EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP · INTERIM CIO
An Interim CIO with authority over the systems and the vendors.
CE Interim appoints proven Interim CIOs to take charge of technology when an implementation has failed, a platform has become unstable, a separation requires a standalone stack, or the IT function has lost its leadership.
Confidentialité garantie dès le premier contact. Un cadre supérieur présélectionné et correspondant au profil recherché, prêt à prendre ses fonctions dans les 72 heures suivant la finalisation du cahier des charges.
La chaîne hiérarchique
CEO · CFO · BOARD
INTERIM CIO
SYSTEMS · INFRASTRUCTURE · DATA · SECURITY · IT TEAM
1,500+
Nombre de mandats exécutés chaque année au sein de l'alliance
90+
Partenaires opérationnels à travers le monde
30+
Pays concernés
95%
Mandats transfrontaliers
72 heures
De la note d'information au lancement de la mission
Définition
What is an Interim CIO?
An Interim CIO is an experienced technology executive appointed for a defined period to take control of the systems the business
depends on: the platform estate, the implementation programme, the vendors delivering it, the data, the security posture and the
IT function itself.
The appointment is made when technology has become a business risk rather than a business function. That can mean an
implementation that has stalled, a platform that is not stable, a separation that requires standing up a stack from nothing, or a
departure that has left the function without direction at the worst moment.
An Interim CIO is accountable for whether the systems work, not for whether the business changes how it uses them. Where the risk is adoption rather than delivery, a different appointment is the right one.
Événements déclencheurs de rendez-vous
When businesses appoint an Interim CIO
01
An ERP implementation has stalled or been paused
The programme is behind, over budget, or has stopped. Restarting it needs someone who will take the decisions the original programme avoided and hold the implementation partner to what was contracted.
02
A system went live and the business cannot rely on it
Month-end will not close cleanly, the shopfloor is working around the system, and the data coming out of it is not trusted by the people who have to act on it.
03
The CIO has gone and the estate has no owner
Departure or extended absence. Continuity, security, vendor contracts and the live programme all continue regardless. In CE Interim’s experience a permanent appointment takes three to five months, and the appointee then serves notice before inheriting
an estate they have to learn.
04
A carve-out needs its own stack
A separated business is running on systems it does not own, under a transitional services agreement with exit dates and escalating renewal costs. Replacement capability has to be stood up against those dates.
05
Two acquired estates have to become one
Duplicate platforms, incompatible data structures and two IT teams. The consolidation case exists and nobody is sequencing it against what the operation can absorb.
06
A security incident has exposed the posture
A breach, a near miss or an audit finding has shown that the controls were assumed rather than verified, and the response needs executive ownership rather than a remediation list.
07
Vendors are running the agenda
Contracts, scope and timelines are being set by implementation partners because nobody internal has the standing or the technical depth to challenge them.
08
The data is not fit for what the business now wants to do
Reporting, analytics or automation initiatives are stalling on data quality, ownership and governance that were never established.
Est-ce le bon siège ?
Does the situation require an Interim CIO?
The determining question is whether the technology is the problem, or whether the technology works and the business has not changed around it.
Appoint an Interim CIO when:
- A system implementation has to be recovered, restarted or completed.
- The platform estate needs an owner who can make architecture and vendor decisions.
- A separation requires standing up systems against fixed exit dates.
- Security, continuity or data governance need executive accountability.
- The IT function itself needs leading rather than supporting.
Règle de décision
When the risk is whether the systems work, appoint a CIO. When the systems work and the business has gone back to its old process, the risk is adoption and a different appointment addresses it.
Quand un autre poste est le bon choix
Where the programme spans functions and the question is whether the organisation adopts the change, an Interim Transformation and Programme Director carries the mandate and the CIO supports the technical delivery inside it.
Where the failure is that finance cannot produce reliable numbers, an Interim CFO leads and technology is one input
Where a system change has destabilised a plant, an Interim Plant Manager restores operational control while the system question is resolved separately.
CE Interim définit d'abord le mandat, puis recommande le profil recherché.
Comparaison des rôles
Which role does the business need?
