Consultants Biographies

Scott Goldfarb, President of Q/P Management Group, is an international consultant and speaker with over thirty years of software experience. Mr. Goldfarb specializes in helping organizations improve software quality and productivity through measurement. He has assisted numerous organizations in implementing software measurement programs and benchmarking software productivity, quality and cost. His other areas of expertise include outsourcing evaluation and management, function point analysis, process improvement, software development methodologies, project management, and software estimating.

Prior to the founding of Q/P Management Group, Mr. Goldfarb was Vice President of Professional Services for Software Productivity Research, Inc. (SPR) specializing in software measurement and estimating.  He was also a Managing Consultant with Nolan, Norton and Company where he was responsible for the management of various client assignments including two years of international engagements working with European companies.  Mr. Goldfarb worked as a Manager and Systems Analyst for Varian/Extrion, an electronics manufacturer, where he assisted in the establishment and management of an MIS department and distributed data processing installation.  Prior to this he served as an Account Executive and Customer Service/Production Manager for Automatic Data Processing (ADP), a data processing service bureau specializing in financial applications.

Mr. Goldfarb received his B.S. degree in Business Administration from Boston University in 1975 and attended the MBA program at Suffolk University in 1979-1980.  He is recognized by the International Function Point Users Group as a Certified Function Point Specialist (CPM 4.2), and served as President of IFPUG from 2001 to 2003.

Mr. Goldfarb was an Adjunct Faculty member at Boston University and has spoken at numerous conferences including the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG), Better Software Conference and the Quality Assurance Institute (QAI).

Roger Heller, Vice President Q/P Management Group, is a recognized consultant, instructor and speaker with over thirty years of Information Systems and consulting experience.  Mr. Heller specializes in helping organizations improve software quality and productivity through measurement.  He has assisted numerous organizations in establishing software measurement programs and quality improvement initiatives.  His other areas of expertise include outsourcing evaluation, measurement and management, function point analysis, applying function point analysis techniques to emerging environments, software estimating, and application and technology planning.  He is the immediate past chair person of the International Function Point User's Group New Environments - Counting Standards Committee.

Prior to joining Q/P Management Group, Mr. Heller was the Managing Principal of Digital Equipment Corporation's Management Consulting Office in Boston, Massachusetts.  He was also a Practice Manager for DMR, Inc.  In this role he was responsible for the Information Technology and Communications Practice.  Prior to joining DMR, Mr. Heller was a Managing Consultant with Nolan, Norton and Company (NNC) where he was responsible for managing various client engagements across multiple industries.  He also defined and managed the internal worldwide training program for NNC consultants.  Mr. Heller was a Lead Systems Engineer for International Business Machines (IBM) in the Data Processing Division.  In this role he provided technical support and guidance to customers and sales teams on a variety of topics including; platforms, telecommunications and application design and development.

Mr. Heller received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wayne State University.  He also studied Computer Science at the University of Michigan. The International Function Point Users Group recognizes him as a Certified Function Point Specialist (CFPS) in the most current version of the Counting Practices Manual (CPM 4.x).

Lori Holmes, Director, Q/P Management Group, specializes in software measurement, process improvement, and quality assurance.  Her areas of expertise include function point analysis, software project estimation, establishing measurement programs, software quality assurance, and managing customer satisfaction. Ms. Holmes is recognized as an international consultant, speaker, and instructor.  She focuses on helping organizations implement quality and productivity improvement programs utilizing measurement techniques.  She is an experienced instructor in change management, quality inspections, problem solving techniques, and function point analysis.

Ms. Holmes was a Quality Associate for First Data Corporation, an international organization providing support for bankcard processing, cable television processing, and WATS marketing.  Prior to this she was the Quality Assurance Manager within a systems and programming organization.  She was responsible for developing and monitoring processes and procedures to assure quality in all application development efforts.  Ms. Holmes was also an Applications Programming Manager, leading four technical teams.  She was responsible for applications development and day-to-day production issues.

Ms. Holmes received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a Business Information Systems focus, from Illinois State University.  She is a Certified Function Point Specialist through the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG).  She is also certified to facilitate workshops in the areas of software metrics, benchmarking, customer service, teamwork, empowerment, and organizational change.  Ms. Holmes has been certified by the International Function Point Users Group as a Certified Function Point Specialist.

Sherry Ferrell, Managing Consultant, Q/P Management Group, specializes in software measurement, Quality Assurance, Total Quality Management (TQM), process improvement, and managing customer satisfaction.  She is an experienced instructor in TQM, software measurement, quality inspections, problem solving techniques, and function point analysis.  Ms. Ferrell also has extensive experience as an applications developer and systems software engineer.

