Interim CIO/CDO for PE portfolio companies, upper mid-market, corporate groups and divisions · Interim CEO for IT service providers

“His passion to drive things forward is admirable”

Carve-out, integration, exit, turnaround and restructuring during live operations. Top leadership level with realisation and liability – available from day one.

Your situation

Let's talk You need support, now You need a specific outcome

Expertise

26 years of IT leadership
35 mandates & projects
10+ industries
8 PE mandates

Scope of responsibility

up to 400+ employees
EUR 150 million IT budget
14+ countries

Available

What you can expect: results from comparable situations

Every figure comes from a completed mandate and is documented in the case sheet.

A business unit is being sold

Day Zero

Day-zero functionality: 8 sites in 4 countries, ≈ 140 applications, 8 workstreams

Recipharm

IT operations are unstable

18 → 1

Major Incidents pro Quartal, KRITIS-Ausfälle auf 0

Alliance Healthcare

A large IT project is stranded

Day 1

Dynamics 365 by Day 1, M365 out of its dead end (Utsch); Dynamics 365 in 5 instead of 12 months (Design Offices)

Utsch · Design Offices

The investor needs exit readiness

≈ 20%

Savings potential, due-diligence-ready IT strategy

ARTEMIS

An IT unit needs restructuring

EUR 39m → < 15%

Offene Posten (EUR); Rollenmodell 27 → 13 Rollen

ITDZ Berlin

Acquisitions: Day 1 and consolidation

Add-on acquisitions: 9 practice management systems prepared for one target platform

ARTEMIS

All results & case studies

What clients say

I think this was really good job done very quickly, very rapidly and very intensely
Management · ARTEMIS eye clinics (PE-owned) · exit readiness, 2025–2026

… recommend him as a highly competent and committed professional who not only has in-depth technical knowledge but also the ability to successfully tackle transformations at all levels …
Management · Alliance Healthcare Germany · post-merger integration, 2023

Thank you for the great work, Frank. It was a pleasure working with you.
Client · Recipharm (PE-owned) · carve-out, 2023–2024

All client testimonials

Organisations supported

PE portfolio companies, corporate divisions, upper mid-market, healthcare and public IT service providers – in DACH and at European sites.

Your industry

I have led comparable situations in these industries – organisations and focus areas per industry in the overview.

Healthcare & social services

ARTEMIS · Oberlinhaus · Ranova · UKM · Bayerisches Rotes Kreuz · Diakonie-Klinikum · ias-Gruppe

Pharma

Recipharm · Alliance Healthcare · Bayer Schering · Altana Pharma

Mechanical & plant engineering

Kelvion · Kaba · Ampleon

Automotive

Utsch · BMW · Daimler · Dräxlmaier · Hüngsberg

Public-sector IT service providers

ITDZ Berlin · Mark-E / IDG

Real estate & building technology

Design Offices · Carrier · DeTeImmobilien

Security & staffing services

Securitas · ABLE Group / FERCHAU

Triggers and causes

When a transaction, crisis or deadline becomes critical

I take overall responsibility for IT during business-critical phases with tight deadlines – in line with the organisation’s structure, with decision-making authority, budgetary control and liability.

Transaction: carve-out, integration, exit

Carve-out: separating IT against the TSA deadline – the biggest hurdle according to 40% of decision-makers
Integration: two IT worlds, synergies priced into the deal, repeated with every add-on acquisition
Exit: IT due diligence in the exclusivity phase, exit readiness before the vendor due diligence

For you as Operating partner, separation management office, CFO

≈ 4,000 users migrated, 474 applications dispositioned, 3 data centres exited – TSA exit as interim CIO

Crisis: turnaround, restructuring, recovery

Business-critical outages or recovery after a cyber incident
Large-scale project misses go-live, budget keeps running, integrator and business units point at each other
Restructuring case: IT as cost block, liability risk and separation factor

For you as Management, CRO, advisory board

Major incidents 18 → 1 per quarter (≈ EUR 720,000 per quarter), critical-infrastructure outages down to 0 – post-merger integration

Deadline & regulation: dates that cannot be negotiated

SAP ECC end of maintenance 2027 – 54% of users still on ECC, S/4HANA programmes on average 30% longer than planned
NIS2, DORA, CRA: management duties, registration, reporting readiness
EU AI Act: AI pilots without ownership, governance or P&L effect

