Dan Baker, Research Director, OSS/BSS KnowledgeBase, Dittberner Associates
Baker is the research director of Dittberner's OSS/BSS KnowledgeBase. Before joining Dittberner in 2004, he founded and served as director of Technology Research Institute (TRI), a firm tracking OSS/BSS trends since 1994. Baker has authored and published dozens of multiclient and custom reports studies that span the breadth of BSS/OSS systems, including wireless and wireline billing/mediation systems; revenue assurance and cost management; OSS/provisioning and assurance; customer care/CRM and OSS integration. He has presented his research findings in conferences and private briefings in Asia, Europe and South America. Baker is a former market analyst at Venture Development Corp. (VDC), where he tracked the telecom and real-time computer markets. He has a philosophy degree from the University of Notre Dame.

Roger Bales, IBM
Roger Bales has expertise in telecom operations, networking and communications technologies, operating systems and systems and network management. Currently, he works closely with major telecom operators on IBM’s OSS/BSS transformation solution initiative. He has previously led product management divisions in IBM’s software, semiconductor, server and networking businesses. He also has served as a senior networking consultant where he led the development of strategic communication plans and designs for IBM industry and telecom clients. Bales has worked with key telecom clients including Sprint and AT&T Inc. Previously, he was a data center manager and a communications and network operations technician at AT&T.

David Croslin, Chief Technologist, HP’s Communications, Media and Entertainment Americas Group
As chief technologist of HP’s Communications, Media and Entertainment (CME) Americas Group, Croslin works with HP business units to develop and deliver new telecom solutions, drive industry standards and develop intellectual property to create a differentiated, competitive advantage for HP in the telecommunications industry. Croslin works directly with targeted CME customers, the HP field sales team and HP product/marketing business units to plan, guide and oversee the technical presales engagement process. He utilizes his industry experience to impact every stage of the sales, business planning, solution design and solution implementation process.  Prior to HP, Croslin was IT chief product architect at Verizon Business, responsible for defining the technology foundations and the overall success of all product areas, with emphasis on IP and next-generation products. Croslin is a recognized technology leader in the telecommunications industry with more than 25 granted and pending patents. He is a frequent speaker at industry forums and has been quoted in numerous telecom and technology publications.

Donald Culeton, President, Info Directions Inc.
As founder and president of Info Directions, Culeton uses his depth of experience as both visionary and engineer to direct the development of the company's benchmark line of CostGuard billing, rating, order management, workflow and selling solutions. Before establishing Info Directions in 1996, he spent more than 25 years at some of the world's leading telecommunications and technology innovation companies including Computer Consoles (now part of Nortel Networks), Eastman Kodak Co. and Frontier Communications.

Camilla Dahlen, President, Highdeal Inc.
As president of Highdeal Inc., Camilla Dahlen is responsible for the company’s strategy and operations in North, Central and South America. Previously, Dahlen had global account management responsibilities for EHPT, a joint venture between Ericsson and Hewlett-Packard, where she served customers throughout Europe, South America and North America. She helped build EHPT's South American operations into one of the most successful software businesses in the region. Prior to EHPT, Dahlen led strategic marketing and competitive analysis initiatives at Telia, the telecommunications leader in Scandinavia and northern Europe. A frequent speaker at industry events, Dahlen holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Boston College and a bilingual MBA in Spanish/English from Instituto de Empresa, Madrid, Spain.

Gerard De Souza, Director, Finance-Carrier Cost, Rogers Communications
De Souza is a finance executive with more than 15 years experience at a number of global companies. He is currently director of finance-carrier cost at Rogers Communications, a cable/wireless/telecom service provider where he supports the business and consumer markets. Prior to his role at Rogers, he worked at Pitney Bowes as director of planning and financial operations, as well as Nortel Networks Ltd. as the controller for Canada and other companies in the chemical manufacturing industry. He started his career in finance at PriceWaterhouseCoopers in Toronto. These roles all have focused on business partnership working to improve shareholder value. De Souza earned a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Toronto and is a chartered accountant.

Mark DiCamillo, Vice President Marketing and Product Management, Primal Solutions Inc.
DiCamillo has more than 18 years of consumer product and commercial marketing experience with Fortune 500 companies including Phillips Electronics and Mattel Toys, where he managed units with more than $100 million in revenue. Prior to joining Primal, he was COO of HomeAccess MicroWeb Inc., a software developer and systems provider for Internet appliances, where he successfully launched Web phone deployments in several U.S. cities.  DiCamillo began his career as a licensed engineer developing some of the first packet data switches while at Amdahl Computers, and was part of the Ford Motor Co. engineering team responsible for the initial design of the successful Taurus car platform. He received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue University, and his master’s degree from Pepperdine University.

Steven Dubner, Director, Strategic Alliances, OSG Billing Services
Dubner joined OSG Billing Services in 2000, and since then, has been developing strategic alliances and new business opportunities. Over the past two years, he has been charged with developing and enhancing the OSG electronic bill presentment and payment product, OSG eBill. Prior to OSG, Dubner worked with PriceWaterhouseCoopers, where he was a senior manager in a human resources outsourcing division, responsible for developing a Web-based training program for Fortune 100 companies. He also spent several years with Ultimate Software as the manager of consulting for the Northeast. He holds a Bachelor of Science in communications from the State University of New York at Brockport.