Prior to joining Q/P, Ms. Ferrell was Director of Quality Assurance/Measurement and Technical Training for First Data Corporation, an international organization providing processing for financial card services and cable television services.  She was responsible for implementing Total Quality Management within the Card Services Software Development division.  Her responsibilities also included consulting with functional departments and senior management on the implementation of a customer evaluation process for the organization.

Prior to this assignment Ms Ferrell was the Quality Assurance Manager within a systems operations and programming organization.  She was responsible for developing and monitoring processes and procedures to assure quality in all system development efforts.  The processes included measurement, quality inspection, and development methodologies.  She also implemented a software measurement process that relied on function point counting as a primary metric.

Ms Ferrell attended the College of Saint Mary.  She is recognized as a Certified Function Point Specialist through the International Function Point Users Group.

David Lipton, Managing Consultant, Q/P Management Group, specializes in software measurement and process improvement.  His areas of expertise include function point analysis, training, mentoring, and auditing, software estimating, productivity benchmarking, and systems development methodology.  He also has extensive experience as an applications developer and project manager.

Mr. Lipton’s consulting engagements focus on helping international clients implement quality and measurement processes.  His industry experience includes telecommunications, insurance, financial services, computer and software vendors, and government services.  He has 31 years professional I/T experience, including applications development, software vendor management, project management, and software measurement.

Prior to joining Q/P in 1996, Mr. Lipton was a systems consultant with UNUM Life Insurance Co. of America, a Fortune 50 life insurance company specializing in disability insurance.  He was the organization's key software measurement expert, performed function point counts on over 120 UNUM applications, and coordinated an annual customer satisfaction survey for production systems.

Prior to this assignment, Mr. Lipton was Vice President, Technical Services for Wright Express Corporation.  In this position he was responsible for the development of a truck-fleet credit card processing system which pioneered the use of unattended fueling.  Previous to this, he held positions as a programmer, systems analyst, and project manager in a variety of business settings.  He is also a former high school mathematics teacher.

Mr. Lipton received his BA degree in Psychology from Oberlin College, and an MST (Master of Science in Teaching) in Mathematics from Boston College.  In addition, he completed Computer Science major course requirements at the University of Southern Maine, and participated in a psychotherapy training program at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado.

He is a Certified Function Point Specialist through the International Function Point Users Group.

Bruce Paynter, Senior Management Consultant, Q/P Management Group, specializes in software measurement, quality assurance, development methodologies, and process improvement.  He is an experienced international consultant and instructor in the areas of function point analysis, quality inspections, quality assurance planning and strategies.  He has extensive experience as a software engineer and project manager.  This combination is helpful in assisting organizations improve their software quality and productivity through the implementation of Software Measurement Programs and productivity/quality improvement initiatives.

Before joining Q/P Management Group, Mr. Paynter was Manager, Quality Assurance at the Government Telecommunications and Informatics Services (GTIS), an organization providing software applications, computer and communications facilities to the Canadian Federal Government.  He was responsible for developing and implementing a quality improvement program which included awareness training for managers and techniques training for software engineers in the areas of function point analysis, project estimation, quality assurance, strategies, planning, inspections, and testing.  Based on its success within GTIS, the program was expanded to include GTIS' largest customer departments.

Prior to this, Mr. Paynter was the Manager of Systems Development at the National Transportation Agency of Canada, a transportation regulatory agency.  Mr. Paynter was responsible for the delivery of software and computer based solutions for the entire agency.  His experience in the operations center and in developing applications was instrumental in enabling him to lead his group's improvements in methodology usage and process rationalization.  As a result, the group delivered projects on-time and within budget for the first time in the agency's history, much to the delight of agency management.

Bruce Paynter received his B.Sc. degree in Information Management Systems from Ottawa University.  He has been certified by the International Function Point Users Group as a Certified Function Point Specialist (CFPS), and by the Quality Assurance Institute as a Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA).

Dan Horvath, Senior Management Consultant, Q/P Management Group, specializes in project management and software engineering metrics, including function point analysis.  Within these general areas, a further breakdown of expertise includes risk analysis, scheduling, estimation of software development and the use of software metrics to control project scope. Recent experience in metrics and function point analysis includes support of large outsourcing arrangements for the retail, telecommunications, and financial services industries.

Prior to joining Q/P, Mr. Horvath was with General Electric, Federal Mogul Corporation, and Electronic Data Systems Corporation.  In his 14 years with EDS, he held the positions of Senior Systems Engineer and Senior Project Planning Specialist.  His most recent position was that of Senior Consultant in EDS' Project Management Consulting Group.  In this and prior roles, he was responsible for the project management of several large software development projects, including training, biochemistry and air sampling and attendance applications for General Motors.  He employed the use of software engineering metrics on his own projects, and also consulted with other groups to assist in areas such as function point analysis.