For you as Management, supervisory board, CFO

SAP S/4HANA platform built for the consolidation of 17 ERP systems

Vacancy & build-up: IT leadership is missing

CIO position vacant – the search takes 12–20 weeks, plus the notice period
Programmes continue without leadership, providers and budgets without control
Key staff leave, a successor must be found and onboarded

For you as Shareholders, CEO, CFO

170 findings and 10 fields of action in 8 working days – vacancy bridging with exit analysis

Interim CEO for IT service providers: the plan is missed

Revenue and receivables are getting out of hand
Contracts, pricing and billing are not managed
Roles are unclear, leadership is overloaded

For you as Investor, shareholders, board of directors

Receivables from EUR 39 million to below 15% of the starting value – restructuring of an IT unit

Starting situation and industry at a glance

Find your starting situation and your industry: the matrix shows where I have already led comparable situations – with organisation and focus.

Healthcare & social services

Transaction

ARTEMIS (exit readiness)
Oberlinhaus (IT due diligence merger)
Ranova (roll-up)

Crisis

ARTEMIS (security maturity after cyber incident)

Deadline & Regulation

ARTEMIS (NIS2 requirements)
Oberlinhaus (AI strategy, Copilot)
Justizvollzugskrankenhaus NRW (teleradiology, RIS/PACS)

Vacancy & Build-up

Oberlinhaus (interim CIO fractional)
ARTEMIS (CIO vacancy)
Diakonie-Klinikum (interim CIO, refilling)
UKM (operating model)
Bayerisches Rotes Kreuz (DMS/ECM decision paper)
ias Group (Group CIO)

Pharma

Transaction

Recipharm (carve-out)
Alliance Healthcare (post-merger integration)
Altana Pharma (post-merger harmonisation)

Crisis

Alliance Healthcare (operational stabilisation, major incidents 18 → 1)

Deadline & Regulation

Alliance Healthcare (KRITIS, GxP/SOX, data-centre exit deadline)
Bayer Schering (consolidation of 30+ data centres)

Vacancy & Build-up

Altana Pharma (outsourcing RFP)

Interim CEO for IT Service Providers

Bayer Business Services (IT Service Management)

Mechanical & plant engineering

Transaction

Kelvion (exit analysis)
Ampleon (carve-out review)

Crisis

Kelvion (IT operations turnaround)

Vacancy & Build-up

Kelvion (vacancy bridging)
Kaba (IT assessment 38 units)

Interim CEO for IT Service Providers

BASF IT Services (service catalogue, SLA reporting)

Automotive

Crisis

Utsch (rescue of ERP/M365 rollout)
Daimler (turnaround of HQ IT order control centre)

Deadline & Regulation

Dräxlmaier (S/4HANA rollout)
BMW (IT consolidation programme)

Vacancy & Build-up

Utsch (fractional)

Interim CEO for IT Service Providers

Hüngsberg (automotive software, permanent role)

Software / IT

Transaction

Software AG / Cinven (PE due diligence)

Crisis

TeamViewer (IT turnaround)

Deadline & Regulation

TeamViewer (ISO 27001 target picture)

Vacancy & Build-up

TeamViewer (handover to internal successors)
Occhio (interim CIO initial phase)

Public-sector IT service providers

Crisis

ITDZ Berlin (restructuring)

Interim CEO for IT Service Providers

ITDZ Berlin (restructuring of IT service provider)
Mark-E / IDG (internal IT service provider)

Energy

Transaction

Gazprom Germania (PMI WINGAS in the PMO)

Deadline & Regulation

Gazprom Germania (SAP R/3 to S/4HANA)

Vacancy & Build-up

Gazprom Germania 2016 (service management vacancy)
Stadtwerke Bielefeld (service and contract structure)

Interim CEO for IT Service Providers

Gazprom Germania (shared services centre)

Transport & logistics

Transaction

Alliance Healthcare (post-merger integration)

Deadline & Regulation

Alliance Healthcare (KRITIS, GxP/SOX, data-centre exit deadline)

Vacancy & Build-up

Rickmers (IT strategy)
DKSH (IT rightsizing Asia)

Media & telecommunications

Vacancy & Build-up

Deutsche Telekom / DeTeImmobilien (IT strategy, controlling)

