Project Manager Management

Profile

An extremely motivated and results-driven Information Technology

management professional with exceptional leadership skills and an

extensive background in the following broad-based competencies:

EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE MANAGING PROJECTS, TRAINING AND TECHNICAL TEAMS;

CHAIRING PROJECT WORKING GROUPS AND "QUICK RESPONSE" TEAMS TO PROVIDE

SOLUTIONS TO MISSION REQUIREMENTS; A PROVEN ABILITY TO WORK EFFECTIVELY

AT ALL ORGANIZATIONAL LEVELS ALONG WITH 5 YEARS OF MANAGING MY OWN

PROJECT MANAGEMENT CONSULTING BUSINESS. A PROVEN TRACK RECORD AS

EVIDENCED BY SEVERAL ENDORSEMENTS ON THE LAST PAGES OF THESE CREDENTIALS.

CURRENTLY HOLD A TOP SECRET SECURITY CLEARANCE.

Skills Summary

Information Technology Manager

Past President of Information Technology Consulting Firm

Project Management

Systems Analysis

Service Management

SharePoint Training

. Security Specialist

. SharePoint Support

. MS Office Trainer

. Team management

. Team Building

. Peer Mentoring

. Strategic Planning

. Customer Satisfaction

. Staff Management

. Technology Solutions

Professional Experience

PROJECT MANAGEMENT:

. Conducted project kickoff meetings

. Developed standard templates for ease of project planning

. Directed Security Audits, Security / Firewall Appliance utilization

design and implementation

. Directed Security Implementations, Managed firewalls and Managed

Hosting implementations

. Gathered and documented the customer's technical, functional and

business requirements

. Managed customer infrastructure implementation projects

. Managed multiple customer projects simultaneously

. Prepared formal project status reports on a regular basis for customer

and internal company management

. Provided oversight and coordinated multiple teams of technical

engineering resources to perform installation tasks

. Provided Scopes of Work, Projected Profit and Loss Statements

. Resolved project issues, problems, and changes

. Worked directly with customers to perform implementation activities

. Applied lessons learned from past projects to future projects

. Produced project profit and loss statements

. Led cross-functional teams

. Provided excellent client relationship management skills

. Recommended opportunities to develop process improvement plans

. Anticipated issues / areas of risk to ensure project success

Customer Service

. World-Wide Point of Contact for Mission Planning Central (MPC), for the

951ST ELSG, Hanscom AFB, MA

. MPC Requirements Manager

. Provided security and functional liaison duties with the Mission

Planning Engineering Contactors

. Sole creator of Air Force Portal Accounts at the 951st ELSG

. Provided SharePoint Support and Training

. Sole provider of day-to-day helpdesk support responding to over 600+

calls per month

. Gathered and documented the customer's technical, functional and

business requirements

. Applied lessons learned from past projects to future projects

. Used interpersonal, leadership and negotiation skills to work both

independently and collaboratively with all levels of staff, management

and other business partners

. Provided excellent client relationship management

Directed employee training within multiple manufacturing facilities

Directed a team of I.T. professionals responsible for factory

infrastructure (both hardware and software)

. Recommended opportunities to develop process improvement plans for

projects relating to HR

. Anticipated issues / areas of risk to ensure project success

Employment History

Sr. Security Specialist/Project Manager, SAIC (SEIC Contract),

Hanscom AFB, MA

President, Ferrara and Associates - Methuen, MA

Project Manager, Professional Services Group, Interliant

Incorporated - Woburn, MA

Project Manager, Professional Services Group, Netivity Solutions -

West Newton, MA

Service Manager/Training Specialist/Project Manager, Real Estate

Computer Specialists - Andover, MA

Multiple Positions, Bull Worldwide/Honeywell Information Systems

Senior Project Manager (manufacturing systems) - Billerica,

Massachusetts

Manager, Business Production Information Systems - Lawrence &

Brighton, Massachusetts

Manager, Human Resources Information Systems - Billerica,

Massachusetts

Senior Systems Analyst, Field Engineering Division - Billerica &

Newton, Massachusetts

Education

Defense Acquisition University ACQ 101 Fundamentals of Systems

Acquisition Management

Air University (ECI) Air Force Studies in Transportation, Information

Security, Cargo

Personnel Security, Leadership & Management

First Sergeant's Academy (Honor Graduate)

