History (Before he came to the firm in '94)
Rich came to VNS with a 12 year proven track record of successful development and deployment in leading edge technologies. Before coming to us he had already led and worked on product development efforts in the areas of Robotics, Order Transaction Processing, Portfolio Analysis, Data Communications, Digital Signal Processing, Computer Aided Software Engineering, Cross Platform Computer Control, Collaborative Software, and Video Conferencing. Having a classical education in Computer Science through his Masters has lent to his success at perceiving pitfalls and perils related to both large and small scale software development efforts. His previous positions which have included Programmer/Analyst, Development Consultant, Chief Designer, Project Leader, Project Manager and Software Architect have combined to give him strong knowledge in all phases of the day to day operation in both the software and production lifecycle. 

As the president of QuickSilver Development Inc. (a software development and consulting firm), Richard had personally created and brought to market four software products: “The CO80 Windows Library”, “W.I.T”, “S.T.I.L.E.” and “Executive Crosswords”. In addition, his technical services and staff were rendered to product development efforts at such prestigious firms as: First Boston, EDO, Chase Manhattan, Pitney Bowes, Morgan Stanley, NYNEX, Thomson Financial Services and Software Options, where he personally had a hand in producing: HPS(TM) , MIDAS(TM) , WASPP(TM) , TPSW(TM), TradeView(TM), MS-Word(TM) , BOSS(TM), and MEDOS(TM). 

In his first month’s association with VNS, Mr. Silverman was able to establish and sign a contract whereby VNS would assume and manage a CD-ROM development effort. He was then able to acquire the programmers (himself included) to produce the software for EDP Technologies Inc. It is this entrepreneurial attitude combined with the fact that he has worked in all phases of the software and distribution lifecyles which has made him an excellent addition to fulfill company goals of quick resolution to client’s issues, while maintaining highest quality of product workmanship. 

Mr. Silverman’s strengths rely heavily on his intrinsic knowledge of technical specification and good resource management skills. His technical capabilities include Methodology Development, Functional Decomposition of subsystems, Requirements Determination, Software Specification and Design, GUI Design, Quality Assurance Control, and a wide array of languages (including C, C++, Assembler, VB, SQL, COBOL, FORTRAN, to name a few). His leading edge technology design and use has given him expert knowledge in Cross Platform Deployment, as well as procurement and distribution skills related to both hardware and software for both in and out source development efforts. These are techniques which VNS relies heavily on to provide the quality service which is expected of it.