Frank J. Cunnane

Independent technology adviser

Technology through the events that break it.

Carve-outs. Integrations. Cyber recovery. Cost programmes. I have run every one from the inside, over twenty-five years at Sony, on both sides of the buyer and supplier table.

Frank J. Cunnane
Annual technology budget
€200m
Users supported
10,000+
Countries
35+
Teams, incl. partners
1,000

The rare part

Most advisers have read about these. I have run all three.

The events that define a technology organisation are rarely on the plan. Many people can describe a carve-out. Few have carried one through at scale.

2014

A major cyber attack

I led the EMEA IT recovery after the attack on Sony Pictures, one of the most significant corporate cyber incidents on record. We rebuilt while the business kept trading.

$100m+

A nine-figure acquisition

Integrated CSC Media Group, a $100m+ acquisition, plus channel businesses in the UK and Hungary. Day one, then the eighteen months that decide whether the value arrives.

Three years

A multi-country divestiture

Separated Sony Pictures Television Networks across the UK, Central Europe, Russia and the Baltics. Transition services to buyers cut significant closure costs for SPE.

What I do now

01

Advisory

Pre-deal due diligence. Separation and integration planning. TSA design, pricing and exit. The 100-day plan. Cyber recovery and board assurance. IT cost programmes, including outsourcing and offshoring.

As adviser to the board or sponsor, or as an interim inside the programme.

Who calls me
  • PE value-creation teams
  • Portfolio company CEOs and CFOs
  • Transaction teams who want a practitioner

02

Advisory board and non-executive roles

Media technology, enterprise software and IT services. Sold SAP consulting services, then bought technology services at scale. I know which questions a supplier hopes the board will not ask.

See board and advisory.

Who calls me
  • Media-tech founders and CEOs
  • PE-backed software and services boards
  • IT services leaders who want a former buyer in the room

03

Coaching and mentoring technology leaders

First-time CIOs and CTOs, leaders stepping up from regional to global, and technology leaders in PE-backed companies: the new apprentices. Hudson Institute of Coaching certified.

Run as a programme, not hourly calls.

Who calls me
  • Boards backing a leader through a step-up
  • CIOs early in the seat
  • HR and talent leaders

Short version

Cricklewood to Hollywood, and now something of my own.

Twenty-five years at Sony: thirteen in Electronics, twelve in Pictures. Most recently SVP, Regional CIO EMEA and Global Head of Content Platform Technology at Sony Pictures Entertainment, reporting to Tokyo and Los Angeles.

A €120m single-instance SAP estate across Sony Europe. Next-generation digital media supply chain platforms at SPE, aligned to MovieLabs 2030.

  • Chair of the Board of Trustees, SearchLight Counselling and Therapy
  • Non-Executive Adviser to the Board, Confiance
  • Former Trustee, The Listening Place
  • Former Trustee, Salisbury Hospice Charity
  • Former Public Governor, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust
Based
Salisbury and London, United Kingdom
Available for
Advisory, interim, board and coaching

Most organisations suffer from the tyranny of the possible, not the art of it.

Think unconstrained

If it is on your desk, it is worth a conversation.

A deal with technology in the critical path. A recovery. A cost programme that must land this year. A board that needs someone who has done it.