERP once it is implemented.
Digital Transformation
The accelerating pace of technological change has made digital transformation a key to staying ahead of competitors. Organizations of all sizes and ages recognize the need to digitize products and services wherever possible, but may be unsure about where the best spend is. And the pressure to adopt new technologies can lead businesses to misallocate resources, chasing after shiny tech objects when they could be getting more out of what they already have.
Today’s universally accepted need for digital transformation demands tech savvy leaders who are strategic, decisive, and agile in the face of dizzying change. While it may be tempting to promote a CIO from within your vertical, they might have institutional blind spots that hinder progress. Hiring an Interim CIO can provide companies with a fresh, outside perspective that drives meaningful digital transformations in line with your overall business strategy.
Legacy System Upgrade
It’s a common experience to want to stick with what you know and what’s gotten you to where you are. This may be true of a legacy IT system that you’ve put significant money into over the years. Comfort, however, is the enemy of progress. In addition to ever-increasing legacy system maintenance costs, your legacy attachment could be putting you in real danger of falling behind.
The realization that the systems and methods that worked in the past will not work in the future is often difficult for companies to accept. Even when they make this realization, actually implementing change is no less difficult. Enter the forward-looking Interim CIO, who has no attachment to your company’s legacy IT and is only interested in the best solution for the organization. They can give a straightforward account of your current IT system, create an operational roadmap to system modernization, and execute the implementation.
Cybersecurity
If cybersecurity is not among the primary concerns of your IT department, it should be. A security breach can permanently harm customer trust and brand perception. Research shows that 7 out of 10 organizations are not in fact prepared for a cyberattack.
The costs of investing in cybersecurity far outweigh the potential costs of mitigating a breach. But not all IT security tools and strategies are created equal. Organizations that question their cybersecurity readiness—or simply could benefit from an outside security checkup—should consider using an Interim CIO or CISO to manage their cyber health.
Mergers and Acquisitions Integration
Merger and acquisition transactions present numerous challenges, not least of which is integrating two different IT systems and cultures. During the early stages, the CIO performs due diligence, squaring current IT department initiatives and projects with the operational goals of the combined organization, deciding where to prioritize and deprioritize resource investment, and addressing integration costs that can help to negotiate the purchase price. After the deal closes, the CIO works to seamlessly fuse together not only applications, data, and infrastructure, but just as importantly, people and cultures.
Successfully managing these integrations requires an adept understanding of both technologies and workplace dynamics. If your current CIO does not have M&A experience, it might be worth considering an Interim CIO on a project basis to support the permanent management team in making the transaction seamless.
Vendor and Software Selection, Implementation, and Integration
For most companies, researching, selecting, and implementing the right technologies is best left to a technology expert. An interim CIO leads vendor and software application selection, ensuring they bring the most benefit to the unique needs of the organization and team. Beyond selecting the right software, interim executives can actually bring systems live, leading everything from an ERP implementation to a cloud migration to infrastructure architecture planning and implementation.
Healthcare Technology & Information Systems
An Interim CIO experienced in the healthcare industry can provide leadership on healthcare and hospital applications, healthcare data management, EMR (Electronic Medical Records), and technological systems and processes ensuring HIPPA compliance. The healthcare landscape is a quickly evolving space, so assessment of systems and making internal improvements through workflow re-design projects can ensure that you are providing the highest quality of care and service to patients and members.
I think the benefit of an interim executive is to bring someone in with a great deal of insights and experience, quickly diagnose what the problem is, and come up with solutions based on best practices out there in the marketplace. That is not something that you’re going to find within a company.