Andover Institute of Business Associates Degree in Information

Technology & Business Management

Military Experience

United States Air Force Reserves (Hanscom Air Force Base, Bedford, MA)

Rank: Chief Master Sergeant

Discharge: Honorable

Security Clearance: Top Secret (issued 24 Dec 2008)

Technical Expertise

. SharePoint 2003/2007

. Windows NT/XP/VISTA

. Office 2000, 2003 & 2007

. MS Project 2003 * 2007

. VISIO

. Various programming experience

ENDORSEMENTS FROM PEERS AT MOST RECENT POSITION:

LON WILLIAMS (MISSION PLANNING CENTRAL PROGRAM MANAGER, HILL AFB, UT)

From: Lon Williams

Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2010 10:02 AM

To: 'Hairfield, Paul Civ USAF AFMC 500 CBSS/GBLC' (Deputy Commander)

Cc: 'Holmes, Richard CTR USAF AFMC 500 CBSS/GBLC';

'*******.******@****.**.***'

Subject: Loss of Matt Ferrara and Impact to MPC

Paul,

As we discussed, the loss of Matt Ferrara at the SPO is and will continue

to have a significant impact on MPC: short and long term.

One of the challenges the SSF (Sustainment) constantly faces is maintaining

continuity with Acquisition, Development and Testing. Since MPC provides

capability and services to all of the MP communities the need for

coordination and outreach is essential to our success.

We at MPC have considered Matt Ferrara an invaluable extension of our team

here at Hill AFB. One of our primary customers is the MP Program Office and

Matt provides us an on-site set of eyes, ears and hands to assist us in

servicing this very important customer perspective. Examples of this

include his current role in coordinating the Program Management Tools

working group and outreach/engagement of the PK team and Lt Col Dombrowski

in an effort to revolutionize PK processes on MPC. There is just no

effective replacement for the face to face contact Matt provides.

Some of Matt's key MPC responsibilities include:

Chair MPC Change Review Board

Requirements Manager

Program Office MPC POC

Co-MPC Global Administrator

Co-Chair of the MPC-IPT

Security administrator for the Developer Software Repository

Security liaison with the MPEC(s)

AF Portal Account Creation

MPC Training

And the list goes on...

It's true that many of Matt's traditional duties can be delegated to

others; but, will be viewed as secondary/additional duty. While those

assuming Matt's roles will to some degree become knowledgeable in that

specific area; it's unlikely they will become Subject Matter Experts on MPC

(MPC-SME) as a whole.

The loss of a 'primary duty' MPC-SME at the SPO will manifest itself in

various ways:

Adoption and Customer Satisfaction

Moving from legacy 'self-organized' solutions (i.e. storing info on your

local hard drive, personal developed spreadsheets requires 'change'.

Change management is one of the most difficult challenges to technology

adoption. Having a convenient, outgoing and tenacious local POC is by far

the most effective means of encouraging use and adoption of any new tool.

They are in the trench with user to sense and resolve: obstacles,

frustrations and issues before the user becomes discouraged and 'self-

organizes' outside of the published system/process. By providing constant

feedback to MPC the tools evolve, knowledge gaps narrow and overall

satisfaction increases. If the user can't get a quick and easy resolution

they will typically go elsewhere or revert to the familiar. If they can

quickly get assistance, or even better yet, if the MPC-SME is monitoring

their pulse, they will overcome the unfamiliar and become adoption

advocates.

Quality

The gap in understanding and empathy between end users and software

engineers is a major cause of poor outcomes. Having someone close to the

user, always advocating for the user and encouraging the interaction

between the developers and the end user, is essential to narrowing the gap

and helping the engineer 'walk in the user's moccasins'. Without the proper

user advocacy and involvement the functional requirement may have been met,

but the tool will never be fully utilized.

Outreach and Long Term Planning

A major goal of MPC is to identify areas where MPC can provide real

improvements in efficiency and lower the cost of operations. The most

effective way of accomplishing this is through customer empathy. Having an

MPC-SME in the SPO provides direct contact and observation through

participation. He is able to observe current processes and with an intimate

knowledge of the available MPC tools immediately provide suggestions and

solutions. In addition he can help plan the future MPC capabilities to

solve current and anticipated program needs.

