February 14, 2018

Interim CIO Drives Technology Transformation and Revamp of IT Organization

Interim CIO Drives Technology Transformation and Revamp of IT Organization

A multi-billion dollar consumer products company wanted to revamp the organization to stay competitive and relevant to customers around the globe. One area of focus was technology. IT had been outsourced, and as a result the company lost control of its ability to innovate. Acquisitions over the years compounded the problem, with divisions in silos operating with extreme variability in skills, behavior, interface and processes country to county.

From Europe to Asia to South America and North America, management came together with a vision to take a disjointed organization and transform it into one collaborative global IT structure. Under this model IT would take charge of application and infrastructure management, security, enterprise architecture, staffing, and performance management. 

The global CIO had his hands full, running several initiatives:

Read More

July 10, 2017

CIO Hired Guns – Interim Execs Featured in Computerworld

CIO Hired Guns – Interim Execs Featured in Computerworld

In the Computerworld article “The latest in IT services? CIO hired guns“, Robert Jordan, CEO of the Association of Interim Executives explained to Computerworld that interim executives are responsible for “hiring, firing and making decisions”.

Thank you to RED Team members, Damon Neth and Dean Samuels, who also provided great insights. Dean Samuels, Interim CIO, said “This is exactly what the future is. We’ve gone from an IT asset portfolio to an IT service portfolio. So if IT has transformed into a services portfolio, why wouldn’t you get an IT service-oriented CIO as a service?”

Interim CIO, Damon Neth explained the honesty that comes with interim executives adding “I have no problem selling unpopular messages if I believe that they’re right for the organization or addressing the elephant in the room.”

July 6, 2017
Robert Jordan

The Collapse of Leadership in a Digital World

Robert Jordan | CEO, InterimExecs
The Collapse of Leadership in a Digital World

In a digital world where everything that can be measured is measured, do you still need strong leadership? What difference does management make when data steers the ship?

Many technology companies have the mindset that data trumps all, but are some companies suffering as a result? Look to the news to see how this is playing out:

•Zenefits’ founder Parker Conrad was thrown out for creating a culture that violated insurance laws
•Uber’s CEO resigned for multiple behavioral reasons (writing code to defy local authorities; sexual harassment allegations; staff and senior team exiting or fired)
•Volkswagen techies wrote ingenious code to defeat auto emissions testing. Smart, but illegal.

Read More

February 27, 2013
Tom Murray

Mitigating Critical IT Project Risk

Tom Murray | CTO, CIO, Turnaround

Large IT Projects are known to be difficult, over budget, overdue and not provide expected benefits

There are many challenges facing a business undertaking large, critical information technology projects. Such projects are known to result in less capability than expected and at a significantly greater cost. In hindsight, can be categorized into fundamental root causes:

• Estimates for costs, schedule and derived benefits are overly optimistic while risks are rarely considered or quantified.
• Project Scope may double or triple during the lifecycle of the project.
• Business logic inherent in legacy systems is often not well understood, thus delaying delivery.
• Cultural and skill requirements from radical changes to critical business processes require a longer period of adaptation than expected.
• And most importantly: senior management, although capable, did not have the time or previous experience needed for success.

Read More