Todd Elmer, Principal, TEOCO
Elmer has more than a decade of consulting and OSS/BSS development and deployment experience in the communications and entertainment industry. At TEOCO, he has managed deployments at service providers such as AT&T Inc., Rogers Communications and Sprint.  Previously, Elmer worked for MetaSolv Software where he managed the Latin American region's sales engineering team responsible for designing network resource management, provisioning and SLA software solutions. He also worked for Andersen Consulting and contributed to the global deployment of Iridium's provisioning, rating, billing and customer care platform. Elmer earned a Bachelor of Science in economics/mathematics from the University of Wisconsin.

Michael Gavin, Compliance Practice Lead, Security Innovation
Gavin is an accomplished security expert with an unyielding passion for application security and a history of helping clients implement risk-mitigation strategies. As the leader of Security Innovation's Compliance Practice, his primary responsibilities include defining and executing solutions that encompass education, process consultancy, and design improvements to enable companies to comply with industry regulations and standards. He maintains a specialty in the PCI Data Security Standard and is a Qualified Security Assessor for that regulation. Prior to Security Innovation, Gavin was a senior analyst at Forrester Research, where he was a member of the Security & Risk Management team covering software security, vulnerability management, compliance and digital investigations. He has been quoted in various publications, including Forbes, Information Week, Investors Business Daily, Linux World and ZD Net

Patrick Gennette, Director, Mediation & Collective Systems, Global Crossing Ltd.
With more than 15 years experience in managing telecommunications computing systems, Gennette is director of mediation and collective systems at Global Crossing. During his 18-year tenure at Global Crossing, he and his teams have developed the company’s internationally distributed grid computing mediation and rating system. He has played key roles in the integration of more than 20 independent mediation and billing systems acquired internationally by Global Crossing. Gennette also has proposed and led in the development and implementation of several initiatives that significantly have reduced total cost of ownership. He helped develop Global Crossing’s Systems Development Life Cycle, NSA, CALEA and Sarbanes-Oxley processes.

Preston Gilmer, Vice President, Product Marketing
Gilmer is a 19-year veteran of the telecommunications industry and has extensive experience at ADC, AT&T Bell Labs, CommTech Corp. and Tellabs. He has held director and senior executive-level positions in product management, strategic planning, business development and corporate marketing. Gilmer’s background includes 12 years in software management system products including EMS, NMS and OSS systems. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering technologies from DeVry Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in telecommunications from DePaul University and a Master of Business Administration in marketing from North Central College.

Larry Goldman is a co-founder and senior analyst at OSS Observer. Larry has over twenty years of communications industry experience, primarily in OSS and network management. Prior to founding OSS Observer in 2003 he was OSS Program Director at RHK. Prior to joining RHK, he was Director of the Network Solutions Group at Tellabs where he oversaw OSS development and marketing. Larry previously worked as an OSS development manager at GTE (now Verizon) Network Management Operations. Prior to GTE, he spent twelve years at Hewlett-Packard where he was a manager responsible for HP OpenView development. He received his bachelor's degree in computer science from Indiana University. He is located near Chicago, Illinois.

Marc Goyette, Founder and CEO, Rainier Network Solutions
With a broadly based general management background, Goyette in 1993 became founder and president of ROI International. Prior to ROI, he served as head of MIS development for the electronics division of General Dynamics, as a senior financial consultant for Merrill Lynch, and as a founder and vice chairman of Avirnex Inc., a facilities-based provider of enhanced telecommunications services in more than 40 countries. In 1988, Goyette joined Phoenix Network, a national long-distance company, as its COO and later was promoted to president. Previously, Goyette was elected as a charter board member of the Interexchange Resellers Association. He currently serves as a board member or board advisor to Axonwave, Rainier Network Services and ROI International Inc. He also has served as a board member of Avirnex, Cyracom, Interactive Telesis, Magnetpoint, Phoenix Network and Sonexis. Goyette received his bachelor’s degree in business management and his master’s degree in finance from San Diego State University. He has authored numerous articles on human resource, marketing and technology issues affecting various industries.

Brian Gratch, CEO, Sixteen30
Gratch is CEO of Sixteen30, a leading mobile integrator that is the mobile backbone for many of the largest global interactive advertising agencies, enterprises (pharmaceutical, hospitality, travel, inancial services, etc.) and political networks, enabling them to interact with their customers via the cell phone. Sixteen30 brings its highly sought after and proprietary platforms, marketing/strategy/design expertise and robust reporting ability to programs both in the United States and in Europe. Gratch also has acted as an advisor to the executive teams of the leading U.S. carriers in the areas of mobile content, advertising and innovation. He has served as an executive at Motorola, leading global marketing and strategy for one of its major divisions. Gratch is based in Chicago where he also oversees Sixteen30’s European, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) efforts based in Cambridge, U.K.

Lucia Gradinariu, Senior Solution Strategist, Communications, Media and Entertainment Business Unit, CA Inc.
At CA Inc., Gradinariu develops competitive strategies for providing service management in next-generation networks and helps consolidate CA’s business around such solutions. She has more than 18 years of combined experience in R&D, product management, operations and business development for large information and communications technology suppliers as well as Internet services providers for academia and research. Her technical contributions are in the domains of Internet real-time communications, design and operations of large-scale Internet services, architecture and implementations of SDPs. Her business development experience is in selecting technology partners, M&As and other strategies for winning in new markets. Gradinariu has a Master of Science in electronics and telecommunications from Technical University of Iasi, Romania, and a doctorate in computer science from Institut National des Sciences Appliquées of Lyon, France.

