Research Research Centers TEC Buyer's Guides TEC Industry Reports TEC Certification Reports TEC Accreditation Reports White Papers Case Studies Evaluate Evaluate Home ERP Evaluation Center BI Evaluation Center CRM Evaluation Center HCM Evaluation Center SCM Evaluation Center TEC Advisor Select Selection Services Software Selection Programs Advisory Services Our Proven Approach Meet Our Experts Our Clients Become a Partner TEC Videos IT Showcase IT Showcase Home TEC Certification TEC Accreditation Brochures Vendor Services Store Store Home RFP Templates Software Comparison Reports Blog About About TEC Meet TEC's Experts Live Events Testimonials Working at TEC News and Press Releases Media Partner Program Campus Program Contact Us English Register | Sign In Meet TEC's Experts TEC's team of analysts and software selection consultants brings decades of experience to your selection projects. With expertise in a wide range of enterprise software, industry, and business areas, they keep our Evaluation Centers up to date; provide fresh insight into industry news, trends, and analysis; and help our clients research, evaluate, and select best-fit software solutions. Chief Technology Officer. Mehdi Aftahi is one of TEC’s founding partners. He is an established leader in three of TEC’s core competencies—decision support processes, software evaluation and selection methodology, and enterprise software development consulting. He leads TEC’s Research & Development Group, Operations Department, and Consultant Team. Aftahi’s development work led to the patented algorithm that informs our exemplary decision support system, TEC Advisor. As manager of the Development Group, he directs the ongoing enhancements to this and all other company platforms. With more than 20 years’ experience in the mapping of business criteria to software capabilities, Aftahi has steered TEC’s industry-leading software evaluation and selection methodology. He supports our team of Consultants in delivering expert guidance and technical support to clients from a wide array of industries and nations. The result is sound, data-driven decision-making on the best-fit enterprise software for each organization’s business needs. Aftahi has consulted with an international base of software developers and vendors seeking help with product development plans, competitive analysis initiatives, and the establishment of best practices for software development and implementation. Aftahi brings a unique analytical approach to each opportunity, along with a commitment to data-driven strategy. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical and electronics engineering, and a Master of Science degree in software engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara (Turkey). Business Analyst. Ari Ahmadi is a business analyst at TEC. She has worked with TEC’s proprietary software (ERGO) for more than 10 years, and built most of TEC’s Evaluation Centers and custom models, based on functional requirement sets for different application areas. She is an expert at analyzing product capabilities compared to client-oriented requirement sets, and converting business processes into functions and features. Ahmadi has been a key member of the project team for several business process management (BPM) solution selection projects, for several high-profile clients. Prior to TEC, she worked as a researcher and developer in the area of solar power plants. Ahmadi holds a bachelor’s degree in solid state physics and a graduate diploma in computer science. Senior Delivery Project Manager. Valentin Beranek is a senior project manager working within TEC's project delivery group, with more than 12 years of experience. Before joining TEC, he worked in Europe as new product introduction (NPI) manager for a multinational US-based manufacturing company, for which he managed a variety of manufacturing projects, as well as IT software and hardware projects. Beranek has led over 80 enterprise software projects (selection, enterprise architecture lifecycle, implementation auditing, etc.), involving enterprise resource planning (ERP), human capital management (HCM), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), business intelligence (BI), and product lifecycle management (PLM) requirements. He has conducted projects for clients such as PPG Industries, G4S, Duke CE, PotachCortp, Algonquin Power & Utilities, Honda Trading, Nissan Forklift, and Schneider Electric. Beranek earned a bachelor's degree in manufacturing engineering in Europe, and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). Selection Services Consultant. Pilar Bueno brings more than 20 years of IT experience and expertise to her position as selection services consultant focusing on Latin America. Applying her considerable knowledge of enterprise software applications and the industry at large, Bueno has helped many companies navigate successfully through their software evaluation and selection initiatives. Prior to joining TEC, Bueno worked as a project manager for HP and was responsible for evaluating and procuring hardware and software systems at the Civil Aeronautical Agency of Colombia. She holds a bachelor's degree in computer science from Los Andes University, Colombia, and she is currently completing a master's degree in engineering with a concentration in project management at École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) in Montreal, Canada. Enterprise Mobility Management Analyst. Yu Chen is TEC’s enterprise mobility management (EMM) analyst. He also collaborates on research topics such as customer engagement and field service management. Yu has more than 15 years of experience in IT business development and application analysis. Before joining TEC, he