Mr. Horvath holds a Master of Science in Information Systems from the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies (now part of Marshall University), and a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science from Cleveland State University.  He is a Certified Function Point Specialist (CFPS) through the International Function Point Users Group, and a Certified Project Management Professional through the Project Management Institute.

Louis Pron, Senior Consultant, Q/P Management Group, specializes in project management, quality assurance, software measurement, and software process improvement.  He has extensive experience in function point analysis, project management, software engineering, and software project estimation.

Prior to joining Q/P, Mr. Pron was a Senior Software Engineer at American Telephone & Telegraph, Telcordia Technologies, and Science Applications International Corporation.  During this time, he held positions of Project Manager, Software Quality Assurance Specialist, Function Point Analyst Specialist, Metrics Manager as well as liaison to partnering companies.  He was responsible for benchmarking and software estimation activities, measuring software size, integrating quality assurance within each software development phase, achieving Software Engineering Institute Level 2 certification, and instructing software engineers in the areas of both function point analysis and software project estimation.

Mr. Pron received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Montclair State University.  He received his Master's Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University.  He has been certified by the International Function Point Users Group as a Certified Function Point Specialist.

Pam Simonovich, Management Consultant, Q/P Management Group, is an international consultant, instructor, and speaker with over twenty years of software experience.  Ms. Simonovich specializes in helping organizations improve software productivity through measurement.  She has assisted numerous organizations in the implementation of software measurement programs and productivity improvement initiatives.  Her other areas of expertise include function point analysis, baselining, benchmarking, organizational assessment, and training.

Ms. Simonovich was the Training and Enablement Practice Manager and Senior Consultant for Software Productivity Research (SPR), prior to joining Q/P Management Group.  There she specialized in all aspects of software measurement and training. She was also a Metrics Coordinator at State Farm Insurance Companies where she was responsible for consulting with various director groups for the purpose of implementing organizational metrics.  While with State Farm, she marketed various measurement concepts including: Function Point Analysis, Estimating, Balanced Scorecard, the Goal-Question-Metric Paradigm, Capability Maturity Model, Inspections, and Earned Value.  Prior to this she served as a Programmer/Analyst where she was responsible for applications development and day to day production issues.

Ms. Simonovich received her B.S. degree in Computer Science from Illinois State University.  She has been certified by the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG) as a Certified Function Point Specialist (CFPS), and is the Chairman of the IFPUG Education Committee.

Mrs. Simonovich frequently conducts software measurement workshops at IFPUG conferences and various client sites.  She has also presented at numerous international conferences.

Mary Dale, Senior Consultant, Q/P Management Group, specializing in improving software quality and productivity through measurement.  Her areas of expertise include function point analysis, establishing measurement programs, quality assurance, process improvement, outsourcing evaluation, and project management.

Prior to joining Q/P, Ms. Dale was a Business Planning Consultant for Electronic Data Systems (EDS), where she managed the Applications Delivery Americas Central Metrics Group (CMG), a team of measurement specialists, statistical analysts and estimating experts providing thought leadership and expertise in the areas of metrics program consulting, application estimating, application sizing, and data analysis.  This centralized metrics group supported a division of over 8,000 employees within 38 solution centers in the United States and Canada.  She was responsible for divisional metrics reporting, analysis, consulting, and training activities performed by the CMG.  She also was responsible for CMG business planning, personnel management, and oversight of financials.

Prior to her EDS involvement, Ms. Dale was employed by American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) for 17+ years.  As a Senior Specialist, she was responsible for various process improvement/measurement initiatives.  These assignments included marketing/reporting metrics to all levels of management, coordinating/implementing function point measurements, managing the development of a directorate metrics repository and time-reporting tool, and delivering training in function point methodology and project estimating.  Prior to her metrics specialization, Ms. Dale held a variety of programming, analyst, and management positions at AT&T.

Ms. Dale received her BS degree in Statistics from The University of Georgia.  She is recognized by the International Function Point Users Group as a Certified Function Point Specialist.  She is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the IFPUG organization, holding the position of Treasurer since 1998.  She also served on the IFPUG Certification Committee from 1994 -2004.

Deborah Harris is a Consultant with Q/P Management Group, Inc.  She specializes in software measurement and software project estimating.  She has experience in function point analysis, software project estimating, and implementing measurement programs for large organizations.

Prior to joining Q/P Management Group, Ms. Harris was Estimation Practice Manager and Senior Consultant for Software Productivity Research (SPR).  There she specialized in all aspects of software measurement and software estimation.  She was also a Solutions Delivery Manager for Accenture managing the Dupont engagement’s Measurement & Reporting organization.

Ms. Harris received her Bachelors degree in Organization Dynamics from Immaculata University in Immaculata, PA.  Currently chairing the Conference Committee of the International Function Point Users Group (IFPUG), she has been a member of that committee since 2003.