Interim CEO for IT Service Providers

Bertelsmann arvato (shared services, chargeback)

Real estate & building technology

Transaction

Carrier (carve-out, TSA exit)

Crisis

Design Offices (ERP/CRM implementation in 5 instead of 12 months)

Deadline & Regulation

Carrier (S/4HANA, 17 ERP systems)

Vacancy & Build-up

Carrier (IT organisation, TOM)
Deutsche Telekom / DeTeImmobilien (IT strategy, controlling)

Food & retail

Deadline & Regulation

Schwartauer Werke / Hero (SAP consolidation DE/CZ)

Vacancy & Build-up

Lidl (IT value contribution, IT scorecard)

Security & staffing services

Transaction

ABLE Group / FERCHAU (IT risk due diligence, Day-One integration model)

Vacancy & Build-up

Securitas (CIO DACH/Benelux)

Organisations from 35 mandates and projects; details per situation via the sub-heading, per case in the case studies.

Delivery in the line, with accountability for results

Top leadership level reporting to CEO, CFO, board or investor. I personally take on decisions, negotiations, people leadership and liability – within your leadership structure, with measurable results. Depending on the mandate, we bring in specialists and further interim managers from our network.

What should be in place after 30, 60 and 90 days

Day 30Ability to act and decide
Situation, risks and decision papers are on the table; the first decisions have been taken.
Day 60Stabilisation and alignment
Operations are stable, governance and reporting are running, the target picture is agreed.
Day 90Ability to transform
Organisation, plan and budget carry the implementation; it runs in phases with accepted outcomes.

How I work

Initial situation

You need support

Describe your situation in three minutes – confidential, no obligation. You will receive a first assessment within 24 hours.

Describe your situation

You need a specific result

Name the goal and the time horizon – carve-out, ERP migration, turnaround, AI scaling. You will receive an honest feasibility and effort assessment.

Define the outcome

What you concretely gain

Accountability for results

Each phase has a defined outcome; you decide after each phase whether to continue. Handover to the permanent successor is a fixed part.

Immediately available

C-level competence from day 1. A permanent hire takes 12–20 weeks of search plus the notice period.

Relief for management through delivery

NIS2 (management duties under section 38 BSIG), the EU AI Act and SAP ECC end of maintenance 2027 are dated obligations of the management. The legal duty stays with you – I provide relief through verifiable delivery, reporting readiness and board reporting.

Faster through AI-assisted working

Analysis, documentation and reporting run on a dedicated AI tool chain: rapid assessment in weeks 1–4. Every result is labelled and personally signed off. Example: 170 findings and 10 fields of action in 8 working days.

Independent and objective

Plain talk with management, advisory board and investor – independent of internal interests and free of career ambitions inside the company.

Interim CIO/CDO full-time

Ability to act, stabilisation, transformation – each phase with a defined outcome. You decide on continuation and end.

Fractional CIO/CDO

1–3 days per week – as vacancy bridging, part-time IT leadership or support after the mandate.

Service packages with a predefined outcome

IT Due Diligence
Exit-readiness check
CIO-Readiness Assessment
Carve-out & PMI Playbook
TSA-Exit Roadmap
CIO First 90 Days
NIS2 & AI Act Readiness

Approach and service packages in detail

The difference between value destruction and value creation

Entrepreneurial perspective

Seven years running my own company as managing director, majority shareholder and corporate officer (2015–2022), before that overall operational responsibility as COO – P&L thinking in every IT decision.

Breadth and depth

10+ industries, upper mid-market to corporate divisions, mandates in DACH with delivery capability at European sites (57 sites worldwide at Carrier) – in German and English.

Successor included

Knowledge transfer and onboarding of the permanent CIO are a fixed part of every mandate.

Binding standards

Confidentiality, independence, accountability for results, no conflicts of interest, knowledge transfer to the successor – committed in writing.

Read the Code of Conduct

In 90 seconds: who I am and how I work

Ich übernehme Verantwortung dort, wo es schwierig wird – als Interim CIO/CDO oder als Interim CEO für IT-Dienstleister, in Sondersituationen, unter Zeitdruck, mit hohem Einsatz. Mein Maßstab ist Wirkung: stabile IT, geschützte Investitionen, ein handlungsfähiges Team und ein Nachfolger, der übernehmen kann.

More about me

Let’s talk.

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