Randall B. Guthrie, President and CEO, Advanced Technologies and Services Inc. (ATS)
Guthrie has more than 38 years of experience in the telecommunications industry. His telecom background began in 1970 with several management positions in New Jersey Bell Telephone and Bell Atlantic. Following divestiture, Guthrie accepted a position in Bell Communications Research where he started and managed a new technology and consulting practice designed to introduce and implement new technologies to Bellcore clients. In 1990, Guthrie was named vice president of sales and marketing for Beechwood Data Systems, a small software development startup company. In this role, he helped develop and market several new client server-based technologies to the telecom industry.  In 1995, Guthrie founded Advanced Technologies and Services Inc. ATS is one of the original revenue assurance companies in the industry and their core business is centered on call detail and intercarrier billing analysis. Their Amadeus CDR analysis tool and their flagship product, SimCall, have saved client companies more than $1 billion in potential lost revenue. Guthrie holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a Master of Business Administration in management.

Kevin Hart, Group Vice President and CIO, Level 3 Communications Inc.
As group vice president and CIO for Level 3 Communications Inc., Hart is responsible for the company’s IT and operations support processes and systems. Before joining the company in January 2005, he served as vice president at Capgemini, one of the world’s largest providers of technology, consulting and outsourcing services. There, he oversaw Capgemini’s Telecom Media Entertainment industry practice with responsibility for the company’s OSS offerings to a wide variety of domestic and international clients. Prior to joining Capgemini, he held various managerial roles in operations and engineering with SBC.

Jim Hayden, Executive Director Business Intelligence, TEOCO Corp.
Hayden has more than 20 years experience in management, design and delivery of enterprise-class software solutions to Fortune 500 companies. He has held leadership positions at Mantas, SRA International, TEOCO and Vibrant Solutions, and has received awards for his Business Intelligence work.Prior to TEOCO, Hayden was Vibrant Solutions’ vice president of business intelligence, focusing on developing analytics-based solutions to help carriers better understand their networks, products and customers. He was co-founder and chief strategy officer at Mantas, a leader in business intelligence for the financial services and telecommunications industries. And as director of Knowledge Discovery Solutions at SRA International, Hayden managed the creation of award-winning pattern-recognition technology used to solve complex business problems for financial exchanges, banks and brokerages.

Analyst Jeff Heynen covers residential, business and service provider IPTV, IP video, and next-generation operations support systems (OSS) and business support systems (BSS) equipment, software, services and subscribers. He authors quarterly market share/forecast reports and annual studies detailing service provider buying plans. He is a consultant to startups, service providers and manufacturers, identifying new market opportunities and advising on positioning, product development and business plans. Before joining Infonetics Research in 2005, Heynen spent four years as senior product marketing manager with VoIP switch equipment startup sentitO Networks, and two years as marketing communications manager with telecommunications infrastructure manufacturer Tellabs. As a journalist for Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Heynen covered the rise of the technology industry in Silicon Valley in the mid-‘90s.

Rich Hoffman, Vice President, Technical & Operations, OSG Billing Services
Hoffman brings more than 10 years of expertise in corporate finance and technical operations to OSG Billing Services, where he is vice president of technical and operations. He is responsible for the tactical planning and development of new technologies at the company along with supervising day-to-day operations. Prior to joining OSG, Hoffman worked as manager of financial planning at MTV Networks. He was responsible for overseeing the budgeting of capital and expenses along with establishing and implementing financial strategies. Hoffman’s career history also encompasses work as a cost accountant at Atlas Air and includes an extensive background in public accounting. Hoffman holds a Master of Business Administration in finance and operations from Lehigh University, and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Clark University.

Joe Hogan, Chief Technology Officer, Openet
Hogan has more than 20 years of software engineering experience from his years with Openet, Retix Corp., and Sun Microsystems Inc. He was a senior architect with Sun's European kernel development center before founding Openet. Hogan is the principal architect of Openet's FusionWorks Platform and is responsible for Openet's engineering group and chief technology office. He represents the company in the IETF, 3GPP, IPDR.org and GBA forums and frequently speaks and chairs billing mediation, IMS and prepaid conferences throughout Europe, Asia and North America.

Mike Hollier, CTO, Psytechnic Ltd.
Dr. Hollier is a technical and commercial pioneer in perceptual engineering. He directed BT’s research into audio, video and multimedia performance assessment for nearly a decade before leading the incubation of Psytechnics Ltd. in 2000. He left BT to become Psytechnics’ CEO and since October 2002 has served as its CTO.

John Hughes, Associate Vice President, Product Marketing & Product Management, Comverse
As associate vice president of product marketing and product management for Comverse Converged Billing Group’s Layered Products, Hughes is responsible for the data mediation, entry-level billing and CRM, and self-service product lines. In his 15-year career, he has focused on Internet-based business applications, business intelligence and database management systems. Hughes joined Comverse through the company’s recent acquisition of Netonomy where he was the founder and executive vice president of marketing and business development.  Prior to founding Netonomy, Hughes spent three years as director of program management for the Web products group at Business Objects. He also worked in Oracle Corp.’s New Media Division and its Emerging Technologies Consulting Group, where he managed the Oracle Interactive Application Objects product. Prior to Oracle, Hughes worked in COMSAT World Systems’ Strategic Marketing Group, and spent several years selling and managing professional sports marketing programs in the sports marketing industry. He holds a master’s degree in international business from The American University, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Richmond.