worked as a team leader at one of Canada’s largest B2B IT resellers for 7 years, helping business clients with structuring or upgrading storage and mobile application and hardware infrastructure. After joining TEC, he first worked as a senior consultant in Vendor Services, which enabled him to acquire in-depth understanding of software vendors’ challenges and pain points. He helped develop programs assisting vendors across the world with content creation and competitive intelligence. Chen holds an MBA in business policy and strategy from the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Selection Services Consultant. Norm Cohen has 30 years of business experience. He has worked in a senior capacity at Technology Evaluation Centers for the past 12 years. Previous to TEC, Cohen was the executive vice president at MCC, where he worked for 12 years selling specialized computer systems in the power motion, broadcasting, and IT world. Cohen graduated John Abbott College with a DEC in pure and applied science and also attended the University of Waterloo. Senior CRM and HCM Analyst. Raluca Druta's expertise in the human capital management (HCM) and customer relationship management (CRM) fields spans both developments in enterprise applications and changes in practice across industries. She holds a graduate diploma in computer science, and brings in-depth knowledge of various industries and their related business fields to TEC’s research. She has experience as a consultant for IT firms in the areas of conflict management resolution and recruiting and staffing. She has also implemented feedback management software and trained end users and administrators in higher education institutions. Druta is proficient in customer-facing activities and project management, and has a working familiarity with customer and employee issues common to the retail, logistics, and fashion industries. Her background knowledge of Web site design and SEO further inform her understanding of critical enterprise software components. Senior Delivery Project Manager. Masoud Farzini, senior delivery project manager at TEC, has 25 years of experience in business and IT. He started collaborating with TEC in 2003, undertaking the role of country director and project manager in Turkey to deliver projects in Turkey and neighboring countries. He is also responsible for seeking out Turkish software vendors to help grow TEC’s vendor database. Farzini has worked as a consultant, key expert, and team leader for European Union- and World Bank-funded projects in Turkey since 1996. He is founder and general manager of two IT consultancy and services companies in the IT sector, Inventa Ltd. and Teknoselect Consultancy Ltd. Farzini holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the Middle East Technical University (METU) in Ankara, Turkey, and is fluent in English, Turkish, and Persian. Vendor Relations Manager, Analyst Services. Sherry Fox has more than 20 years of experience in the private sector. Before joining TEC, Fox spent five years as vendor compliance administrator for a large Canadian retail clothing chain. She helped create and manage the department and provide support regarding policies and procedures to vendors all over the world. Fox also helped develop various programs related to environmental and human rights issues within the apparel industry, and participated in conferences on the subjects of sustainability and climate change. Fox also acts as a research consultant for TEC's human capital management space. She has been involved with several software implementation projects during her years in the retail industry. From deploying payroll software to integrating a benefits module, she was actively involved in all phases of these implementations. A proficient writer of articles, online content, guides, and manuals, Fox has comprehensive knowledge in the areas of retail, manufacturing, compliance, and technology. She has in-depth management experience with various enterprise segments, including payroll, human resources (HR), logistics, and compliance. Principal Analyst, Business Intelligence and Data Management. Jorge Garcia is the principal analyst of business intelligence (BI) and data management at TEC. He has more than 20 years of experience in all phases of application development and database and data warehouse (DWH) design, as well as 9 years in project management, covering best practices and new technologies in the BI and DWH space. Prior to joining TEC, García was a senior project manager and senior analyst developing BI, DWH, and data integration applications with Oracle, SAP Business Objects, and data integration. He has also worked on projects related to the implementation of BI solutions for the private sector, including the banking and services sectors. He has had the opportunity to work with some of the most important BI and DWH tools on the market. García is a member of the Boulder BI Brain Trust. Senior Director, Analyst Services. Sarah Gibson has been directing Analyst Services at TEC since 2011, focusing on the enrichment of TEC’s analyst offerings and the day-to-day execution of its commitments. Having also led the Selection Services Project Delivery Team and the Client Services Group, she holds a nuanced understanding of TEC’s capabilities and the complexity of the enterprise software market. Gibson works closely with the analyst and content management teams, and with TEC consultants and clients, on business development, content strategy, market dynamics, and client engagement. Prior to joining TEC, Gibson was vice president of operations at a communications company specialized in medical education, where she was part of a core team that enabled rapid product and service expansion and business line growth. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Concordia University in Montreal. Principal Analyst. Predrag (PJ) Jakovljevic focuses on the enterprise applications market. He has over 20 years of industrial experience within the discrete manufacturing sector, including the machinery and equipment, automotive, construction and engineering, and electronics industries. Prior to joining TEC, Jakovljevic was a senior consultant in the package-based solutions (PBS) group of CAP Gemini in Houston, Texas (US), with Baan's Manufacturing and Logistics modules as his main field of expertise. At CAP Gemini, Jakovljevic was involved in system demonstrations, software gap analysis for prospective clients, and Baan implementation assignments. Before CAP Gemini, Jakovljevic was employed as a senior consultant for Deloitte & Touche Consulting Group in Johannesburg (South Africa), where he specialized in Baan's Manufacturing and Logistics modules, and engaged in the processes of ERP package selections, as well as in proposal preparation. Jakovljevic served as a team lead for manufacturing, and for service and maintenance package system integration. As a consultant he has been involved in business requirements definition and software gap analysis, business process mapping to software functionality, software configuration and parameter setup, and key user training. Jakovljevic holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Belgrade in Serbia. He has also been certified in production and inventory management (CPIM) and integrated resources management (CIRM), and is an Association for Operations Management (APICS)-certified supply chain professional (CSCP). Senior Delivery Project Manager. Paul Kininmonth is a senior project manager for TEC’s project delivery group, with over 20 years of experience in project management, operations management, and business analysis within multiple industries. Since 2006, Kininmonth has been instrumental in the development of TEC’s Selection Services programs and services. In previous roles in other organizations, he has been a key figure in the identification and validation of business needs and processes for new enterprise software development, acquisition, and implementation spanning multiple projects. Kininmonth holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Hull University (UK). R&D Project Manager. Mohammad Esmaeil Mansour manages TEC's research and development (R&D) projects. Prior to joining TEC, Mansour was a consultant for the Alexander Group Inc., and completed a number of successful projects in different areas of the US. Previously he worked for the R&D department of Invera Inc. as a programmer and senior report writer. He was involved in creating report designs and development standards that were followed by all subsequent developers. Mansour also trained recruits who joined the development team. Mansour graduated from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, with a bachelor's degree in computer science. Selection Services Consultant. Richard Mechaly manages consultant and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partnerships for TEC's Software Selection Services group. Since joining TEC, Mechaly has worked closely with IT decision makers, developing enterprise software evaluation and selection projects that address key business challenges. Mechaly has also collaborated with software vendors and TEC analysts to grow TEC's repository of vendor information. Mechaly holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada. Project Manager. Hoda Nazeri has more than 10 years of experience as a communicator and business analyst in the IT industry, engaging and uniting stakeholders. Nazeri works with the project delivery group at TEC, supporting enterprise software evaluation projects for customers in various industries in the Middle East and evolving TEC’s decision support platform. Before joining TEC, she worked as a team leader at the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) in Tehran. Her primary responsibilities included helping business clients with various software applications implement best practices in Canada, the UK, and the Middle East. Nazeri holds a bachelor’s degree in computer software science from the University of Science and Culture in Tehran (Iran) and MBA degree from the University of Huddersfield Business School (UK). Senior ERP and Financials Analyst. Aleksey Osintsev, named one of the top 100 ERP thought leaders by Onalytica in 2014, focuses on the areas of enterprise resource planning (ERP) for manufacturing, accounting and financial software, as well as retail solutions. He has over 18 years of experience in manufacturing and private sector IT, from both the ERP application user and the corporate software development sides. Prior to joining TEC, Osintsev was a project manager and chief information officer (CIO) at a smart instrumentation engineering, manufacturing, and servicing company. He led the IT department and was responsible for business systems, including ERP selections, implementation projects, and business processes change management. More recently, Osintsev went through a number of successful ERP implementations, system upgrades, and business management projects as a project coordinator and consultant in the food processing, electronic manufacturing, and apparel industries. Osintsev earned his master's degree in industrial engineering and business administration at South Ural State University (Russia). Senior ERP Analyst. Ted Rohm covers the areas of enterprise resource planning (ERP), enterprise asset management (EAM), configure price quote (CPQ), supply chain management (SCM), and IT service management (ITSM), with a particular