Rochester Gas & Electric and Convergent Group, Inc.

    DisputeSoft was engaged as a software expert in June 2005 by Rochester Gas and Electric in the matter of Rochester Gas & Electric and Convergent Group, Inc. in a proceeding before the American Arbitration Association (AAA).

    In June 2000, Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) entered into a contract with Convergent Group, Inc. (Convergent) wherein Convergent would implement an “out of the box” billing and outage management system (OMS) called Model Office ESRI (MOE), which was intended to integrate with several third party utility applications, improve business processes, and replace legacy systems.

    After an independent review of the project by a third-party consulting firm identified numerous and lengthy delays to the project schedule, major missed milestones, and the possibility of significantly higher costs than anticipated, RG&E terminated the contract in August 2002.

    Nature of Dispute

    RG&E alleged that Convergent:

    1
    Fraudulently misrepresented the existence of the “out of the box” OMS software and MOE’s capabilities during sales presentations and in the contract.
    2
    Failed to clearly define the data structure and data requirements at the outset of the project, resulting in excess time spent on data conversion tasks throughout the project.

    Our Services

    As a software expert, DisputeSoft:

    1
    Interviewed fact witnesses and reviewed key project documents, including pre-contract, contract, and technical documentation.
    2
    Calculated the percent completion for 52 deliverables in accordance with industry-standard value methodology to determine fees owed to Convergent for tasks related to data conversion and migration.

    DisputeSoft Founder and Chief Advisor Jeff Parmet proffered an expert report on behalf of RG&E. The case settled prior to deposition or testimony.

    Jeff Parmet

    Jeff Parmet (1946 – 2023)

    Founder & Chief Advisor (2003 - 2023)

    Jeff Parmet was a widely respected IT dispute resolution specialist who served as a consulting or testifying expert on more than 200 software-related disputes. Jeff served DisputeSoft clients in the capacity of software failure expert, software intellectual property expert, Internet/E-commerce expert, or computer forensic and electronic discovery expert, depending on the requirements of the particular matter. The hallmark of Jeff’s practice was independent and objective technical consulting services leading to advice and/or expert witness testimony involving information technology.

    Learn more about our Software Project Failure Services

    DisputeSoft provides software project failure services to law firms engaged in complex software disputes.

    SEE SOFTWARE PROJECT FAILURE SERVICES