Steven Izzo, Principle Consultant, OSS/BSS Professional Services, Alcatel-Lucent Services
Izzo brings more than 20 years of telecommunications industry experience to his current position as principle consultant for Alcatel-Lucent Services’ OSS/BSS Professional Services. He is responsible for operational transformation consulting for North America. His expertise includes business benchmarking, operational process design including detailed services modeling, service delivery and IT architecture consulting, and migration and work center management. Izzo also has managed OSS/BSS technical sales teams and bids and proposal teams, in addition to providing systems design direction for customer care to network management solutions and marketing management. He holds a Bachelor of Science in physics from Duke University, and a Master of Business Administration in finance and marketing from the University of Rochester, Simon School.

Scott Jenkins, IT Network Systems Manager, Network Resource Management Program, Sprint Nextel
As the IT network systems manager for Sprint Nextel’s Network Resource Management (NRM) program, Jenkins manages and directs the program’s IT planning, project delivery, vendor management, and day-to-day support of IP and 4G service-delivery systems. His prior experience includes leading projects to enhance Sprint Nextel’s IP, data and government service delivery and billing systems; building and executing strategic partnerships with third-party outsource vendors; and driving organization and process change. Jenkins joined Sprint Nextel in 1993 and has more than 22 years of experience in IT positions, including work at Andersen Consulting, AT&T, IBM Corp. and MCI. He has a master’s degree in management from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Richmond.

As COO of SoundExchange, Barrie Kessler manages staff and operations, plays a major role in the quality assurance of performance log administration, and continues to meet the strategic challenge of garnering artist and record company royalty data. Kessler has testified in front of the Copyright Royalty Board and participates in standards setting bodies around the world. Prior to SoundExchange, she served as principal of Rock Creek Systems, an information technology consulting firm. Kessler oversaw systems and database design, knowledge management, programming and data analyses for clients. As part of her consulting for RIAA programs, Kessler developed the certification system for Gold, Platinum and Multiplatinum record sales and created the royalty distribution system for the AARC. Kessler served two years as a database consultant for Price Waterhouse and DOS Computer Center in Madrid. Kessler has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and economics from Lehigh University.

Salah uddin Khawaja, Senior Manager, Deloitte & Touche Enterprise Risk Services
Khawaja is a senior manager in Deloitte's Enterprise Risk Services (ERS) practice and has 10 years of experience in program and project management. He has worked primarily in the financial services industry and has a breadth of IT experience with specialty experience in billing implementation, information risk management, vendor selection, off-shoring outsourcing strategy and enterprise data center strategy. Khawaja has spent the last two years helping one of the largest transaction processing companies develop and implement a billing strategy. He also has led a project involving more than 20 FTEs to select a billing software and now is leading the program office in the implementation of the new platform. He is certified by the Project Management Institute as a Project Management Professional. Khawaja has a master’s degree in telecommunications and network management and a bachelor’s degree in computer science.

Vercie Lark, Vice President, IT Infrastructure Services, Embarq Corp.
As vice president of IT infrastructure services for Embarq, Lark is responsible for strategic leadership, planning and operations of the company’s IT infrastructure. He has served in this capacity since joining the corporation in November of 2005. Prior to joining Embarq, Lark worked for four years at HP and 12 years for Compaq Computer Corp. and held several executive positions in IT and managed services with global responsibility for IT infrastructure strategy, planning and operations of security, voice and data communications, computing platforms, e-mail and messaging, data centers, desktops and Internet infrastructure. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Wright State University of Ohio. Lark began his career in 1985 as an electrical systems engineer working at Monsanto Research Corp. for the Department of Energy. In 1987, while still at Monsanto, Lark accepted a position as an IT systems administrator and IT security officer, which started his career in information technology.

Grant Lenahan, Vice President & Strategist, Service Delivery Solutions, Telcordia Technologies Inc.
Lenahan is responsible for defining product and market strategies, leading the direction of Telcordia’s next-generation of OSS, service platforms and technologies that will enable wireless and cable operators to offer content-rich, IP-based and converged networks. Lenahan’s experience includes 20 years with Telcordia, working in such diverse areas as generic requirements, transmission engineering, video services design, economic analysis and operational analysis of new communications technologies/services. He is also the author of numerous papers in the areas of NGN wireless services.

Shira Levine, Senior Analyst, Next-Generation OSS/BSS, IDC
A senior analyst in IDC’s next-generation OSS and billing program, Levine provides research and analysis covering network-facing and customer-facing OSS/BSS, including service management, provisioning, inventory management, revenue assurance, customer care and billing. Prior to IDC, she was a senior research analyst with Stratecast Partners’ OSS competitive strategies practice, where she covered the OSS/BSS market and service providers’ OSS strategies and requirements. Previously, she was the executive editor of America's Network magazine, reporting on OSS/BSS services as well as regulatory and telecom policy, particularly including the rural telecom market. Levine was also editor of Telecom Investor, a supplement to America's Network. Before that, she was the senior editor at Telephony magazine, focusing on the cable TV and telco video markets and regulatory events, including the pivotal Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996. She has won several journalism awards, including a Western Publications Association Maggie Award and several American Society of Business Publication Editors awards. Levine has a bachelor’s degree in classics from Amherst College and a master’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.

