Thorsten Hackfort - Interim CIO for IT Transformation

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Gütersloh, Germany

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Experience

Jun 2026 - Present

4 months

Self-employed Interim Manager and Consultant

7HillsConsulting Michael Stolle

Active network of freelancers and self-employed professionals in the areas of interim management, Fractional Leadership, consulting and coaching.
Interim management of IT projects
Support in developing and implementing business strategies
Change management
Optimization of business processes

Sep 2022 - Present

4 years 1 month

Bünde, Germany

Partner

Johannes Müller Wirtschaftsberatung (JMWB)

Regional management consultancy for succession planning, digitalization, crisis management, restructuring, financial communication, optimization of operations and processes for corporate management in small and medium-sized companies.
Contributed to the development of a more holistic consulting market approach
Various presentations on personnel topics in mid-sized companies
Contact person for all personnel recruitment topics

Jul 2017 - Apr 2026

8 years 10 months

Gütersloh, Germany

Hybrid

Senior Partner

HR-Expertgroup Executive Search & Consulting

Industry-specific identification, approach, professional assessment and preselection, as well as recommendation of TOP performers for specialist and management positions. Execution of consulting and interim mandates.
Selective acceptance of interim mandates as a senior leader (project management, IT management, CIO; IT division management, CTO; CDO, etc.)
Focus: Holistic IT and infrastructure management
IT service management; IT service processes
Leadership coaching for internal succession candidates or market recruiting through proven direct approach
Analysis of the IT organization’s status quo regarding maturity level and derived measures, including cost-benefit estimates:
Infrastructures
Applications
Business continuity
Professionalization of employees
Data center
Effectiveness of backup concepts
Compliance requirements
IT strategy development
High-quality personnel consulting exclusively based on retained mandates in the fields of information and communications technology (IT), digitalization and the CFO stack
Filling critical positions with an annual target salary starting at 90.000€
Various VP-level and SVP-level positions (HR, IT, CFO stack...)
Management positions (technical or disciplinary)
Intensive consulting and briefing workshops for top management regarding the position/role to be advertised
Professional assessment and qualified preselection of potential candidates

May 2015 - Jun 2017

2 years 2 months

General Manager

Seeburger AG

World-leading software company in all areas of B2B communication, with 11 national subsidiaries and locations in 21 countries.
730 employees, 100 Mio. € revenue / 2017)
Reporting line: CEO and founder Bernd Seeburger; after his departure, to CFO Friedemann Heinz
Holistic development of the company and administration
Management, development and optimization of the divisions: controlling, commercial order processing and internal sales, invoicing and general administration
Central CRM system including development team
Central IT, IT procurement, IT desktop services and management of customer data centers for managed services and cloud applications
Central marketing for all products and solutions regarding corporate identity (CI), company positioning and corporate communications
Management of the SAP product division, product strategy, market positioning, commercial management as a business unit with its associated sales and development teams
Management of the CISO and ITSecO as staff functions
Risk management and allocation of tasks to external law firms
Commercial management of subsidiaries
Commercial management of service projects
Utilization, KPIs, project management and documentation
Development and optimization of reporting systems and internal processes
Analysis of key figures, tracking of variances from plan and management of corresponding corrective and improvement measures; initiator of efficiency and cost awareness
Responsible for planning and budgeting based on the corporate strategy
Analysis and documentation of all company processes; implementation of their potential to increase efficiency
Review and partial redesign of the change process
Establishment and expansion of own sales units
Introduction and coaching of middle management (marketing, SAP, internal sales)
Increased service quality across the organization through the introduction of ISAE3402 audits; introduction of compliance
Successful re-certifications according to ISO 9001 and 27001