Faites défiler le tableau latéralement →
| DPI de transition | Directeur par intérim de la transformation et des programmes | Directeur financier de transition | Implementation partner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Possède | Systems, vendors, security, the IT function | The programme and its adoption | Reporting, cash, governance | The build |
| Risk addressed | The system does not work | The change does not embed | The numbers cannot be trusted | Delivery to contract |
| Autorité | Held, inside technology | Borrowed, across functions | Held, inside finance | Contractual |
| Nommé le | Technology has become a business risk | Nobody owns delivery end to end | Finance needs executive authority | The scope is defined |
| Accountable to | CEO, CFO or board | The programme sponsor | Board or sponsor | The contract |
| Il est temps de commencer | Dans les 72 heures suivant la réception de la note d'information | Dans les 72 heures suivant la réception de la note d'information | Dans les 72 heures suivant la réception de la note d'information | Once a statement of work is signed |
DPI de transition
Directeur par intérim de la transformation et des programmes
Directeur financier de transition
Implementation partner
Modes de défaillance
Pourquoi ces nominations échouent-elles ?
The ERP problem is treated as an IT problem.
A CIO is appointed to fix a failing implementation, and does. The platform stabilises, the interfaces work, the data flows. The business continues to operate the way it did before, because nobody was accountable for changing that. The system is now correct and unused, which is more expensive than either outcome alone.
The rollout is restarted with the governance that failed it.
The programme is relaunched with a new plan, the same steering structure, the same decision route and the same reluctance to say no to scope. Restarting without changing why it stalled risks producing a second stall for the same underlying reasons.
A separation is sequenced by preference rather than by exit date.
Systems are replaced in the order the team would prefer to tackle them, rather than in the order the transitional services agreement requires. The result is renewal at escalating cost for the services nobody got to in time.
The vendor is treated as a partner rather than a counterparty.
Scope, timeline and acceptance are set by the implementation partner because nobody internal has the technical depth to challenge them. The programme delivers what was easy to deliver, and the business discovers the gap at go-live.
Étendue des compétences
What an Interim CIO mandate should include
Une ligne hiérarchique clairement définie, convenue avant le début du projet.
Whether the executive reports to the CEO, the CFO or the board determines what can be decided without referral, and in a recovery the referral interval is where the cost accumulates.
Architecture and platform authority.
The right to decide what is built, bought, retained or retired. A recovery mandate that excludes the architecture decision is a mandate to manage a problem rather than to resolve it.
Vendor accountability.
The executive is the counterparty to implementation partners, with authority over scope, change control, escalation and acceptance. Acceptance in particular belongs to the business rather than to the party being paid to deliver.
Authority to stop and re-scope.
The right to pause a workstream, remove scope or delay a go-live where the business cannot absorb it. Recovery often requires less to be delivered rather than more.
Security and continuity ownership.
Accountability for the posture as it actually is rather than as documented, including the authority to act on what an assessment finds.
Authority over the IT function.
The ability to reallocate responsibility, address capability gaps and hold internal and external teams to the same standard.
Note d'autorité
Authority must be proportional to the decisions the mandate requires in its first thirty days. In a stalled implementation the daily cost continues while approval is sought, and the vendor keeps invoicing throughout.
Responsabilité légale, champ d'application et couverture
Responsabilité légale.
Where the mandate requires it, the executive may receive defined signature authority over contracts, change control and acceptance, delegated statutory duties or, where formally appointed and permitted by the local corporate structure, a statutory position. The scope is agreed before the start rather than assumed.
Le périmètre est défini avant que le dirigeant ne commence.
Le client, CE Interim et le cadre définissent par écrit les missions, la séparation des fonctions, les limites de compétence et les plafonds de signature. Aucune autorité ni responsabilité n'est présumée dès la prise de fonction.
L'assurance est souscrite pour chaque mandat.
Les cadres intérimaires disposent de leur propre assurance responsabilité civile des dirigeants et des mandataires sociaux, ainsi que d'une assurance responsabilité civile professionnelle. Dans le cadre de certaines missions, c'est le client qui fournit cette couverture ou y contribue. CE Interim et chaque membre de l'Alliance Valtus disposent également de leur propre couverture.
Arc de mandat
How an Interim CIO mandate unfolds
Usually appointed into something already running. A common pattern, not a fixed methodology.
01
Taking control
Establish the real state
Separate what is reported from what is true: programme status, platform stability, data quality, security posture and vendor position. Identify what is at immediate risk, whether that is a go-live, a service exit or an exposure. Stop anything that is making it worse.
02
Stabilising
Decide and re-scope
Take the architecture and scope decisions the programme has been deferring. Reduce delivery to what the business can absorb and what the timetable genuinely requires. Reset the vendor relationship: scope, change control, escalation and acceptance criteria in writing.
03
Rebuilding
Deliver and hand over
Complete the delivery on the revised scope. Establish the operating model, the support structure and the governance the permanent function will inherit. Brief the successor on what was found as well as what was fixed.
