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Computerworld - Pete Shelkin's tenure as CIO at San Juan Regional Medical Center lasted four months, a short stint even by today's fast-paced standards. Still, Shelkin achieved his goal, which was to devise a plan to push the Farmington, N.M.-based hospital's IT operations to a new level of performance.
Most CIOs would want more time to tackle such a task, but Shelkin figures the brevity of his assignment helped him. "When you're coming in as an interim [CIO], you're looking to figure out what the organization needs done and get it done quickly without setting your own tone," he says.
Despite the fleeting nature of their work, temporary CIOs like Shelkin say they're expected to do much more than provide caretaker services. They're often hired to turn around departments, develop strategies and drive change. As tough as that can be for full-fledged executives, those in interim positions say their jobs come with extra challenges that demand a separate set of skills. They say they're fully up to the task.
"A temporary CIO needs to be a politician, analyst and therapist," says Tom Costello, president and CEO of UpStreme Inc., a consulting firm in Malvern, Pa.
That's just the start. Interim CIOs, like their permanent counterparts, must understand how technology supports a company's business goals, experts say. But because of the job's condensed time frame -- temporary CIOs say the length of their assignments ranges from a few weeks to more than a year -- they must be able to move more quickly than permanent execs.
Paul M. Lemerise, a partner at Atlanta-based Tatum Partners LLP, started in January as interim CIO at Pharmavite LLC, a Northridge, Calif.-based vitamin manufacturer and distributor. He has already restructured Pharmavite's IT organization.
But Lemerise says the ability to act quickly is only one of the skills he needs. Prior experience is a must, and experience with turnaround situations is also crucial. "Otherwise," he says, "you'll fail miserably."

Image Credit: Larry Goode

Still, temp execs say that's not enough. They must bridge business and technology, handle staffing issues, oversee projects and deployments -- the usual tasks of any CIO -- but with neither an in-depth understanding of a company's history nor a network of familiar co-workers.
Marc Grossman, president of New York-based Smart Solutions for Health Care, places CIOs into interim positions in the health care industry. He does his homework before matching executives with clients.
He recently placed a temporary CIO at a 250-bed facility in the Northeast. Before making the placement, he asked a host of