Oct 2014 - Mar 2015

6 months

Bremen, Germany

Director Global Infrastructure Management

CGI Deutschland Ltd. & Co. KG

Fifth-largest IT service provider, 68.000 employees in 40 countries, 400 locations
10 Mrd. CAD revenue / year, in Germany: 2300 employees
Reporting line: VP Outsourcing as practice lead
Responsible for the Global Infrastructure Management division, > 140 employees, 8 teams, 4 locations, 10 direct reportees
Management of the two data centers in Germany (Bremen)
Review and redesign of ITIL processes
Stabilization and quality assurance of delivery units with a focus on professionalization
Increased efficiency and productivity
Sustainability
Customer and employee satisfaction
Establishment of a new strategic delivery location in Erfurt
Introduction of ISAE3402 compliance into the organization by the end of 2015
Transformation of the manufacturing approach into industrialized service processes
Evaluation of a new strategic data center location in Germany
Definition of architectures and holistic operation of the infrastructure
Procurement and rollout
Holistic operation of customer IT through to field service tasks in full outsourcing
Operation of IBM host environments, AS/400, Unix derivatives (AIX, Sun, Linux), as well as Intel-based architectures, storage and backup solutions
Operation of Oracle database applications and SAP
Citrix farms and cloud environments, ESX hosts, Exchange, Notes
Management of business partners and suppliers
Contact person for the works council
Sales, bid management, presales and project management
Service management, networks and trainee program
Recruiting and staffing for the division
Management and individual development of managers
Establishment of the service desk as an independent value-creation pillar after its separation from the division
Initiated a project to review and redesign ITIL processes
Concept development and budget planning for the holistic professionalization of delivery
Building a network with other business units and customers

Jan 2010 - May 2014

4 years 5 months

Head of Managed Services

All for One Steeb AG

TOP-1 SAP system house in the DACH region
900 employees, revenue 2012/13: 186.3 Mio. €
Reporting to: CEO
Overall responsibility for the Managed Services business unit, > 120 employees, 9 teams across four levels, 8 locations, 7 direct reports
Management of the two high-availability data centers in Frankfurt
Outsourcing services for around 220 customers in the DACH region
Definition, implementation and quality assurance of sustainable service and data center processes
Introduction of SAS70 / ISAE3402 compliance into the organization
Design of the service portfolio
Definition of strategy and objectives for the business unit
Ensuring service quality and customer satisfaction
Operation of SAP and non-SAP systems; > 1900 operating systems; > 1400 SAP instances
Archiving solutions (Easy-Archive; Symantec Enterprise Vault)
Operation of all Citrix farms and Private Cloud environments
Operation of Microsoft Exchange (> 15000 mailboxes), MS-Sharepoint, Lync
More than 25,000 supported end users
Management of business partners and suppliers
Responsible for negotiating and procuring external consulting support to compensate for project-related peak workloads
De-escalation internally and externally (employees, internal managers, customers, partners)
Further development and coaching of managers
Scaling of the BU Managed Services from 31.4 Mio. € (FY 2009/10) to 86.8 Mio. € (FY 2012/13): expansion of the organization from around 70 employees (2009/10) to > 120 employees
Increase of the business unit's share of total revenue: 47 %
M&A: integration of new team units from the organizational acquisition
Transition of > than 30 new customers into the data centers in 2012/2013 (TCV:26 Mio. €)
Establishment of a PMO
Migration of more than 95 % of customer system landscapes to fully virtualized server environments, extensive server consolidation
Reduction of electricity costs in 2013 to the 2009 level (minus 30%)
Standardization and industrialization of the entire operation
Development of a training concept (three modules) for managers at All for One Steeb and successful rollout across the organization
Evaluation of the data center sourcing strategy, selection of potential partners

Oct 2006 - Sep 2009

3 years

Head of Individual Customers Business Unit

Sycor GmbH

Mid-sized IT consulting company
250 employees, revenue 2008: 34.1 Mio. €
Reporting to: Managing Director and Spokesperson of the Management Board
Overall responsibility for the Individual Customers business unit, three departments, 25 employees, 8 direct reports with revenue and budget responsibility (2007: 3.3 Mio. €; 2008: 3.57 Mio. €)
Strategy coaching for colleagues in the US office
Definition and preparation based on Kaplan's BSC model
Dimensions: finance, customers, processes and employees
Promotion of the company's global development (USA, Asia)
Support/coaching of employees in establishing a future new business unit
Planning and conducting employee and business unit strategy workshops
Planning, design and implementation of sales campaigns using a telemarketing approach as an external service
Introduction of quality management methods; monitoring of processes, strengthening employee accountability
Business development and partner management
Industry-independent SAP consulting
SAP archiving and DMS services (P8 and IBM CM)
Technology and outsourcing services for ERP and archiving
Consulting and development based on ABAP and JAVA (SAP eCommerce)
SAP technology consulting
Assumption of key account management
Recruitment of new employees, conducting applicant interviews
Representing the visions, values and guidelines internally and externally
Exceeding the revenue target in 2007 and 2008
Acquisition of seven new customers for the business unit in 2008
Achieving the highest customer satisfaction ratings in 2007 and 2008 (compared to all strategic business units)

