‘There’s nothing like being an interim manager (IM) for being put right in the thick of it,’ says one successful IM, Barry Sacks. ‘And the biggest part of all that is that you have to deliver – it’s all about results.’
Sacks started off as a teenager interested in computer games, but in the 20 years he has been in IT he has covered a wide range of jobs. In his CV, Sacks describes himself as ‘an IT director with expertise in the lifecycle management of innovative and challenging integrated business solutions, and an expert in delivering complex IT systems portfolios through the effective utilisation of internal, external and offshore resource models in global blue-chip environments’.
To back up such claims Sacks points to jobs with PA Consulting, Diageo, General Motors Acceptance Corporation, as well as engineering firms and software houses. He has led IT departments, helped deliver the world’s first transactional Wap-based bank, Europe’s first mobile credit card voucher redemption system, a global financial services portfolio and even, somewhat mysteriously, ‘a “Big Brother” information retrieval system for a national political party.’
Technologies he has worked with include middleware, application integration tools, and other infrastructure products, as well as embedded and real-time computing.
He characterises his current engagement – like many IMs he is reluctant to name his current employer – as having an ‘IT programme directorate role aspect.’ He is not acting as CIO, but delivers a large-scale financial services product.
Sacks says the move into IM was definitely the right one as he enjoys the challenge, but he admits it is not a job that would suit everyone.
‘It can be difficult as you have to be able to offer a range of business functions and skills,’ he says. ‘And it can be a bit of an unpredictable life with gaps between engagements.’
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