Security

Effective security screening is all 'trust-based'. The closer the security

administrator is to the business unit they support the better. The level of

security is directly impacted by knowledge of the business need, the tools

(MPC) and the relationship with the individuals and their security

managers.

Increased Costs and Project Schedule

Having an MPC-SME at the program office is by far the most effective way to

ensure: Adoption and Customer Satisfaction, Quality, Outreach and Long Term

Planning, and Security. Without the MPC-SME, the MPC team and other SPO

stakeholders will find a way to address these impact areas; but, at an

increased cost to the enterprise.

It will take us significantly longer to:

1. Narrow the gap in understanding

Coordinate working group participation

2. Resolve on-site customer issues

3. Develop long term plans

The MPC team will have to travel more to conduct face-to-face outreach,

training and customer support. This will cost in terms of lost travel time

and direct travel expenses.

Respectfully,

Lon Williams

Mission Planning Central Technical Program Manager

Robert Walbridge (Platform Implementation Manager)

"Matt is the consummate "go-to" guy for ensuring projects getting done, and

done right. His attention to detail while keeping a big picture perspective

allows efficient solutions to be implemented with much broader application

across the division. His eye towards continuous improvement and ability to

integrate needs across several disparate functional disciplines has

resulted in the development of many automated tools that greatly enhanced

the effectiveness of the entire group.

Matt is the epitome of professionalism and will be a great asset to any

organization fortunate enough to bring him on-board."

Torrey Holmes (Configuration Manager)

"I have worked with Matt for several years and have the highest regard for

his ability and his integrity. I have seen Matt perform very well in a

leadership role on several projects and I have been impressed by his

ability to maintain good relations with everyone under stressful

conditions. Matt is very knowledgeable about his area of expertise and is

always a pleasure to work with. I am convinced that Matt would be a solid

addition to any team."

Joe Blanchard (Platform Implementation Manager)

"Mr Ferrara; provided computer system support through- out our association.

The support was always professional and responsive. Further; Mr Ferrara

provided training classes and individual instruction enabling maximum

utilization of the management products required by the Mission Planning

Enterprise. Always positive and friendly, I whole-heartily endorse his

employment

John Trainor (Manager, Platform Implementation Managers)

"I've worked with Matt Ferrara for 4+ years while supporting the 951st

Electronic Systems Group at Hanscom AFB, MA. Matt has that rare combination

of management ability and technical skill that make him a truly invaluable

colleague. As the 951st focal point for Mission Planning Central -- a

collaboration platform for all things Mission Planning -- Matt's leadership

and hands-on approach to problem solving virtually ensured continuous MPC

availability to thousands of active-duty and support personnel world-wide.

Matt is the consummate professional, always going the extra mile to exceed

customer expectations!"

John Carrano (Security and Accreditation Manager)

"Matt is a dedicated, hard working, service oriented individual that gets

results. He articulates complex concepts well and motivates co-workers and

supervisors alike. Matt is a pleasure to work with. He is a master at

brokering consensus and is willing and capable of leading the way. Strong

character and dedication set him apart. I would work with Matt or for him

anytime and given the opportunity would hire him in a technical, management

or leadership position."

Andrew Costen (Platform Integration Manager)

"Matt's a real asset to any organization because initiative, imagination

and creativity are always in short supply. A sense of humor coupled with a

strong work ethic is another plus to working with him. I was on the same

team with Matt for 3 years and learned a great deal from him. He's a

natural at speaking and teaching but also DOES real work. He never

disappoints."

Lou Cornaro (Project Manager, P3I, Incorporated), Hanscom AFB

"I have always regarded Matt Ferrara as a very highly professional

individual and has always been extremely helpful to our Mission Support

Planning organization with his in-depth knowledge of MS SharePoint as well

as other MS Applications. I highly recommend that Matt be considered for

this position.

Scott Belliston (SharePoint Developer/Instructor for MPC Team, Hill AFB,

UT)

"I enthusiastically endorse Matt for his dedication in providing quality

service to our organization. Matt skillfully worked to advocate for the

needs of our group and identify technical solutions that increased the

value of our product to the customer. Matt is consistently a trusted go-to

person that could be counted on to solve problems. He is always engaged,

not only in a working capacity, but in adding to a pleasant work

environment. He is respected by our team on an interpersonal and

professional basis and would be an asset to any organization."

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