expertise in manufacturing. He has over 20 years of experience in large-scale selection, design, development, and implementation projects, primarily in the biotech/pharma industry. Prior to joining TEC, Rohm worked for a number of companies including Oracle, Syntex, and Genentech (now part of The Roche Group). Rohm worked with Genentech for 13 years, starting as a senior programmer analyst responsible for building custom applications using the Oracle Tool suite in support of sales and marketing and product distribution. He then became senior manager of commercial systems, where he directed the development, deployment, and operations of enterprise-wide applications for the sales and marketing departments. Rohm was the principal systems architect during his last few years at Genentech, focusing mainly on the implementation of SAP ERP and its integration with other systems. Rohm holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in physics from Allegheny College. Senior Delivery Project Manager. Denis Rousseau is a multilingual planning consultant and business systems analyst with extensive international experience. Over the past 25 years, he has used planning, project management, systems analysis, and group dynamics to define project start-ups and to troubleshoot difficult situations in order to put projects back on track. Rousseau is the former senior project management consultant for CANARAIL and Canadian Pacific Consulting Services, two internationally recognized railway consulting firms. In a similar position for Canadian Pacific Limited, the parent company of CP Rail, his experience has covered a wide variety of projects. He holds a BS in psychology from l'Université de Montréal, Canada, and was educated in Mexico, Lebanon, Argentina, Canada, and France. Selection Services Consultant. Stephan Steinhouse brings over a decade of experience with enterprise software to his role within selection services. He is adept at making sense of complex systems that span a variety of different software types. Prior to joining TEC, Steinhouse worked at the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), where he was responsible for evaluating, testing, and procuring hardware and software systems. Steinhouse holds a bachelor's degree in arts and communications from McGill University in Montreal, and a degree in photography and film from Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. Senior Delivery Project Manager. Nasser Tehrani is a senior business systems analyst. He has managed over 100 successful software evaluation and selection projects, involving enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), business intelligence (BI), and transport management systems (TMS). In particular, Tehrani has worked on numerous key projects involving business process management (BPM). He is an expert in the area of matching customer criteria to software capabilities. Tehrani’s clients are among the leaders in their industries, ranging across oil & gas, utilities, aerospace, construction, manufacturing, distribution, and retail. His expertise has been valued by small and growing businesses as well as by large organizations, in both the private and public sectors. Among the companies he has managed projects for are American Airlines, Con Edison, South Coast Water District, Crown Equipment, Lamprell Energy, and Masonite. Before joining TEC, Tehrani was director of the IT faculty at Vienna Academy in Montreal, Canada. He was an IT manager for more than 10 years at various manufacturing and distribution companies. He holds an electrical engineering degree from Concordia University in Montreal. Director, Selection Services. Michael Thaw is responsible for overseeing TEC's selection services offerings. A recognized software selection expert, Thaw has worked with hundreds of clients and projects. Prior to his current post, Thaw served as the director of sales and strategic accounts for TEC’s Selection Services, managing sales to direct, channel partner, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sales channels, and helping organizations around the world to leverage TEC’s core competencies for their software research, evaluation, and selection projects. Thaw draws on expertise in enterprise resource planning (ERP), accounting, business intelligence (BI), customer relationship management (CRM), product lifecycle management (PLM), human capital management (HCM) and supply chain management (SCM). Prior to joining TEC, Thaw ran his own manufacturing and distribution businesses, where he acquired extensive experience in operations and enterprise software selection. Thaw has a BS in business, pharmacology, and physiology from the University of Western Ontario. Interested in a better way to make software decisions? Give us a call now: 1-800-496-1303 ext:404 Software Requirements Sets and Comparison Reports Click here to leverage the experience of our 360 degree industry perspective About Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC) is a software advisory firm helping companies make better enterprise software decisions. Meet TEC's Experts Media Partner Program Vendor Services Working at TEC Campus Program Divisions of TEC Connectivia RFP Alert Services Research TEC Buyer's Guides TEC Industry Reports TEC Certification Reports TEC Accreditation Reports White Papers Evaluate Evaluate Home TEC Advisor Project Portal ROI Calculator ERGO Decision Support System Select Selection Services Software Selection Programs Advisory Services Become a Partner Store RFP Templates Software Comparison Reports Quick Links News and Press Releases TEC Newsletters Contact Us Follow us Terms Of Use Privacy Policy Sitemap © 2017 Technology Evaluation Centers. All rights reserved +1-514-360-8601