RECOVERY OR SEPARATION MANDATE · 9 TO 18 MONTHS
Decision authority and recovery cadence are established inside thirty days. In CE Interim’s experience, three months is the minimum period in which meaningful change can usually be demonstrated, because a platform only proves it is stable by closing consecutive periods on it.
Remplacement temporaire · 6 à 12 mois
Where the mandate holds the estate through a gap, the mandate runs to the permanent appointment
Discutez du mandat avec un partenaire avant que la situation ne le définisse à votre place.
Résultats et transfert
What effective interim technology leadership should achieve
Stabilité
The systems the business runs on behave predictably, and the people who depend on them stop building workarounds.
Trusted data
The numbers coming out of the system are the numbers the business acts on, without parallel spreadsheets.
Vendors under contract
Implementation partners deliver to agreed scope, and acceptance is a business decision rather than a formality.
A defensible posture
Security and continuity reflect what has been verified rather than what was assumed.
A function that can be led
The IT team has structure, ownership and a standard, so the permanent CIO inherits an organisation rather than a backlog.
Transfert
The architecture decisions, the vendor position and the operating model are documented and transferred to named people. Continuity without dependency.
Qui nous envoyons
The Interim CIOs we appoint
Has recovered an implementation, not only run one.
Has taken over a programme that was already failing, decided what to cut, and delivered the remainder. Recovery requires a different judgement set from steady-state delivery.
Has stood up a stack against a separation deadline.
Knows that a transitional services agreement is the schedule, has replaced services against exit dates, and has been in the renewal conversation where the cost escalates.
Has held an implementation partner to contract.
Has challenged scope, refused an acceptance and renegotiated a change control with a vendor whose commercial interest ran the other way. Acceptance is a business decision, and the willingness to withhold it is what makes the contract mean anything.
Understands what the plant actually does.
Production, quality and planning systems behave differently from commercial ones. A technically correct solution can still fail operationally if it does not fit how the shopfloor actually works.
Has said no to a go-live date.
Has delayed a launch because the business was not ready, held that position against a programme timeline and a vendor invoice, and been right.
CE Interim works through more than 90 operating partners across the Valtus Alliance, in over 30 countries. Where a workstream needs an additional specialist midstream, CE Interim can draw one from the same network.
Le modèle de prise de rendez-vous
D’une réunion d’information confidentielle à une nomination à un poste de direction
01
Point sur la situation
A Partner conversation under NDA, typically with a Partner who has held a technology leadership role. Where the programme or estate stands, where execution is broken, and what authority can be delegated.
02
Mandate definition and challenge-specific assessment
CE Interim defines the systems in scope, the stage, the blockers and the critical outcomes, then interviews each executive for this situation rather than against a generic technology profile.
03
Presentation, appointment and governance
You receive one or two pre-vetted executives matched to the challenge, not a CV list. Weekly Partner check-ins and milestone tracking follow.
Tensions transfrontalières
Why cross-border technology mandates are harder to govern
What headquarters needs
- A group standard actually in use, not just deployed
- To hear that a design will not survive a specific site before go-live
- One view of the estate rather than a set of local exceptions
What each site needs
- Systems that fit how the plant genuinely runs
- Someone who has seen the shopfloor, not only the process map
- A go-live date set by readiness rather than by the programme plan
Local teams may not escalate a platform decision they disagree with. They can adopt the parts that fit and work around the rest, and the workaround becomes the process. An Interim CIO has to be present enough at the sites to see what is actually being used.
Les domaines dans lesquels nous intervenons le plus souvent
Modules de situation
Typical Interim CIO mandates
Programmes de transformation stratégiques pour l'entreprise
An implementation has stalled or gone live without stabilising. The mandate is to take the deferred decisions, reduce scope to what is achievable, and deliver a platform the business can rely on.
Intégration post-fusion et scission
A separated business needs its own systems against fixed exit dates, or two estates have to consolidate. The mandate is sequenced against the transitional services agreement rather than preference.
Poste clé à pourvoir
The technology function has no owner while continuity, security and a live programme all continue. The mandate is to hold the estate and hand over cleanly.
Governance, Visibility and Control
Security posture, data governance or vendor management have become risks the board can see and nobody owns. The mandate is to make the position verifiable.
Environnements sectoriels
Where CE Interim appoints Interim CIOs
Secteurs primaires
Également proposé
Contexte de propriété
Sector understanding matters because a manufacturing estate carries production, quality and planning systems that behave differently from a purely commercial environment, and technically sound decisions can still fail operationally if they do not fit how the plant actually works.
