Consultant Spotlight - Rick DiFronzo

18 December 2018 0

We are so proud of the business and technology professionals we support, and we wanted to share their stories with you. From project management to business analysis to application development and more, these amazing professionals deserve to be spotlighted. We sat down with Rick DiFronzo this week to give him a platform to share with you. Rick is more than an exceptional Project Manager, he is a senior level consultant with years of combined business and IT experience focused on achieving business results through the effective use of process engineering, technology and leadership skills. We have worked with Rick for over three years now. Check out what he has to say about the industry, careers, great projects and more.

Q: Why did you choose to make a career in Project Management and Technology
As an undergraduate, I was drawn to software development because of the many and varied opportunities available to software engineers at that time. I was a Mathematics Major and that contributed to my ability as a logical, organized thinker, but I had had enough of theory.  It was time to apply my skills and contribute to the development of products that interested me.  For me, software development was as rewarding a career as I could imagine.  Producing tangible products that provided real life benefits to individuals and corporations was as satisfying as it got.  Early in my career, my focus was on the CADCAM Industry and I had the good fortune of joining an industry leader in a new and fast paced industry.  Later in my career, I switched away from Product Development and spent many years in the Financial Services Industry.  Here the focus switched more to Software Management – managing groups of software engineers providing technical services and developing business applications.  Management led to a realization that many business processes left a lot to be desired and were often wasteful.  Fixing broken processes and helping corporations reap the benefits provided additional opportunities to play a role in real improvement with tangible results.  I discovered that my knowledge of technology and the business was a powerful combination in the fight against business process waste as technology and automation were often part of solutions which resulted in reduced costs and higher margins.  It is fun to provide value.  My technical career has allowed me to do that.

Q: What is one of your most interesting projects that you worked on?
I love working on the most critical projects that drive value for the organization. The more critical the project, the more interested I am. Since the Financial Industry crises of 2008, there has been a tremendous amount of regulatory pressure for financial institutions to control access to critical business functions within their business.  Driven by that mandate, my client set out to revamp the Application Security component of their Cash Accounting System, used by over 6,000 employees to service all of their North American clients’ accounts.  I played a major role in bringing the Business and Systems Organizations together to enhance the authentication and authorization processes, allowing only authorized users access to the Application and giving them access to only the specific functions and Account information necessary to perform their job. The introduction of “separation of duty” logic provided essential protection against fraud and the ability to see confidential data was limited based on an individual user’s “need to know”.

Q: Why do you choose to make your career with Whitridge Associates?
Whitridge has been a great partner to work with. The people I work with, like Brian Driscoll and Elizabeth Nicholson, and their staffs are great to work with. From a placement point of view, they work tirelessly and in my best interest, whenever possible, to provide fairly compensated and interesting assignments. In my opinion, the benefits that Whitridge provides are better than most, if not all, of their competitors.  Any questions or concerns I may have about Healthcare Insurance or 401K plans are always handled professionally and quickly – in a manner you would expect from a full-time Employer.  I think that, overall, Whitridge is very conscientious and very good at managing the relationships between clients, consultants at the Whitridge team. I feel part of the Whitridge Community.

About Whitridge
Whitridge Associates provides expert talent to a diverse group of technology companies, financial services, defense contractors and healthcare providers throughout the country. With a history of over 26 years of unparalleled service to both our clients and consultants, Whitridge is one of the most highly regarded staffing companies in New England. Whitridge is recognized as an Inavero’s Best of Staffing® Client and Talent Awards winner, one of the top 100 Fastest Growing Staffing Companies in the United States and, for the third consecutive year, with The Excellence Award from TechServe Alliance, the industry’s leading trade association.

Whitridge helps our clients and candidates achieve business success.  Think Whitridge. Think Success. www.whitridge.com