Steve Lewis is a senior consultant at Analysys Mason where he leads OSS transformation projects. He has 14 years’ experience in the telecom industry having worked for fixed- and mobile-network operators, software product vendors and consultancy firms. As a solutions architect, he has led $30 million legacy transformation projects. Steve has master’s degree in engineering in microelectronics and software engineering from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne and an MBA from Durham University.

Magnus Lindgren, Vice President, Business Development, Sergel – TeliaSonera
Lindgren is the founder of the billing service bureau business unit at Sergel, a TeliaSonera subsidiary working with billing and credit management for telcos, service providers and utilities. He has been active in rating and billing since 1997. Prior to starting up the billing service bureau in 1999, he was responsible for several billing projects with TeliaSonera in Sweden and Europe. Lindgren has nine years of experience from business-related aspects of rating and billing. He holds a Master of Business Administration in marketing and strategic planning from MidSweden University.

David Mangini is the global solution owner for service delivery platforms in IBM’s telecommunications sector. He leads the development of IBM’s strategy for SDP solutions in the marketplace in response to service provider requirements and IBM’s capabilities. Mangini is a 25-year industry veteran and has extensive experience with wireline and wireless service providers. His experience includes all aspects of network planning, design, construction and operations. Mangini also led a variety of wireless data efforts in developing custom wireless data solutions for large enterprises. Mangini completed the Executive Management Program at Yale University, and holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, an MBA from the University of Connecticut and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is a member of the Radio Club of America and the IEEE.

Gary Martini, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, CommSoft
As the vice president of sales and marketing for CommSoft, a communication customer care and billing software provider, Martini manages daily operations, the sales and marketing staff and is focused on providing solutions and defining requirements that help future forward-thinking telecom companies succeed. He has held executive positions at various independent software companies and IBM Corp. Martini holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Business Administration from the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York.

Johanne Mayer, Director, Communication OSS Professional Services, Alcatel-Lucent
Mayer brings more than 20 years of telecommunications experience to her current role as director of communication operation support systems for Alcatel-Lucent’s Professional Services Group. She is the spokeswoman for the company’s OSS and network management products and solutions with industry analysts and the press. She is also vice chair of the Supplier Committee on the TM Forum board. Mayer holds a Bachelor of Science in mathematics with co-op, and a Bachelor of Science in computer science, both from the University of Ottawa. She also holds a patent on frame relay congestion management.

Susan McNeice is program manager for OSS/BSS global competitive strategies for Stratecast, a division of Frost & Sullivan. McNeice is well-known in the OSS/BSS community as a skillful interpreter of the business implications of technology and has written extensively related subjects. She also has developed programs on IPTV, taxation, continuity of operations and risk management. Her experience includes strategic planning, market research, technology marketing, project/product management, program turnaround, sales, process engineering, requirements analysis and solution software definition. She has developed and addressed industry conferences on a variety of topics. McNeice has a master’s degree from George Washington University’s School of Business with a concentration in project management and a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of Delaware, and is certified as a software developer and project manager.

Sanjay Mehta, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Oracle Corp.’s Communications Global Business Unit
Mehta leads the product marketing group for Oracle Communications and is responsible for billing and revenue management industry solutions and strategy. With more than 17 years of experience in the enterprise software industry and 12 years specifically in communications, Mehta has extensive experience in applications strategies that enable communications service providers to transform how they take new services to market, improving time-to-market and profitability. Mehta joined Oracle through its acquisition of Portal Software where he oversaw product marketing globally. He also held leadership positions in consulting, business development and strategic accounts at Portal’s European organization. Prior to Portal, Mehta developed mission-critical enterprise software applications for Sybase Europe’s Communications consulting division and IBM Global Services’ retail division. He holds a bachelor’s degree in computing and information systems science from the University of Bradford, specializing in object modeling and rapid application design.

Alon Meller, Director, Enterprise Product Catalog Business Unit, Amdocs
Meller is the director at the Enterprise Product Catalog Business Unit at Amdocs. He has more than 12 years of experience in transforming innovative products into valuable solutions in areas such as IM, network intelligence and FMC. Meller held marketing, business development and operations roles working for various telecommunications and CRM vendors. Most recently, he was director of IPTV business development at Amdocs. Before joining Amdocs, Meller led the marketing and business development activities at Personeta that pioneered the area of value-added service delivery for both fixed and mobile carriers. He holds a Bachelor of Science (cum laude) in industrial engineering from the Technion (Israel's Institute of Technology) and a Master of Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley.

William J. (Duffy) Mich, Jr., Chairman & CEO, Aperio CI
Mich is co-founder and majority owner of Aperio CI and has been its chairman and CEO since the company was founded in 1990. He has overall responsibility for all client projects and Aperio CI's software development effort. During his tenure at Aperio CI, Mich has been instrumental in the design and execution of major marketing programs for fixed-line and mobile phone companies in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. These programs include MCI’s Proof Positive and O2’s First program. He resides in Long Island, N.Y., and serves on the board of directors for Suffolk AHRC, a community outreach organization that provides programs and services for more than 1,600 men, women and children with developmental disabilities.

