Mathies Wähner · IT Governance Deutsch
Interim Lead · IT Governance & Program Stabilization

A clear basis for IT decisions. Leadership when the work has to move forward.

Mathies Wähner helps executive management and IT put their IT decisions on solid ground, and takes on agreed leadership responsibility for a defined period so that programs, providers and transitions move forward. For managing directors, executive boards, CFOs and CIOs of mid-sized companies and groups, often with several legal entities and providers.

Ways of working together →Read the notes →

Direct: mw@mathieswaehner.com · Willich near Düsseldorf, Germany · remote and hybrid

Utilities, municipal utilities, infrastructure, industry; shareholdings and carve-outs.

Latest note · 4 minute read

How capable people make structural gaps invisible

Responsibility without authority is risk transfer.

Read →
  • In IT delivery, consulting and governance since 2015, independent interim engagements since 2023
  • Regulated enterprise environments in Europe and the United States
  • Energy utilities, critical infrastructure, IT service providers
  • PMP · ITIL 4 Foundation · PSM I · PSPO I
Approach

The governance of stability

Many of the IT issues that reach executive management have a structural cause: one role is responsible for something another role decides. A handover has no agreed end date. A metric counts outages but says nothing about who keeps things running. The work starts by clearing that up.

Roles, not people

Findings and recommendations describe roles and responsibilities, not individuals.

Evidence, not impressions

Every rating states what it rests on: documents, interviews or both. Anything not yet confirmed appears in the report as an open point.

Authority goes with responsibility

Responsibility is taken on together with the authority to exercise it. Sponsor, escalation path and the end of the engagement are settled before the start.

One engagement per step

Whatever may follow an engagement is agreed separately, when it is needed.

Working together

Five ways of working together

Which one fits becomes clear in a first conversation about your situation.

IT landscape assessment and 90-day steering plan

Ten consulting days over three to four weeks · fixed price

For when IT decisions arrive one at a time and there is no basis for putting them in order: an assessment of the IT landscape by domain, backed by documents and interviews with the sponsor, IT leadership, business units and providers. The result shows which decision comes first, which can wait and which cannot be made yet, plus a plan for the 90 days that follow. More about the assessment →

Interim lead for IT governance or programs

Usually six to twelve months, three to five days a week

For when a leadership position in IT or a program role is vacant, or a program has escalated: taking over the role with authority agreed up front, reporting to executive management, setting priorities, handling escalations, managing providers and teams. The aim is a program or IT function that runs predictably again, and an orderly handover to a successor.

Provider reset and transition

Per engagement, often a block of a few weeks

For when friction with a provider has reached executive management or a provider change is coming: clarify who is accountable for what (scope, SLA framework, escalation paths, maintenance), align the organization, the provider and the business units, and lead the transition through to an agreed end.

IT procurement support

Requirements and bid evaluation, alongside procurement and legal counsel

For when an IT tender is coming up and executive management needs to reach a decision it understands and can stand behind: define the requirements, set up the evaluation logic and the questions to bidders, check commitments against requirements, and prepare the decision paper. The organization makes the selection; procurement law stays with procurement and legal counsel.

New in the portfolio

Ongoing governance support

A regular meeting rhythm · scope by agreement

An independent perspective on the IT decisions ahead, for executive management and IT leadership together: the assessment refreshed each quarter, options and responsibilities clarified for each decision, preparation ahead of the supervisory board or shareholders, and follow-through on what was agreed. Without a full-time role.

New in the portfolio; the other four come from current and completed engagements.

Not part of the work: technical implementation and operations, security or compliance attestations, legal advice, and the appraisal of individuals.

Notes

Notes for executives and IT leaders

Short pieces on questions that reach executive management before IT has settled them. A four-minute read.

Collateral Governance · October 2026

How capable people make structural gaps invisible

Responsibility without authority is risk transfer.

Read →Delivery Reality · October 2026

Three states of an IT landscape, and only one gets attention

Attention follows visible failure. Part of the risk sits in what is still running.

Read →Sequence · October 2026

Which IT decision comes first?

A decision that cannot be made today is information you can work with.

Read →
Experience

Experience and results

15–20 → 3–10
Incidents per week
Within nine months, leading a 16-person delivery team for 35 enterprise applications in five countries. Accenture, 2021 to 2023.
92% → 98.8%
SLA compliance
As interim service owner of central IT services, around 500 servers. STEAG, 2024 to 2025.
−80%
Management reporting effort
In the same engagement.

Results from delivery and service roles, achieved with the teams involved.

Engagements since 2023

  • since 2026, currentInterim IT program and governance lead, regional energy utility with several legal entities, commissioned by the managing directors: assessment of the IT landscape, change governance for telephony, provider management after a provider change, support for a telecommunications tender.
  • 2025Interim service governance lead, Ottobock via Sycor GmbH, covering a vacant senior role: restored reporting, ownership and escalation paths, clarified responsibilities between client, delivery and business units.
  • 2024 to 2025Interim service owner of central IT services, STEAG GmbH: SLA framework, management reporting, CMDB clean-up, a rollout across more than 30 sites without disrupting operations.
  • 2023 to 2024Service delivery manager (interim), TenneT via Arvato Systems, critical energy infrastructure: change governance with a CAB, escalation paths, decision papers.

In short

Interim Lead · IT Governance & Program Stabilization

Engagements usually six to twelve months, three to five days a week, remote and hybrid. Availability on request.

CV as PDF by email · LinkedIn

About Mathies

Mathies Wähner

Interim Lead · IT Governance & Program Stabilization

Willich near Düsseldorf, Germany

German and English, three years in the United States

Author of the Collateral Governance framework

Mathies Wähner comes from operations: team leadership, service ownership, incident and SLA accountability in regulated environments, before moving into IT governance and program leadership. That is where his way of working comes from: facts first, then the assessment, then the options.

He leads every engagement personally and remains the direct contact from the first question to the handover. On LinkedIn and at itsm.tools he writes about the governance of stability.

LinkedIn · Article at itsm.tools · Guest piece at Rezolve.ai

Contact

Let's talk

If an IT decision is coming up or a role needs covering for a while, send me a note. Two or three sentences about the situation are enough; I reply personally.

mw@mathieswaehner.com
Send an email →Follow on LinkedIn →

Willich near Düsseldorf, Germany · remote and hybrid · German and English