Jan 2005 - Sep 2006

1 year 9 months

Team Leader, LoB “Technology Consulting”

itelligence AG

One of the internationally leading full-service IT providers in the SAP environment, 1300 employees, revenue 2005: 139.1 Mio. €
Reporting to: Head of Line of Business (LoB)
Direct management of 5 employees
Establishment of the “Technical System Solutions” team
Main focus: technology consulting outside traditional SAP Basis consulting
Establishment of the “Citrix” business unit
Conducting employee development meetings
Business development
IT process consulting
Preparation, consulting for and evaluation of IT tenders
Analysis of existing customer contracts with IT service providers and identification of optimization potential
IT strategy consulting and workshops
Citrix presales
Partner management for the itelligence – Arxes cooperation
Partner management for the itelligence – Avira cooperation
Formation of a high-performing team with diversified responsibilities
Successful planning and implementation of a trade fair presence at the DSAG conference (2005) in Bremen
100 %-achievement of targets and contribution to positive revenue development
Successful support of new and existing customers: positive customer satisfaction feedback

Jan 2001 - Dec 2004

4 years

Project Manager, Outsourcing Competence Center

itelligence AG

Reporting to: Head of Outsourcing Competence Center
Participation in establishing the “Outsourcing & Services” business unit
Participation in establishing the “Outsourcing Competence Center”
Project management in outsourcing transitions
Support for sales through presales and independent solution and concept development
Development of concepts for server consolidation
Preparation of operations manuals
Planning and consulting for customers' in-house IT operations
Planning of necessary hardware expansions
Project management responsibility for the successful transition of extensive productive SAP landscapes to outsourcing

Nov 1999 - Dec 2000

1 year 2 months

SAP Database and System Administrator

it-go ! GmbH

Joint venture of SVC AG and Realtech AG; 10 employees
Reporting to: Management Board
Started as a trainee database and SAP R/3 system administrator, internationally oriented program over 3 months, language: English
Database and SAP R/3 system administration
Participation in establishing the operations team
Objective: establishment of the outsourcing business
Assumed planning, design and overall responsibility for relocating the data center from Walldorf to Bautzen in Sept. 2000 with 12 productive SAP customer systems
Managed 8 employees as project manager
Successful implementation on time, in budget and in quality

Feb 1998 - Oct 1999

1 year 9 months

Information Services Project Office

CLAAS KgaA

Europe's largest agricultural machinery manufacturer, 8400 employees, revenue 1998: 2,168 billion DM
Reporting line: Head of Information Services
Project office, SAP - R/2, - R/3 project work, process documentation, program maintenance, transport management in SAP, translations, training
Conducted user training in England and Hungary

Industry experience

See where this freelancer has spent most of their professional time.

Experienced in Information Technology, Professional Services, and Manufacturing.

Information Technology

Professional Services

Manufacturing

Business area experience

See which departments and functions this freelancer has contributed to most.

Experienced in Information Technology, Project Management, Strategy, Human Resources, Quality Assurance, and Customer Service.

Information Technology

Project Management

Strategy

Human Resources

Quality Assurance

Customer Service

Summary

Experienced Interim CIO with over 25 years of experience in complex IT organizations. Specialized in stabilization, transformation and the clear strategic development of organizational structures.

He takes responsibility when IT organizations are under pressure: when the IT leadership position is vacant, service structures are unstable, outsourcing problems arise, data center or cloud topics need to be addressed, compliance requirements must be met or IT governance is lacking.

