TRI's Leadership
Dan Baker
Research Director
Dan Baker is TRI's principal market analyst and co-founder. During the past 25 years, he has authored dozens of syndicated research reports, on-line stories, and white papers mostly on the telecom systems, software and services that support professionals in various domains such as billing, revenue assurance, and fraud control.
These reports published span the breadth of telecom subjects: wireless and wireline billing systems, revenue and fraud management, OSS/provisioning, customer care/CRM, service assurance and test, wholesale network systems, and telecom analytics.
In 2018, he authored a 249-page report entitled Telecom Wholesale & Enterprise-Serving Networks,Software & Solutions in North America. The study was a highly challenging for it required analyzing a market is highly scattered across solution categories, such as data centers, telecom MSPs, undersea cable providers, metro fiber providers, SDN, B/OSS, and more.
Baker's most recent Report (2019) is a 495-page study of Telecom Fraud & Business Assurance Solutions, Services & Strategies. Among other things the Report analyzes the emergence of Machine Learning and Cloud solutions in the assurance arena.
He started his on-line journal work in 2009 when he began writing byline columns for B/OSS Magazine and special reports for Vanilla Plus. Then in 2012 he launched Black Swan Telecom Journal, an on-line magazine focused on business assurance, fraud management, and analytics. In 2017, he started up Top Operator Journal o follow the market for wholesale, networking and partnering systems for the digital ecosystem. His latest publication, FraudTech Journal covers cross-industry fraud issues, especially for enterprises.
Baker began his career as a market analyst at Venture Development Corporation (VDC) where he tracked the telecom and real-time computer markets. From 2004 through 2008, he was research director for the Dittberner OSS/BSS KnowledgeBase.
Baker has a Philosophy degree from the University of Notre Dame. After college he served as a shipboard officer in the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet. This gave him the opportunity to travel widely through Asia and live for three years in Japan, a country he regards as his second home.
Luke Taylor
Contributing Analyst
Luke is a seasoned business executive with a deep knowledge of telecoms fraud management and business assurance from his 20 years in the industry working for a risk management software vendor.
He founded Lateral Alliances in 2017 to offer business management and consultancy services focused in the IT sector and specifically telecoms risk management.
Luke has also established his own not-for-profit awards body, Risk Reward Awards with the goal of recognizing the best work done by risk professionals in the telecoms sector.
Colin Yates
Contributing Analyst
Colin started his working life in Law Enforcement in New Zealand, then after 18 years moved to a Risk and Fraud Management role in Telecom New Zealand.
After 12 years there, he moved to Vodafone New Zealand and for the next 12 years had roles with Vodafone in New Zealand, Australia, Germany and the UK, leaving Vodafone in 2012 as Group Head of Fraud Management and Investigations, having had responsibilities for managing fraud and investigations right across the Vodafone footprint.
Colin has held Management positions in the GSMA Fraud Forum, CFCA, FIINA and Pacific Partners.
He is currently managing his own firm, Yates Fraud Consulting Limited which consults back to industry operators to review their Fraud and Revenue risk maturity. He also manages an IPR Test Number database currently in use by some of the world's largest operator groups.
Colin is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and is also a Fraud Adviser to PITA (Pacific Islands Telecommunications Association).
Eric Priezkalns
Editorial Advisor
Eric is the editor of Commsrisk and a recognized expert on communications risk and assurance. After a successful full-time career, Eric now splits his time between occasional consulting projects and his many other passions. Eric was Director of Risk Management for Qatar Telecom and has worked with Cable & Wireless Group, T-Mobile UK, BSkyB, Worldcom UK and other telcos, as well as advising software developers and system integrators.
A former editor and founder of the revenue assurance blogging site talkRA, Eric was lead author of Revenue Assurance: Expert Opinions for Communications Providers, published by CRC Press. He was a founding member of Qatar's National Committee for Internet Safety and the first leader of the TM Forum's Enterprise Risk Management team. Eric currently sits on the committee of the Revenue Assurance Group. He is a qualified chartered accountant, with degrees in information systems, and in mathematics and philosophy.