Wayne E. Miracle, Director, BearingPoint Inc.
As a director in BearingPoint’s Operational Excellence group, Miracle is responsible for and involved in a wide variety of consulting assignments including solution development, business process improvement, enterprise program management, large-scale systems integration and deployment. He specializes in the communications industry where he has more than 10 years of experience managing high-profile engagements for Tier 1 providers. Miracle has overseen strategy and implementation projects for the nation’s top wireless and wireline carriers, including billing, customer care, provisioning, quality assurance, product launch readiness, data warehouse and the related processes and technologies. Miracle obtained his Master of Science in management information systems from Texas A&M University, and currently resides in Dallas.

Mark Nachajski, BusinessEdge Solutions’ Enterprise Architecture Group
Nachajski leads the Enterprise Architecture Group in the information and technology management organization of BusinessEdge Solutions, an EMC consulting practice. In this role, he is responsible for technical oversight and management of all solution offerings undertaken in three major areas: BSS/OSS architecture development; integration architecture design and content; and media and advertising architectures. With more than 20 years of experience, Nachajski has led the design, development and deployment of numerous complex architecture solutions for major wireline, wireless and Internet companies. He has a master’s degree in computer science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Villanova University.

Debbie Newell, Director, Product Management, DST Output
Newell, director of product management for DST Output, has been with the company since June 1998. She is responsible for defining and executing product vision and strategy, managing the road map process, pricing, product rollout, and managing product profitability. She is in charge of a team that shapes the standard product offerings, determines new features and services to recommend to customers, and influences the product marketing communications plan. Prior to joining DST Output, Newell was the site manager with Banta Corp.’s Global Turnkey division for two years, and a purchasing and account manager with Logistix for two years. She also worked for seven years at Bank of America in various branch operations and production management positions. Newell holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science from the University of California at Davis, Calif.

Mark Nicholson, Chief Technology Officer, Subex
Nicholson is the CTO of Subex where he is responsible for the company's long-term technology strategy and for driving the definition, direction and development of the Subex software suite. He has more than 27 years of experience. Previously, Nicholson was CTO and senior vice president of product development at Syndesis. Prior to Syndesis, he was the CTO of Nortel eBusiness Solutions, where he was responsible for the provisioning suite of products and their integration into the Nortel Service Management portfolio. Before that, Nicholson was with Architel Solutions, where he served in a variety of senior roles within product management, software engineering and professional services. His background also includes stints at AT&T Wireless, Rogers AT&T, Thomson Financial and Harlequin Mills & Boon. Nicholson holds a Bachelor of Science (with honors) in computer science from the University of Greenwich, England.

Dan O’Shea, Editor, FierceTelecom
O'Shea is the Chicago-based editor of FierceTelecom, an online publication and newsletter focused primarily on the wireline side of the telecom industry. O'Shea has covered the telecom industry as a writer and editor for more than 15 years. Before joining FierceTelecom, he was editor-in-chief of Telephony magazine and held several other editorial positions with Telephony and sister publications. FierceTelecom is a member of the FierceMarkets family of publications.

Colin Orviss, senior vice president of Patni Telecoms Consulting, co-founded Logan-Orviss International in 1995. He has over 30 years’ experience in the communications arena, having worked in senior positions at BT and Sonera Finland, and in senior international roles in major U.S. corporations. He has worked as an independent international telecom consultant since 1992. Orviss regularly speaks at industry events and provides independent comment on crucial industry issues.

Laurinda Pang, Vice President, Customer Experience Re-engineering, Global Crossing
At Global Crossing, Pang is responsible for business transformation initiatives affecting customer experience across the global business; redefining customer experience to create a differentiated, best-in-class experience; designing processes and systems to scale business operations and enable significant revenue growth; and setting corporate strategy for the future operating model. Previously, as vice president for investor relations, she was responsible for communicating Global Crossing’s story to the financial community, including shareholders, bondholders and financial analysts. She re-introduced the company to the investment community following its successful restructuring, created the communications strategy for two global acquisitions and secured increased analyst coverage of the company by financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank Securities. As the CEO’s chief of staff and vice president of operations, she was a member of the executive team that restructured Global Crossing during a critical phase in its history. She also has helped develop the company’s operations for its business in the U.K., cut customer churn in its small-and-medium-enterprise business by half, redesigned the company’s customer support infrastructure for North America and deployed its first global, direct-dial voice product for enterprises. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Pennsylvania State University.

Dhananjay Pavgii, Senior Consultant, OSS CSU- Product Management, Tech Mahindra 
With 11 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Pavgii is responsible for the product management of Tech Mahindra’s OSS business. He has extensive experience as a senior consultant in the OSS/BSS space delivering solutions and transformation projects at service providers worldwide. He also has led and contributed to standards focusing on simplifying and speeding OSS/BSS integration. Pavgii worked as a consultant for Cisco System Inc. providing WAN management product support for their key service providers customers.

Sergio Pellizzari is a founder and chief solutions architect for Nakina Systems. He is responsible for the future product roadmap and works closely with Nakina customers to understand their needs and how the company’s expertise can solve their operational issues. Pellizzari spent 18 years working at Bell Northern Research and Nortel Networks and was involved in the infancy of Nortel's highly successful line of HiCap and Metro Optical products. Pellizzari led design and architectural teams delivering management solutions for all Optical products and was involved in unifying management solutions of newly acquired products or those affiliated through joint-ventures.