He combines over 25 years of operational IT leadership experience with management expertise, service excellence and a clear understanding of people, structures and risks.

Create stability – Promote accountability – Empower people.

Skills

Typical Areas Of Deployment

It Interim Management As A Senior Leader: Project Management, It Management, Cio, It Division Management, Cto, Fractional Cio
Holistic It And Infrastructure Management
It Strategy
Target Operating Models And Maturity Levels
Stabilization And Scaling Of It Organizations
It Risk Management; It Compliance, Sustainability In It
Bcm And Process-Safe It Governance
Support With Make-Or-Buy Decisions; It Due Diligence
M&A Integration Management
Data Center Management
Transition Of Productive Environments And Scaling
Migrations And Server Consolidation
Mentoring And Coaching Of Managers And Future Leaders
Enablement And Empowerment

Technologies & Methods

Erp / Sap / Databases: Sap S/4 Hana, Sap R/3, Sap Technology, Sap Hosting, Various Dbs
Infrastructure & Data Center: Vmware, Esx, Citrix, Unix/Aix/Linux, Storage & Backup, Data Center Operations, Coo
Microsoft: Ms 365, Exchange, Sharepoint, Ms Project, Visio
Cloud & Services: Cloud Strategy, Hosting Services, Managed Services, Outsourcing, Consulting Management
Methodologies & Processes: Itil, Bcm, Iso 9001, Iso 27001, Isae 3402, Kpi Management

Industry Knowledge

Software
It
Sap
Mid-Sized Companies

Languages

German

Native

English

Advanced

French

Advanced

Spanish

Elementary

Education

Jan 1994 - Nov 1997

Universität Bielefeld

Dr. rer. nat, Organic Chemistry · Chemistry · Bielefeld, Germany · sehr gut

Oct 1987 - Jan 1994

Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster

Diplom-Chemiker, Organic Chemistry · Chemistry · Münster, Germany

Organic synthetic chemistry

Jul 1976 - May 1985

Gymnasium Laurentianum Warendorf

Abitur · Classical-language grammar school · Warendorf, Germany

Statistics

Experience

Total positions 11

Experience in Information Technology 26 y

Avg length 2 y 10 m

Longest experience 8 y 9 m

Global experience

Countries worked in 1 (Germany)

Primary country Germany

Expertise

Recent roles Self-employed Interim Manager and Consultant, Partner, Senior Partner

Main industries Information Technology, Professional Services, Manufacturing

Main business areas Information Technology, Project Management, Strategy

Qualifications

Highest degree Doctorate

Profile

Member since

July 2025

Last update

September 2026

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Frequently asked questions

Have questions? Find more information here.

Thorsten is based in Gütersloh, Germany and can operate in on-site, hybrid, and remote work models.

Thorsten speaks the following languages: German (Native), English (Advanced), French (Advanced), Spanish (Elementary).

Thorsten has at least 28 years of experience. During this time, Thorsten has worked in at least 11 different roles and for 10 different companies. The average length of individual experience is 3 years and 6 months. Note that Thorsten may not have shared all experience and actually has more experience.

Based on recent experience, Thorsten would be well-suited for roles such as: Self-employed Interim Manager and Consultant, Partner, Senior Partner.

Thorsten's most recent position is Self-employed Interim Manager and Consultant at 7HillsConsulting Michael Stolle.

In recent years, Thorsten has worked for 7HillsConsulting Michael Stolle, Johannes Müller Wirtschaftsberatung (JMWB), and HR-Expertgroup Executive Search & Consulting.

Thorsten is most experienced in industries like Information Technology, Professional Services, and Manufacturing.

Thorsten is most experienced in business areas like Information Technology, Project Management, and Strategy. Thorsten also has some experience in Human Resources, Quality Assurance, and Customer Service.

Thorsten has recently worked in industries like Information Technology and Professional Services.

Thorsten has recently worked in business areas like Strategy, Human Resources, and Information Technology.

Thorsten holds a Doctorate in Chemistry from Universität Bielefeld and a Master in Chemistry from Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.

The availability of Thorsten needs to be confirmed.

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Daily rate avg. 891 €

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Median rate 832 €

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Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 28 Sep 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.