JRPARIS IT services: interim management
Yves Jacquin-Ravot is consulting director at JRPARIS.
I'm mainly working as an experienced interim manager for IT teams.
Versatile by nature and thanks to my (extensive) experience, I take on a variety of IT positions, mainly as CIO or CTO technical director.
It should be noted that the main position is often combined with a middle management position, left vacant until recruitment is completed or until the situation has calmed down.
My position often changes during the assignment. Typically, after the arrival of the internal manager, the assignment shifts to another vacant middle management position, or to a PM position or to a CIO Advisory role.
The majority of my clients are mid-sized companies, generally medium-sized businesses with an international presence, which leads to the same problems as large corporations but, without the same resources. These mid-sized companies do not have the internal pool to provide on time their own interim managers.
Large corporations are also represented. Immediate availability, organizational expertise, flexibility, and the ability to hit the ground running are what set these profiles apart from internal or IT services solutions.
Assignments cover all sectors of activity: software publishing, IT services, financial management, insurance, distribution, real estate, defense, healthcare, luxury goods, manufacturing, public sector, etc.
In practice, sectorial knowledge is not a particularly relevant prerequisite for interim CIO assignments.
All sectors have common needs in terms of corporate applications, finance, HR, CRM, purchasing, ERP, etc. Often, the real challenge lies in putting everything together.
Regardless of the sector, it is important to take into account the internal culture and competitive position.
A key point is the link between C-level, business lines, and teams. As such, we have the ability to work in initially tense contexts, with lingering personal conflicts or cultural differences. This adaptability is a sought-after trait for an interim manager.
Half of the time, the trigger for the assignment is the departure of the manager, whether voluntary or not.
We often arrive in situations of deadlock due to complex internal issues.
The challenge of the assignment is then to successfully move towards solutions. The position of internal manager backed by a consulting background allows me to be in “enlightened” solution mode and to take things to the next level. This is a main success criterion of the assignment. It is also its appeal.
Each of the 11 assignments carried out since 2015 has been different and unique.
Other triggers include crisis response, after a cyberattack or repeated major incidents. Other triggers include a failed transformation, the lack of time regarding a major contractual or legal deadline, an ERP switchover, or a data center migration.
Transition assignments require excellent operational management, the ability to remobilize and unite teams, and the gradual implementation of governance aligned with senior management.
The more assignments an interim manager carries out, the more he will strengthen his adaptability.
Transition also allows managers to experience varied and intense challenges, combined with periods between assignments that are ideal for traveling and preparing for professional retirement.
As transition is a confidential market by nature, I generally work through specialized intermediaries, in french called EMT [Entreprises de Management de Transition]. I also work due to personal recommendations from my network or from executives at IT services companies or HR firms who have a strong relationship of trust with their clients.
Assignments are mainly based in the Paris region, thanks to the number of head offices in the Île-de-France region, but also in other parts of France with travel abroad. In IT, it is rare to call on a French maanger for an IT assignment located abroad. Generally, the EMT will draw on the local pool of talent. Please, if you have an assignment for New Zealand, give me a call!
I am not interested in permanent employment because the intention is to quickly add value in order to reinvent myself in other contexts.
The phasing of an assignment is generally as follows:
- Stabilization of the emergency, if necessary,
- Shared diagnosis and key decisions,
- Priority projects,
- Transfer to the successor(s),
- Continuation of a project or coaching/consulting.
The average duration of assignments is 8 months. The longest ones are actually different transition assignments, that have been linked together, for example following the departure of the new incumbent.
I am mobile and speak English.