Éléments de preuve présentés au dossier
Technology mandates in practice
Global materials group · More than 150 years of history · Present in more than thirty countries · Intervention across ten Polish sites
Group ERP template deployed across ten locations in Poland
Situation
A group ERP template was being rolled out into the Polish entities as part of a wider group transformation, governed centrally and delivered locally through an implementation partner, against a fixed go-live.
Mandat
CE Interim appointed an interim executive to own the programme locally: holding the partner to scope, coordinating ten sites with different operating realities, and getting the business ready rather than only the system.
Résultats
The rollout moved from a centrally driven system implementation to a locally owned business programme. Ten sites were brought into one governance cadence, the implementation partner was held to scope, and readiness issues were resolved before they could become go-live failures. Local management entered the transition with clear accountability for adoption, not just technical delivery.
European industrial manufacturer · Food, pharmaceutical and defence markets · Publicly listed group · Around 200 people
Finance systems stabilised after an ERP go-live at a Czech site
Situation
A new ERP platform had gone live and, in the words of the brief, had gone worst in finance. The close had become dependent on workarounds, the team was producing by hand what the system should have produced, and the finance leader had departed in the middle of it.
Mandat
Stabilise the reporting inside the system as implemented, and separate what finance could fix from what required the platform to change.
Résultats
The finance function was brought back under control without waiting for a complete ERP redesign. Reporting was stabilised inside the live system, manual workarounds were reduced, and the remaining platform defects were isolated and assigned clearly. Management regained dependable financial visibility while the business continued operating.
Coût et durée
What an Interim CIO mandate costs and how long it runs
Le tarif des missions est fixé sous forme de forfait journalier en fonction du périmètre, des responsabilités et de la durée. Il n'y a ni pourcentage du salaire, ni commission de placement, ni investissement initial. Vous payez les jours travaillés dans le cadre d'une mission convenue, et le tarif est confirmé avant l'entrée en fonction du cadre.
Tarif journalier indicatif
1 000 € – 3 000 €
Plus élevé lorsque le mandat implique une fonction réglementée ou présente une complexité transfrontalière.
Durée et étapes clés
Recovery or separation mandate
Nine to eighteen months
Remplacement en cas d'absence
De six à douze mois
Decision authority and recovery cadence established
Inside thirty days
Cadre présent sur place
Dans les 72 heures suivant la remise du dossier complet
Qu'est-ce qui fait varier ce chiffre ?.
The scale of the estate and the number of sites and countries on it. Whether a recovery, a separation or a consolidation is in scope. Whether vendor renegotiation sits inside the mandate. Whether the security posture has to be re established rather than reviewed. Every mandate is delivered on site.
À quoi il faut le comparer.
Not the cost of the mandate, but the cost of the situation continuing without an accountable executive while decisions are deferred.
Ce que vous paierez réellement.
Lors du premier entretien confidentiel, un partenaire vous communique un montant. C'est gratuit et sans engagement.
Questions
Questions boards and sponsors ask
Directeur informatique par intérim ou directeur de la transformation et des programmes par intérim ?
Directeur des systèmes d'information (DSI) : le risque réside dans le bon fonctionnement des systèmes. Directeur de la transformation : les systèmes fonctionnent, mais le risque réside dans l'adoption du changement par l'entreprise. De nombreux programmes nécessitent les deux profils, dont les missions sont définies de manière à éviter tout chevauchement.
Utilisez-vous le titre de « CTO » ?
Ni pour ce poste, ni pour la transformation. Sur le marché, « CTO » signifie « Chief Technology Officer » (directeur technique), et CE Interim préfère écrire les intitulés de poste en toutes lettres plutôt que d'utiliser un acronyme susceptible d'attirer un public non ciblé.
Un DSI par intérim peut-il relancer la mise en œuvre d'un progiciel de gestion d'entreprise (ERP) qui a échoué ?
Oui, et c'est une exigence courante. Pour réussir à relancer un projet, il faut s'attaquer aux causes de son blocage, et non pas simplement relancer le même plan avec une nouvelle date. Cela peut nécessiter de réduire la portée du projet et de redéfinir la relation avec le prestataire.
Le responsable par intérim pourra-t-il collaborer avec notre partenaire de mise en œuvre actuel ?
