Michael Smith—Co-Founder & Managing Director, Telecom Strategy Practice (msmith@stratecast.com) – Michael Smith is co-founder and serves as Managing Director of Research at Stratecast. Based in Philadelphia, he is responsible for directing Stratecast's overall research operations, and plays a lead role in Stratecast’s strategic analysis of communications service providers. In terms of his specialty, Mr. Smith is considered by many   to be the top cable MSO analyst in the USA. Prior to co-founding Stratecast Partners in July 1998, Mr. Smith served as U.S. Telecom Research Director with Probe Research Inc., as Senior Analyst for Telecom Services with Datapro Information Services, and as a Data Communications/ Telecommunications Analyst with Management Information Corporation. Prior to entering the communications research and analysis field, he worked as a Business Development Analyst with ATX Telecommunications Services, a facilities-based interexchange carrier and with Eastern TeleLogic Corporation, a competitive local exchange carrier acquired  by Teleport Communications Group in October 1996. Mr. Smith graduated with a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, PA.

Becky Watson—Program Manager, Convergence Strategies & Network Architectures (bwatson@stratecast.com) – Becky Watson is the Program Manager of Stratecast's Convergence Strategies & Network Architectures (CSNA) Analysis Service. She is based in the Denver area. Ms. Watson has been a service provider executive responsible for making network architecture, technology and supplier decisions since 1978. Since 1986, Ms. Watson   has been the lead network technology decision maker for a variety of competitive service providers, in roles as Executive Vice President of Operations, Vice President of Network Operations, and Vice President of CLEC Operations. During her 27 years in the industry, she  has served in this capacity for Rock Solid Broadband, Vanion Telecom/Apollo Communications, Rocky Mountain Internet/RMI, ACI/Phoenix Network, Starnet, and Citizens. Ms. Watson’s experience and expertise includes but is not limited to: service provider operations management; network design/architecture and planning; network and equipment installation; OSS/BSS design (greenfield and legacy) and implementation; supplier strategies/contract negotiation/project management; regulatory compliance; packet voice network design (greenfield and overlay) and operation; data and voice over ATM network build (greenfield; nine months timeframe; within budget) and operation; network OpEx and CapEx reduction initiatives; customer care operations; and, process management and documentation.

Michael Suby—Program Manager, Communications Service Strategies & Opportunities (msuby@stratecast.com) - Michael Suby is co-Program Manager of our Communications Service Strategies & Opportunities (CSSO) Analysis Service with a specialization on assessing VPN, security, managed services, and other business communications solutions. Prior to joining Stratecast, Mr. Suby worked at Qwest Communications International, Inc. for four years as their sole Senior Competitive Manager supporting all aspects of business intelligence and market analysis during their pivotal period of change from a builder of intercity communication networks to an emerging next generation service provider. During this period, Mr. Suby consulted with all key organizations responsible for propelling Qwest’s strategic plans forward, including Business Development; Mergers & Acquisitions; Product Management for IP, Data, and Voice; and, related to external communication, Investor Relations and Corporate Communication. Prior to Qwest, Mr. Suby worked at AT&T for 11 years in several corporate and operational financial positions, principally in business markets. A key principle lived and learned at AT&T by Mr. Suby is that an enterprise’s internal financials provide an unforgiving perspective on their viability and have a substantial influence on their next strategic decisions. Mr. Suby holds a B.A. in Economics and Mathematics from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and an M.A. in Economics from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Michael Ladam—Senior Research Analyst, Tier 1 Service Provider Business Strategies (mladam@stratecast.com) - Michael Ladam is a Senior Research Analyst focused on enterprise LAN and WAN services, equipment and end-user analysis. He works closely with Curtis Price in delivering insights to clients of our Tier 1 Service Provider Business Strategies (T1SP) Analysis Service. Mr. Ladam is based in New Hampshire. Prior to joining Stratecast, Mr. Ladam worked at FORE Systems and Marconi PLC for 5 years, where he served as Director, in Product Line Management, for ForeThought ATM switching software, addressing the needs of service provider and enterprise markets. He later became Director of Strategic Marketing, coordinating the strategic planning for Marconi’s Enterprise Networking product line and solutions portfolio. Mr. Ladam’s career in communications networks started 16 years ago when he joined Ethernet pioneer Ungermann-Bass, working in software engineering and product management. At UB Networks he helped develop the concept of virtual LANs and fault-tolerant network architectures. Mr. Ladam's extensive background in enterprise networking provides an essential component of Stratecast’s collaborative analysis of network convergence and technology evolution. Mr. Ladam holds an A.B. from Dartmouth College.

Dr. Lorien Pratt, Ph.D. - Program Manager, OSS Competitive Strategies (lpratt@stratecast.com) - Lorien Pratt is a Program Manager focused on both the network-facing (OSS) and customer-facing (BSS) functional domains within the macro Operations Support Systems (OSS) landscape. Based in the Denver area, Dr. Pratt leads our research and analysis of OSS/BSS suppliers and service provider OSS/BSS challenges and imperatives. A 20-year technical and business professional in the telecommunications and computer science fields, Dr. Pratt brings an excellent mix of industry experience, analyst experience, and academic credentials. Prior to joining Stratecast, Dr. Pratt served as a senior market analyst for Technology Research Institute (TRI), focused on revenue assurance, customer assurance, billing, mediation, and related topics. Dr. Pratt also served as Vice President of Business Development and Chief Scientist for AnswerOn, a firm offering predictive analytics solutions to the telecom industry. Dr. Pratt spent six years with Evolving Systems, an OSS independent software vendor (ISV) and market leader in local number portability solutions. Her work at Evolving Systems included positions as assistant architect, developer, process team lead, project manager, and market research director. Dr. Pratt's career has also included work as an associate programmer for IBM, freelance consulting, and various positions with Bellcore (now Telcordia). Dr. Pratt holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Rutgers, an MS in Computer Science from Rutgers and an AB in Computer Science from Dartmouth.

Lizet Tirres—Program Manager, Competitive Operator Strategies (ltirres@stratecast.com) - Lizet Tirres is a Program Manager focused on assessing the business strategies and operations of competitive service providers with a particular emphasis on wireless service providers and technologies in support of the US Competitive Operator Strategies (US COS) program. Prior to joining Stratecast, Ms. Tirres worked as a Technology Analyst for the Advanced Technology Group of GM’s OnStar subsidiary. She was responsible for the evaluation of communications technologies required for OnStar’s next generation services which ranged from automated call center and expanded server side capabilities to in-vehicle routing and mobile broadband communications technologies. Additionally, Ms. Tirres has experience as a Business Development Analyst for Hughes Electronics and Lockheed Martin, which includes competitive pricing, market analysis, regulatory issues (the FCC Filing process), and system cost analysis for commercial satellite systems and services. Before entering the world of telecommunications, Ms. Tirres spent six years conducting research in experimental fluid dynamics at NASA’s Glenn Research Center. Ms. Tirres graduated with a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.S. from the University of Tennessee and an MBA from the University of Southern California (she feels over educated and, really, learned all she knows about strategy by playing varsity tennis at MIT).