Frank Peregrine, CEO and Co-founder, CustomCall Data Systems
Peregrine is CEO of CustomCall Data Systems, a billing and OSS company he co-founded in 1993. Prior to CustomCall, he was founder of Lake States Communications, which later was sold to Schneider Communications.  Previously, Peregrine served as director of network optimization for Telecom*USA and vice president of finance and CFO of Southland Communications Inc. As director of corporate planning for Microtel, he also wrote the company’s first business plan (which was used to raise $40 million in startup capital).  Peregrine received his Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts from Carleton College.

Joseph Pisano, Vice President, Consumer Financial Services, Qwest
As vice president for Qwest’s customer financial services group, Pisano oversees credit and collections operations for the company’s mass markets organization, which represents all of Qwest’s residential and small business customers. Prior to Qwest, Pisano held several senior executive roles in financial service organizations, most recently as senior vice president at System & Services Technologies, a subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase. In that role, he directed more than 700 employees and oversaw all collections and servicing operations for the national third-party servicing company with $7 billion in auto, boat and recreational vehicle loans, as well as credit cards. Pisano also has served as senior vice president and COO for First Investors Financial Services; senior vice president and COO for Gulf States Acceptance Co.; general manager of Nissan Motor Acceptance Corp.; and senior vice president of Bank United. Pisano earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from St. John’s University of New York.

Robert K. Pucci, Global Solutions BSS/OSS Technical Lead/Architect, Global Industry Integrated Solutions Team, IBM Corp.
As a member of IBM’s Global Solutions Team within the Global Industry Integrated Solution (GIIS) Telecommunications sector, Pucci is helping lead the effort to build out BSS/OSS assets and accelerators for transformation and migration initiatives incorporating the latest IT and industry standards. He interacts with potential clients, partners and colleagues in understanding the operational and revenue benefits of an open IT (SOA) and industry (TMF) standardized-based BSS/OSS architectural framework, and the ability to attain business and IT service reusability. Previously, Pucci completed an initiative to design and develop the first BSS/OSS IP VPN flow-through provisioning EAI componentized architecture with QoS, which addressed infrastructures consisting of multiple ISVs and network element providers. Throughout his 20-year career, Pucci has worked with various service providers as chief solution architect, BSS/OSS chief architect, interface architect, senior systems architect and data architect. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from SUNY College of Technology and a master’s degree in systems design/management from SUNY Binghamton.

Robert Purks, Partner, Accenture
Purks leads the Accenture North American Communications & High-Tech Billing Practice. As a partner in this operating group, he has been working with leading companies on billing transformation initiatives for more than 10 years. Purks’ expertise includes strategy, planning and execution of large-scale convergent billing initiatives. He has worked extensively with North American carriers and telecommunications startups in Latin America. Prior to joining Accenture, he was the CIO for Global Telemedia International, an interexchange carrier headquartered in Alpharetta, Ga., for three years. He was also the president and CEO of DLD, a regional telecommunications company. Purks has a master’s degree in business administration and corporate finance from the University of Georgia. He presently serves on the UGA Management Information Systems Advisory Board.

Shivakumar Ravi, Telecom Practice Manager, North America, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
With more than nine years of experience in IT, Ravi has been with TCS since 1999. He has worked with Qwest in various capacities and handled large delivery projects in their out-of-region billing portfolio, including managing end-to-end billing initiatives such as 272 compliance. Ravi also has worked as a consultant in various large OSS/BSS transformation initiatives. For the last three years, he has been a practice manager for telecom, the second-largest industry vertical accounting for more than 18 percent of TCS’ revenue. Ravi handles all pre-sales and solutioning for TCS’ telco customers and prospects across North America. He provides consulting to define transformation programs and works with the project organization to guide solution architecture while helping build various assets and solution accelerators.   Ravi holds a Bachelor of Engineering in computer science and has published and presented in multiple forums and conferences

Stephen Rickaby, Director, Revenue Assurance Products, Intec
A telecom industry veteran with more than 15 years experience, Rickaby is responsible for developing and managing the Intec revenue assurance strategy and family of offers. Prior to assuming this role, Rickaby served as product manager for Intec’s award-winning convergent mediation product.  Additionally, he was the billing development team leader for one of the first GSM billing systems ever developed.

Vadim Rosenberg is the director of worldwide marketing for telecommunications at CA's Wily Technology division. Rosenberg is responsible for global marketing strategies and communications for CA Wily's telecommunication business. Before joining CA Wily, Rosenberg worked in sales support for Oracle's Fusion Middleware products for telecommunications verticals. Rosenberg also was the product marketing manager for BEA's WebLogic Server. At Tandem Computer (later Compaq, now HP), Rosenberg built transactions processing for nonstop J2EE infrastructure, and a high-performance, mission-critical messaging system. Rosenberg’s writing has been published in multiple technical and business publications, and presented at many telecom industry events.

Will Rotch, CTO, Comverse Billing Group Americas
As CTO for the Americas at Comverse, Rotch is responsible for being a “technical evangelist” for the company’s industry-leading convergent billing and customer care software solutions across the Americas region. He has worked at Comverse and in the telecommunications billing space for more than 17 years.  Rotch has a Master of Business Administration in decision sciences and strategic management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts in engineering from Harvard University.

Kathy Romano, Executive Director, Revenue Assurance & Billing, Verizon Communications Inc.
Romano is executive director of revenue assurance and billing at Verizon, having joined the company in 1979 as a management trainee. She has achieved a diverse knowledge of the industry during her 28 years with Verizon by leading a myriad of departments including product line management, human resources, finance, systems integration, billing operations and others.