Oui, en tant que partie contractante plutôt qu'en tant que coordinateur. La définition du périmètre, le contrôle des modifications, la remontée des problèmes et la réception relèvent de la responsabilité de l'entreprise ; la réception, en particulier, n'est pas une décision qui doit être laissée à la partie chargée de la prestation.
Et si notre équipe informatique était compétente, mais manquait d'encadrement ?
Cela modifie la mission plutôt que d'y mettre fin. Lorsque l'équipe informatique existante dispose des compétences nécessaires mais manque de leadership ou de pouvoir décisionnel, le responsable par intérim prend la tête de l'équipe déjà en place et oriente la mission vers la définition des orientations, la gouvernance et la mise en œuvre.
Ont-ils besoin d'une expérience spécifique dans le secteur industriel ?
Pour les entreprises industrielles, oui. Les systèmes de production, de qualité et de planification fonctionnent différemment de ceux du secteur commercial, et les décisions prises sans tenir compte de cette réalité sont contournées sur le terrain, quelle que soit leur pertinence technique.
Le mandat peut-il inclure une réduction du périmètre ?
C'est normal. La reprise nécessite souvent d'en faire moins plutôt que plus, et le pouvoir de réduire le périmètre ou de reporter une mise en service doit faire partie intégrante du mandat, et non pas relever d'une procédure d'escalade.
Qui engage le dirigeant, et quelles sont les responsabilités du client ?
CE Interim met en place des missions sur une base interentreprises, et le cadre intérimaire ne rejoint pas l'entreprise cliente en tant que salarié permanent. La partie contractante est une entité locale ou un pôle régional, selon le pays d'intervention, choisie parmi plus de trente entités au sein de l'Alliance Valtus. Le statut professionnel, les obligations fiscales, sociales et autres obligations connexes dépendent de la juridiction, de la structure contractuelle et des circonstances de la mission ; l’intervention est donc structurée en fonction du pays dans lequel le travail est effectué.
Qui assume le risque lorsque le dirigeant occupe un poste officiel ?
L'assurance est souscrite pour chaque mission. Le cadre dirigeant dispose de sa propre assurance responsabilité civile des dirigeants et des mandataires sociaux, ainsi que d'une assurance responsabilité civile professionnelle ; pour certaines missions, le client fournit cette couverture ou y contribue. CE Interim et chaque membre de l'Alliance Valtus disposent également de leur propre couverture. L’étendue de la responsabilité, les limites et les plafonds de signature sont convenus par écrit entre le client, CE Interim et le dirigeant avant que ce dernier n’entre en fonction.
En combien de temps peut-on commencer ?
Un cadre supérieur, dont les compétences ont été vérifiées et qui correspond au profil recherché, est prêt à prendre ses fonctions dans les 72 heures suivant la finalisation du cahier des charges. Si un axe de travail nécessite l'intervention d'un spécialiste supplémentaire en cours de mission, CE Interim peut en faire appel à un autre issu du même réseau.
Notre projet ERP dépasse le budget prévu et accuse un retard. Peut-on encore le rattraper ?
C'est possible. La remise sur les rails commence généralement par déterminer les raisons du retard du programme, ce que l’entreprise est réellement en mesure d’absorber et si le périmètre actuel est toujours défendable. Cela peut impliquer de réduire le périmètre, de redéfinir la relation avec le fournisseur et de réorganiser le calendrier de livraison en fonction de la maturité opérationnelle plutôt que du calendrier des jalons. Relancer le même plan sans s’attaquer aux causes de son blocage risque de conduire à un nouvel échec.
Qui est responsable de la relation avec notre partenaire de mise en œuvre pendant la durée du mandat ?
Le dirigeant intérimaire agit en tant que contrepartie plutôt qu’en tant que coordinateur. La portée, le contrôle des changements, la remontée des problèmes et la réception relèvent tous de la responsabilité de l’entreprise. Confier la réception à la partie chargée de la prestation, c’est ce qui fait que les programmes fonctionnent sur le papier mais échouent dans la pratique.
Que se passe-t-il à la fin ?
A deliberate handover. Architecture decisions, the vendor position and the operating model are documented and transferred to named people, so the permanent CIO inherits an organisation rather than a backlog.
When CIO authority is missing, delay becomes a decision in itself.
Discutez directement avec un associé par intérim de CE de la situation en matière de direction, du mandat et des pouvoirs nécessaires. Cet entretien est confidentiel et ne vous engage en rien quant à une éventuelle nomination.
Réponse d'un partenaire dans les 24 heures. Les situations urgentes liées au leadership sont traitées en priorité.
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