Rolandas Ryliškis, vice president Network Technologies and CTO in UAB "Omnitel".
Rolandas was born in 1964, has graduated from Kaunas Polytechnical Institute (currently - Kaunas Technology University) as communications engineer. In 2001 he has graduated from international Baltic Management Institute (BMI) in the Executive MBA program with the master's degree. Mr. Ryliškis holds the position of the vicepresident for Network technologies since 2001, started his employement in "Omnitel" since 1993 and previously had positions of chief engineer and director of the technical department. Rolandas Ryliškis is an active member of various public organisations, including Kaunas IT and Technology Board, BMI Alumni Club, Vilnius Managers Club and Lithuanian Off-Road Club Association.

Andy Schoka, Managing Director, Communications and Media Practice, Acumen Solutions
Schoka began his career with Accenture’s telecommunications and advanced systems groups where he contributed to and led a variety of business and technology projects in the local and long-distance sectors. Schoka has more than 16 years of business leadership, program and operations management, service delivery, and financial management experience in an information technology consulting environment. In his current role as managing director of Acumen Solutions’ communications and media practice, he is responsible for all aspects of managing and operating Acumen’s cornerstone business unit. Schoka successfully has delivered a broad range of projects for customers including Alltel, AOL, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, MCI, the National Archives and Records Administration, Qwest Communications, Sound Exchange, Sprint Nextel and The Washington Post.

Nick Semple is a senior member of PA Consulting's communications, media and entertainment group in the United States, specializing in end-to-end service management and engineering operations. His focus has been, from insight to implementation, developing the technical, process and organizational capabilities to deliver complex, next-generation services across product development, engineering and IT functions.

Leonard Sheahan, Senior Director, Product Marketing, Oracle Communications Global Business Unit
Sheahan has more than 17 years of experience in the market positioning, development and deployment of flexible, high-performance service fulfillment applications into communications providers. His experience is drawn from numerous customer and strategic partner engagements on a global basis. Prior to Oracle, Sheahan held positions with MetaSolv Software in a market-facing role as director of provisioning solutions and as the portfolio director for service provisioning within Nortel’s Service Commerce division where he managed the business and associated product direction of the portfolio. Preceding that, he headed the product management team in Architel Systems Corp. Sheahan holds a Masters of Science with Distinction from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, in optoelectronics and laser devices, as well as a Bachelors of Science in theoretical physics from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland.

Andrews Sheahen of PA Consulting is a program management and technology professional specializing in operational analysis and process design, program management and change management within the communications, media and entertainment industries. He has developed and applied operational efficiency methodologies using eTOM and has managed the development of Web-services-based geographic information systems, knowledge management systems, and business intelligence systems.

Brad Soutiere, President and COO, Vertek Corp.
Soutiere joined Vertek in 1999 and has been involved in all aspects of the business including operations, sales and service delivery. Prior to being named president, Soutiere served as the COO for the company. He has a strong focus, vision and commitment to the customer and will continue to broaden and expand Vertek’s great reputation and service offering in the telecommunications industry. He graduated from Trinity College with a degree in business. He has more than 25 years experience in the finance and telecommunications industry, including software development, operations management and product development. Prior to Vertek, Soutiere worked for Alltel Corp. for 10 years as manager of operations providing outsourced telecommunications and data center services.

Steve Taff, Executive Director, XO Communications
Taff is an executive director over IT services with responsibilities over enterprise architecture, quality engineering and business intelligence at XO Communications. He has more than 20 years of experience in telecommunications applications development and support. He has led the initial IT implementation of several competitive carriers and defined the rationalization of application functions through several carrier mergers and acquisitions. Most recently, he led the design of architecture transformation for next-generation IP products and services.

Eric G. Troup, Platform Strategy Advisor, Microsoft
Mr. Troup is a Platform Strategy Advisor (PSA) at Microsoft. He is primarily responsible for providing guidance to service providers, ISVs, NEPs, and industry organizations concerning the effective use of Microsoft technologies and platforms for BSS/OSS and Service Delivery Framework (SDF) applications. In addition, he provides guidance to various internal BSS/OSS and SDF projects in support of Microsoft’s “Software + Services” strategy.  Mr. Troup held various management positions at New York Telephone/NYNEX through the 1980/90s. He served as the OSS Practice Director at Unisys for several years and later as a Senior Manager in CapGemini’s TM&E practice.  He holds a BS degree from West Point and MBA from the University of Utah.  He joined Microsoft in 2004. 

Vittorio Viarengo, Vice President, Product Development, Oracle Fusion Middleware
Viarengo is vice president of product development at Oracle Fusion Middleware, managing the Mobility, Voice and Communications Platform Team. Prior to Oracle, Viarengo was the vice president of platform product management and strategy for BEA Systems Inc. He was responsible for driving the product strategy, road map and priorities for BEA’s Application Platform Suite, which includes application and data integration, portal, application server and WebLogic WorkShop, BEA’s integrated development environment. Before joining BEA in 2001, Viarengo was the vice president of product management at eXcelon Corp., pioneering the area of XML technology, tools and databases. He was one of the key drivers behind engineering the most comprehensive XML tools suite and the first XML-based business process engine. In 1994, Viarengo started his own software company in Italy, ViVi Software, which concentrated on visual tools for object databases, and eventually was sold to eXcelon.